A criminal prosecution of a mining executive for safety violations — an exceedingly rare occurrence — has resulted in conviction of a misdemeanor, reports Lydia DePillis at the Washington Post. After a 2010 mine collapse in West Virginia killed 29 people, an investigation revealed that Don Blankenship, chief executive of Massey Energy, had ignored a range of warning signs and had personally demanded “ever-greater output at the expense of safety.” Last week, a federal jury found Blankenship guilty of conspiracy to violate mine safety regulations, but acquitted him on two more serious counts of deceiving investors and regulators. Mine safety expert Davitt McAteer, noting that “[w]e’ve been mining in this country since 1880, and this is the first time that this has happened,” attributes the successful prosecution of Massey Energy executives to the coal industry’s declining political influence: “[Even fifteen years ago, you] wouldn’t have had the willingness of the U.S. attorney to accept that coal industry persons could be responsible. When coal was king, this could not have happened.”
In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, Robert Odawi Porter writes in support of the Trial Labor Sovereignty Act, which passed the House on November 17 and is now before the Senate. The bill would exempt tribal governments from application of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) in recognition of their exclusive authority to regulate labor relations within their territories. If it becomes law, the bill would effectively reverse the impact of San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino v. NLRB, 475 F.3d 1306 (D.C. Cir. 2007), which determined that the NLRA could apply to employment at a tribal casino where the casino catered to non-Indians and mostly employed non-Indians. Porter argues that the bill is necessary to prevent gaming revenues from being siphoned away from tribal governments, in violation of treaty promises to respect tribal self-governance and self-determination.
The Orlando Business Journal reports that the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity has issued a final order on the employment classification for Uber drivers in the state. Unlike California and Oregon, Florida has classified Uber drivers as independent contractors, not employees. The agency concluded, based on facts about the drivers’ “significant control over the details of their work,” that “Uber operates not as an employer, but as a middleman and broker for transportation services.” The order also noted that, even though platforms like Uber would not be in business without its service-providers, it did not follow that the platforms employ those service-providers. Rather, “[t]hese platforms are helping people pursue what has always been an important part of the American dream: to be one’s own boss.”
Daily News & Commentary
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July 6
Municipal workers in Philadelphia continue to strike; Zohran Mamdani collects union endorsements; UFCW grocery workers in California and Colorado reach tentative agreements.
July 4
The DOL scraps a Biden-era proposed rule to end subminimum wages for disabled workers; millions will lose access to Medicaid and SNAP due to new proof of work requirements; and states step up in the noncompete policy space.
July 3
California compromises with unions on housing; 11th Circuit rules against transgender teacher; Harvard removes hundreds from grad student union.
July 2
Block, Nanda, and Nayak argue that the NLRA is under attack, harming democracy; the EEOC files a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former EEOC Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels; and SEIU Local 1000 strikes an agreement with the State of California to delay the state's return-to-office executive order for state workers.
July 1
In today’s news and commentary, the Department of Labor proposes to roll back minimum wage and overtime protections for home care workers, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by public defenders over a union’s Gaza statements, and Philadelphia’s largest municipal union is on strike for first time in nearly 40 years. On Monday, the U.S. […]
June 30
Antidiscrimination scholars question McDonnell Douglas, George Washington University Hospital bargained in bad faith, and NY regulators defend LPA dispensary law.