Martin Drake is a student at Harvard Law School.
Congressional talks over border security broke down Sunday, as the current government funding measure is set to run out this Friday at midnight, the New York Times reports. If no deal is reached by that time, the government will shut down, leaving hundreds of thousands of workers without pay. The last shutdown lasted 35 days, and left many government employees relying on food banks and pawn shops to survive. The shutdown also cost the U.S. economy $11 billion.
Mark Zuckerman, President of The Century Foundation, a progressive think tank, argued in the Atlantic that private-sector unionization efforts should focus on small workplaces. The article, which ran Saturday, highlighted a study showing that bargaining units of under 25 employees are 12 percent more likely to win a union than larger groups. Zuckerman asserted that unions can use big data to overcome the lower marginal utility of focusing on smaller work sites. According to Zuckerman, unions can use data to target low-wage workers in specific locations who share traits commonly associated with union support.
Zimbabwean teachers suspended a national strike yesterday, but will walk back off of the job if their demands aren’t met, Reuters reports. The strike began on February 5th, with 80 percent of the country’s 100,000 public-sector teachers participating, according to the unions. The teachers are demanding U.S. dollar salaries and an increase in allowances to cushion them against soaring inflation and economic hardship.
Elizabeth Warren officially launched her 2020 presidential campaign on Saturday, with heavy allusions to the roots of the U.S. labor movement, CNN reports. Warren made the announcement at a rally in Lawrence, MA, the site of the historic 1912 “Bread and Roses” strike. The striking textile workers of that era led a two-year effort for fair wages, overtime pay, and the right to unionize. Warren highlighted how the workers “did more than improve their own lives. They changed America,” by spurring an effort for minimum wages in Massachusetts and beyond.
Daily News & Commentary
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May 22
U.S. employers spend $1.7B on union avoidance each year and the ICJ declares the right to strike a protected activity.
May 21
UAW backs legal challenge to Trump “gold card” visa; DOL requests unemployment fraud technology funding; Samsung reaches eleventh-hour union agreement.
May 20
LIRR strike ends after three-day shutdown; key senators reject Trump's proposed 26% cut to Labor Department budget; EEOC moves to eliminate employer demographic reporting requirement.
May 19
Amazon urges 11th Circuit to overturn captive-audience meeting ban; DOL scraps Biden overtime rule; SCOTUS to decide on Title IX private right of action for school employees
May 18
California Department of Justice finds conditions at ICE facilities inhumane; Second Circuit rejects race bias claim from Black and Hispanic social workers; FAA cuts air traffic controller staffing target.
May 17
UC workers avoid striking with an 11th-hour agreement; Governor Spanberger vetoes public employee collective bargaining protections; Samsung workers prepare for an 18-day strike.