Anita Alem is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news and commentary: Chipotle closes store following workers’ push to unionize, staffing firms sue NLRB General Counsel Abruzzo over captive audience meetings, and Kellogg MorningStar plant workers file to unionize.
On Wednesday, Chipotle United workers filed a complaint with the NLRB alleging Chipotle closed down its Augusta, Maine location in retaliation for workers filing for a union. In late June, workers at the Maine store were the first Chipotle location to file for a union election, followed closely by a Michigan location filing in early July. The NLRB previously filed a complaint against Chipotle in 2019 and found that Chipotle had intimidated and fired workers who were attempting to unionize. Chipotle stated that the closure was not a union-busting move but was instead a result of staffing shortages.
Bloomberg reported that several staffing firms have filed suit against NLRB General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo in federal court in Texas, arguing that Abruzzo’s memo against captive-audience meetings is unconstitutional. The lawsuit states that “[t]he new interpretation prohibits employers from speaking to employees about unionization” and “directly restricts employer speech on the basis of its content, viewpoint, and speaker.” As Tascha reported in April, Abruzzo’s memo stated that captive audience meetings where employees are cornered by management or forced to convene to hear anti-union rhetoric are unlawful under the NLRA. This interpretation would reverse decades of anti-union judicial precedent and potentially significantly embolden union elections.
In more labor news, workers at a Kellogg MorningStar manufacturing plant in Zanesville, Ohio filed a petition for union representation with the NLRB on Tuesday. The nearly 300 workers at the plant are seeking to organize with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco, and Grain Millers International Union. A union representative said the workers are “fighting against mandatory overtime, favoritism, and high health-insurance costs.” Late last year, 1,400 workers at Kellogg, who are represented by the BCTGM as well, were on strike for nearly three months and negotiated to dismantle the two-tiered benefits system that Kellogg had imposed.
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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.
September 9
Ninth Circuit revives Trader Joe’s lawsuit against employee union; new bill aims to make striking workers eligible for benefits; university lecturer who praised Hitler gets another chance at First Amendment claims.
September 8
DC Circuit to rule on deference to NLRB, more vaccine exemption cases, Senate considers ban on forced arbitration for age discrimination claims.
September 7
Another weak jobs report, the Trump Administration's refusal to arbitrate with federal workers, and a district court judge's order on the constitutionality of the Laken-Riley Act.