
Jason Vazquez is a staff attorney at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2023. His writing on this blog reflects his personal views and should not be attributed to the IBT.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Women’s National Soccer team—the reigning world champions—reached a $24 million settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation. The settlement resolves a class action the players filed in 2019 alleging violations of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII. The legal proceedings commenced nearly six years ago, when five star players filed a complaint with the EEOC in 2016 alleging pay discrimination. The players withdrew that complaint in 2019 and subsequently filed a lawsuit in federal court, which was dismissed a year later on the grounds that “the statements offered by [the players] are insufficient to establish a genuine dispute that WNT players are paid at a rate less than the rate paid to MNT players.” That decision was appealed to the Ninth Circuit, and Tuesday’s settlement, which includes millions of dollars in backpay for dozens of players and a pledge from U.S. Soccer to equalize salaries, was announced fewer than two weeks before hearings were scheduled to begin.
Although the historic rerun union election at the Amazon packaging facility in Bessemer, Alabama began less than three weeks ago, RWDSU, the union seeking certification, revealed on Tuesday that it has already filed three unfair labor practice charges against the e-commerce conglomerate. The charges allege that Amazon removed union literature from employee breakrooms, adopted a policy restricting employee access to the facility, and compelled employees to attend “captive audience meetings.” The third is likely the most interesting to labor adherents. Captive audience meetings, today a staple of employers’ sophisticated antiunion efforts, are not expressly protected by the NLRA, and in its early years the Board proscribed them as unlawfully coercive. In the wake of the Taft-Hartley amendments, however, the agency reversed course and repudiated its earlier ruling. In short, captive audience meetings are presently permitted as a matter of Board caselaw, a precedent which RWDSU is explicitly urging the current Board to reexamine.
In the latest on the “Starbucks unionization wildfire” blazing across the nation, Starbucks employees in Phoenix, Arizona, who initiated an organizing effort last month, recently alleged in a ULP charge that store management ran afoul of the NLRA by surveilling, disciplining, and discriminating against union supporters. As Kevin observed over the weekend, unionization drives have now been launched in more than 100 Starbucks locations across the country. The coffee giant has responded by shelling out gobs of cash to antiunion law firms and repeatedly transgressing federal labor law.
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September 17
A union argues the NLRB's quorum rule is unconstitutional; the California Building Trades back a state housing law; and Missouri proposes raising the bar for citizen ballot initiatives
September 16
In today’s news and commentary, the NLRB sues New York, a flight attendant sues United, and the Third Circuit considers the employment status of Uber drivers The NLRB sued New York to block a new law that would grant the state authority over private-sector labor disputes. As reported on recently by Finlay, the law, which […]
September 15
Unemployment claims rise; a federal court hands victory to government employees union; and employers fire workers over social media posts.
September 14
Workers at Boeing reject the company’s third contract proposal; NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cohen plans to sue New York over the state’s trigger bill; Air Canada flight attendants reject a tentative contract.
September 12
Zohran Mamdani calls on FIFA to end dynamic pricing for the World Cup; the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement opens a probe into Scale AI’s labor practices; and union members organize immigration defense trainings.
September 11
California rideshare deal advances; Boeing reaches tentative agreement with union; FTC scrutinizes healthcare noncompetes.