Alexa Kissinger is a student at Harvard Law School.
Today, President Trump met with two dozen chief executives of major U.S. companies and reiterated campaign promises to bring millions of jobs back to the United States. USA Today reports that yesterday in advance of the meeting, Business Roundtable, a trade group that represents large U.S. companies, sent a letter to the Trump Administration listing ideas for regulatory relief, and voicing concern for “unintended consequences” resulting from recent Administration policies. Before meeting with Mr. Trump, the CEOs broke into working groups and discussed topics including taxes, infrastructure, and regulation.
According to POLITICO, Governor Chris Christie turned down President Trump’s offer to be his nominee for Secretary of Labor. Reportedly, Governor Christie declined the offer last Tuesday, between when Mr. Trump’s first nominee, Andrew Puzder, lost Senate support, withdrew his nomination, and was replaced by former U.S. Attorney Alexander Acosta.
Today in Chicago, the largest state employee union voted in favor of authorizing a strike over a longstanding contract dispute with Governor Rauner. The Chicago Tribune reports that talks between AFSCME and the governor’s team stalled more than a year ago. The union hopes the vote, which passed with 81 percent of eligible members, will spur the governor’s negotiators back to the bargaining table.
The New York Times Magazine published a series of pieces on the Future of Work. The magazine includes a riveting series of photos and pieces about the emerging face of the American working class. Telling a story of technological progress, changing consumer preferences, shifting racial demographics, and the rise of service-sector employment, one article paints a picture of the American workforce through the lives of nine workers.
Yesterday, Ed Garvey, former leader of the National Football League’s players’ union, passed away at age 76. According to The New York Times, he led the players’ union to two strikes during a dozen years as its executive director and later became a progressive political activist in his home state of Wisconsin.
Daily News & Commentary
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November 21
Workers at electric vehicle battery production complex in Kentucky launch campaign to join the UAW; Amazon workers at company’s largest air facility on the West Coast start union drive to join the Teamsters; and medical residents and fellows affiliated with Brown University organize to join CIR/SEIU Healthcare.
November 20
Philadelphia unions plan a joint strike, Greece faces a 24-hour general strike, and University of California unions set strikes for today and tomorrow.
November 19
Fifth Circuit hears challenges to NLRB; Democratic NLRB majority may be ending soon; building trades unions criticize Democratic party
November 18
In today’s News & Commentary, the Democratic Party Union blasts staff layoffs and Philadelphia city workers threaten mass strike. The Democratic National Committee Staff Union has criticized party leadership following several days of layoffs in the wake of the 2024 election loss. The union claims these cuts go beyond typical post-election turnover and have impacted […]
November 17
DOL overtime rule struck down; Cornell Graduate Student Union speaks on campus repression.
November 15
In today’s News & Commentary, Philadelphia’s largest city workers union authorizes a strike, video game union at Microsoft completes one-day strike, and Massachusetts teachers’ unions are fined. District 33, a union of Philadelphia city workers, has authorized a strike. The union represents 9,000 mostly blue-collar workers, including sanitation workers. Workers are dissatisfied with the city’s […]