A continuing labor dispute between members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and shipowners continues to cause delays at West Coast seaports, the New York Times reports. Employees and management offer different explanations for the delays. The union says that the owners are deliberately worsening congestion at the ports to gain advantage at the bargaining table. Shipowners have limited night-shift activities and reduced nighttime payroll. The shipowners say that workers are deliberately slowing their work. The Wall Street Journal reports that terminal operators at the port will suspend the loading and unloading of vessels for four days.
The New York Times reports that Halliburton plans to lay off about 7 percent of its workforce. The company says the cuts are in response to falling oil prices. Oil workers continue to strike in Houston, Politico reports. The United Steelworkers made a proposal to Shell Oil to remove contractors and adequately staff facilities to ensure safe operations. The union is still waiting for a response.
In Kansas, Governor Brownback has rescinded a former Governor Sebelius’s order prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, the New York Times reports. Mr. Brownback says that Ms. Sebelius acted unilaterally and that legislators should not approve any expansion of anti-discrimination laws.
In an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, Scott Martelle describes the efforts of several members of the Republican Party to nullify new National Labor Relations Board regulations. The regulations, passed last year, would speed up the union election process and bar legal challenges before employees have an opportunity to vote.
In another Los Angeles Times op-ed, Michael McGough explores lower court’s applications of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, a case in which the Court found a “ministerial exception” to employment discrimination laws. For example, a Cincinnati federal appeals court ruled in favor of employer InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, who fired an employee whose marriage had collapsed.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
October 13
Texas hotel workers ratify a contract; Pope Leo visits labor leaders; Kaiser lays off over two hundred workers.
October 12
The Trump Administration fires thousands of federal workers; AFGE files a supplemental motion to pause the Administration’s mass firings; Democratic legislators harden their resolve during the government shutdown.
October 10
California bans algorithmic price-fixing; New York City Council passes pay transparency bills; and FEMA questions staff who signed a whistleblowing letter.
October 9
Equity and the Broadway League resume talks amid a looming strike; federal judge lets alcoholism ADA suit proceed; Philadelphia agrees to pay $40,000 to resolve a First Amendment retaliation case.
October 8
In today’s news and commentary, the Trump administration threatens no back pay for furloughed federal workers; the Second Circuit denies a request from the NFL for an en banc review in the Brian Flores case; and Governor Gavin Newsom signs an agreement to create a pathway for unionization for Uber and Lyft drivers.
October 7
The Supreme Court kicks off its latest term, granting and declining certiorari in several labor-related cases.