On Thursday, an NLRB judge ruled that Wal-Mart acted illegally in firing workers that objected to poor working conditions by participating in the “Ride for Respect” protest. Sixteen employees were reinstated.
Perhaps not unrelatedly, the Wall Street Journal reports that Wal-Mart plans to give nearly all of its store employees in the U.S. at least a 2% wage increase. Nearly 1.2 million employees will benefit from the increase. Wal-Mart hopes this move will ultimately help the company reduce the rate at which the company loses store workers (currently about half a million employees per year) and avoid the attendant costs of hiring and training new employees.
According to the New York Times, older workers are attracted to the supplemental income and flexibility that comes with being an Uber driver. According to a 2014-2015 survey, almost one fourth of Uber drivers are aged 50 or above. Older drivers are increasingly signing up to work for the ridesharing company looking to augment their income after retirement in an economy that makes it difficult to find full-time employment. Uber has partnered with AARP and Life Reimagined in an effort to recruit more drivers. While the extra cash and the ability to shape their own employment terms is attractive, many drivers complain that working for Uber as a full-time gig forces them to work upwards 0f 50 hours/week just to earn a living wage.
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November 21
The “Big Three” record labels make a deal with an AI music streaming startup; 30 stores join the now week-old Starbucks Workers United strike; and the Mine Safety and Health Administration draws scrutiny over a recent worker death.
November 20
Law professors file brief in Slaughter; New York appeals court hears arguments about blog post firing; Senate committee delays consideration of NLRB nominee.
November 19
A federal judge blocks the Trump administration’s efforts to cancel the collective bargaining rights of workers at the U.S. Agency for Global Media; Representative Jared Golden secures 218 signatures for a bill that would repeal a Trump administration executive order stripping federal workers of their collective bargaining rights; and Dallas residents sue the City of Dallas in hopes of declaring hundreds of ordinances that ban bias against LGBTQ+ individuals void.
November 18
A federal judge pressed DOJ lawyers to define “illegal” DEI programs; Peco Foods prevails in ERISA challenge over 401(k) forfeitures; D.C. court restores collective bargaining rights for Voice of America workers; Rep. Jared Golden secures House vote on restoring federal workers' union rights.
November 17
Justices receive petition to resolve FLSA circuit split, vaccine religious discrimination plaintiffs lose ground, and NJ sues Amazon over misclassification.
November 16
Boeing workers in St. Louis end a 102-day strike, unionized Starbucks baristas launch a new strike, and Illinois seeks to expand protections for immigrant workers