Martin Drake is a student at Harvard Law School.
Workers at Silicon Valley firms are using their stock-based compensation to demand changes in their companies, the New York Times reports. In late November and early December this year, over a dozen Amazon employees filed identical shareholder petitions asking their employer to release a plan to address climate change. The Amazon employee actions come after similar activity by Google employees this year, who helped present a petition, filed by Zevin Asset Management, that would link executive compensation to diversity and inclusion goals. According to activist investors, the Amazon employee petition is the first time that tech employees have led their own shareholder proposal.
The UK government has introduced what it calls the biggest package of workplace reforms in 20 years, the Guardian reports. The legislation will give workers details of their rights from their first day working, and will increase fines for employers who violate employment laws. However, British unions said the new laws were a missed chance to empower gig economy workers.
Workers at two German Amazon warehouses went on strike today after organizing by German trade unions, Reuters reports. The union, Verdi, has organized frequent strikes at Amazon logistics centers since 2013, demanding that the retail giant pay workers rates comparable to collective bargaining agreements in the German mail order and retail industry. Amazon claims that warehouse pay should match competitors in the logistics sector, as opposed to retail. Germany is Amazon’s biggest market outside of the United States.
Thousands of teachers rallied in downtown Los Angeles this weekend in anticipation of a potential strike next month, the Associated Press reports. The teachers union in Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second-largest school district, is threatening to strike for the first time in nearly 30 years after over 18 months of contract negotiations with the district’s administration. The union, United Teachers Los Angeles, rejected the latest contract last month, asserting that the district is refusing to tap into a large financial reserve that could improve student conditions and increase teacher pay. Among their demands are smaller class sizes and more full-time nurses and librarians.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
February 11
Hollywood begins negotiations for a new labor agreement with writers and actors; the EEOC launches an investigation into Nike’s DEI programs and potential discrimination against white workers; and Mayor Mamdani circulates a memo regarding the city’s Economic Development Corporation.
February 10
San Francisco teachers walk out; NLRB reverses course on SpaceX; NYC nurses secure tentative agreements.
February 9
FTC argues DEI is anticompetitive collusion, Supreme Court may decide scope of exception to forced arbitration, NJ pauses ABC test rule.
February 8
The Second Circuit rejects a constitutional challenge to the NLRB, pharmacy and lab technicians join a California healthcare strike, and the EEOC defends a single better-paid worker standard in Equal Pay Act suits.
February 6
The California Supreme Court rules on an arbitration agreement, Trump administration announces new rule on civil service protections, and states modify affirmative action requirements
February 5
Minnesota schools and teachers sue to limit ICE presence near schools; labor leaders call on Newsom to protect workers from AI; UAW and Volkswagen reach a tentative agreement.