The New York Times reports that the powerful Culinary Workers Union in Nevada, typically known for strong political involvement and high voter turnout among its 57,000 members, has decided to sit out the democratic presidential caucases this weekend. Although both Clinton and Sanders’ campaigns have pushed the union leaders to change their minds, it seems like they aren’t budging. The union is refusing to take sides in order to save resources now as it enters into critical contract negotiations so that it can focus its resources on the general election later.
The NYT also highlights a number of states that are seeing Republicans at the state level of government passing bills that undermine progressive labor laws passed at the local and city level. Specifically, state legislators have pre-empted or nullified pro-labor laws including local minimum wage increases (AL, ID, IL, MN, MT, PA, and WA), fair scheduling laws (IN, KS, NM), paid leave ordinances (PA and WA). The backlash is “championed almost entirely by Republicans,” and speaks to “both to the successes of labor advocates and the strength of the forces arrayed against them.”
A law guaranteeing workers access to paid sick leave is about to pass in Vermont, according to Politico. The Senate’s version of the bill, which requires employers to give workers 3 paid sick days per year, was just approved by the Vermont House 81-64. The bill will now go to the governer for final approval.
Last week, the number of jobless claims in the U.S. fell to its lowest level since November, per the Wall Street Journal. In the week ending on Feb. 13, unemployment claims fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 262,000, indicating fewer layoffs and a strong labor market.
Daily News & Commentary
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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.
September 10
A federal judge denies a motion by the Trump Administration to dismiss a lawsuit led by the American Federation of Government Employees against President Trump for his mass layoffs of federal workers; the Supreme Court grants a stay on a federal district court order that originally barred ICE agents from questioning and detaining individuals based on their presence at a particular location, the type of work they do, their race or ethnicity, and their accent while speaking English or Spanish; and a hospital seeks to limit OSHA's ability to cite employers for failing to halt workplace violence without a specific regulation in place.