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Fred Wang is a student at Harvard Law School.
Starbucks workers across the United States are in the middle of a historic unionization wave. A Washington Post profile dives deep into the organizing victory at a single Starbucks store in Buffalo that started it all. The article not only tracks the events leading up to the first unionized Starbucks in the country — including the company’s aggressive anti-union front — but also profiles some of the workers at the heart of the Buffalo organizing effort. Capturing the spotlight is Jaz Brisack, a 24-year-old Starbucks barista who — just months after completing a Rhodes Scholarship — jumpstarted the Buffalo union campaign. Although it is not yet clear how far the movement will spread, Brisack and her fellow workers have done what — just months ago — had felt unthinkable.
American trucking has a labor problem, a New York Times piece on U.S. truck-driver shortages details. Truck drivers work long, lonely, and stressful hours — spending much of their time “navigating the hazards of piloting a truck weighing 26,000 pounds and pulling a 53-foot trailer, while balancing the need to ingest caffeine against the imperative to limit bathroom breaks.” As one expert plainly put it, “[t]hese are just really bad jobs” — in part because industry deregulation eviscerated union power, turning a lucrative working-class job to a profession “best avoided.”
IBM executives sought to replace the company’s older workers with younger ones, according to documents recently unsealed by a federal district court. The materials reveal that top IBM officials discussed the need to increase the millennial share of the company’s workforce in order to keep pace with industry competitors. One especially notable email referred to older workers as “dinobabies” and mentioned a plan to make them an “extinct species.” The materials support claims made by former employees that the company engaged in age discrimination against older workers — though IBM says that the emails do not reflect company practices.
President Biden’s commitment to workers’ rights is refreshing — but will ultimately be unavailing if Congress doesn’t budge on labor law reform, Timothy Noah argues in a recent New Republic article. The Biden administration recently released a task-force report identifying ways it can empower workers and boost union membership. But, as Noah points out, “there’s little of much significance that President Biden can do outside the public sector without passing some or all of the [PRO] Act.” And unless Democrats are willing to dispose of the filibuster, President Biden’s stated ambition of significantly protecting workers and promoting unions will remain just that.
Daily News & Commentary
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July 17
Senator J.D. Vance joins Donald Trump’s campaign, targeting pro-labor voters, Project 2025 includes gutting the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and Seattle Boeing workers prepare for a strike vote.
July 16
Teamsters president speaks at RNC; Starbucks decertification campaign fails; Biden taps new PBGC leader
July 15
Workday bias suit moves forward; DOL proposes new LMRDA rule; Bronx Defenders to go on ULP strike
July 14
Teamsters president to speak at RNC; youth work permit requirement rollbacks; eulogies to Jane McAlevey.
July 12
Dollar Tree and OSHA settle; union leaders split over Biden support; new report on low wages.
July 11
President Biden meets with union leadership and a New York law firm announces new applicant screening policy regarding student protest activity.