Vivian Dong is a student at Harvard Law School.
The U.S. economy added 178,000 jobs in November, decreasing the unemployment rate from 4.9% to 4.6%, the lowest it has been since 2007. However, average hourly earnings decreased by 0.1%. The Department of Labor revised its September and October data to remove 2000 jobs. The solid performance paves the way for a long-rumored federal rate increase.
President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence successfully negotiated with Carrier, a heating and cooling manufacturer, to keep 1000 factory jobs in the United States. Carrier rose to media prominence earlier in 2016 when a video emerged of management announcing to factory floor workers that their jobs would be outsourced to Mexico. Details about the President-elect’s deal with Carrier emerged Thursday morning. United Technologies Corp., Carrier’s parent company, will receive $7 million in tax breaks over 10 years in exchange for not outsourcing the jobs. According to the Indiana Business Journal however, the bigger motivation for Carrier was the threat of losing federal contracts. Senator Bernie Sanders criticized Trump for acceding to Carrier by giving it tax breaks to prevent the outsourcing.
Michigan passed legislation yesterday to take regulatory powers over ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft away from local authorities and grant them instead to the Michigan Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Communities that have existing agreements with ride-sharing services can maintain their agreements for four years. The legislation would make Uber and Lyft subject to the same regulation as taxis. Uber officials supported the legislation, as it would enable its drivers to pick up and drop off customers at airports.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
March 20
Appeal to 9th Cir. over law allowing suit for impersonating union reps; Mass. judge denies motion to arbitrate drivers' claims; furloughed workers return to factory building MBTA trains.
March 19
WNBA and WNBPA reach verbal tentative agreement, United Teachers Los Angeles announce April 14 strike date, and the California Gig Workers Union file complaint against Waymo.
March 18
Meatpacking workers go on strike; SCOTUS grants cert on TPS cases; updates on litigation over DOL in-house agency adjudication
March 17
West Virginia passes a bill for gig drivers, the Tenth Circuit rejects an engineer's claims of race and age bias, and a discussion on the spread of judicial curtailment of NLRB authority.
March 16
Starbucks' union negotiations are resurrected; jobs data is released.
March 15
A U.S. District Court issues a preliminary injunction against the Department of Veterans Affairs for terminating its collective bargaining agreement, and SEIU files a lawsuit against DHS for effectively terminating immigrant workers at Boston Logan International Airport.