Lolita De Palma is a student at Harvard Law School.
California has experienced significant union growth—139,000 workers were unionized in the past year. 16.5% of California’s workforce is now unionized. Steve Smith, spokesman for the California Labor Federation, said, “We’re seeing a reinvigoration in organizing across California, including in healthcare, online media, technology, and entertainment.”
As Annie reported yesterday, Clean Slate for Worker Power, an initiative of Harvard Law School’s Labor and Worklife Program, released its final report on Thursday. The initiative brought together a diverse group of activists and scholars to recommend policies to empower working people. The report advocates for an entirely new system of labor law that will enable working people to build collective organizations to increase their bargaining power with employers. The Harvard Gazette interviewed Sharon Block and Benjamin Sachs, the authors of the report, who explained that a “clean slate” is necessary for labor law because “the system we have is so fundamentally broken that tweaking it or amending it is no longer a sufficient response.”
Today, unions in France made a final push to oppose President Emmanuel Macron’s sweeping pension plan. Thousands took to the streets, disrupting traffic and forcing schools to shut down. Now that the health minister has officially presented the bill to President Macron and his cabinet, Parliament can begin to debate the proposals next month.
Presidential hopefuls have been looking to unions for endorsements in the upcoming Democratic primaries. While Senator Bernie Sanders has been receiving significant union support, Pete Buttigieg has not been endorsed by a single union.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
August 27
The U.S. Department of Justice welcomes new hires and forces reassignments in the Civil Rights Division; the Ninth Circuit hears oral arguments in Brown v. Alaska Airlines Inc.; and Amazon violates federal labor law at its air cargo facility in Kentucky.
August 26
Park employees at Yosemite vote to unionize; Philadelphia teachers reach tentative three-year agreement; a new report finds California’s union coverage remains steady even as national union density declines.
August 25
Consequences of SpaceX decision, AI may undermine white-collar overtime exemptions, Sixth Circuit heightens standard for client harassment.
August 24
HHS cancels union contracts, the California Supreme Court rules on minimum wage violations, and jobless claims rise
August 22
Musk and X move to settle a $500 million severance case; the Ninth Circuit stays an order postponing Temporary Protection Status terminations for migrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal; the Sixth Circuit clarifies that an FMLA “estimate” doesn’t hard-cap unforeseeable intermittent leave.
August 21
FLRA eliminates ALJs; OPM axes gender-affirming care; H-2A farmworkers lose wage suit.