Jon Weinberg is a student at Harvard Law School.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Southwest Airlines has reached a tentative agreement with the Transport Workers Union local representing 12,000 of its flight attendants. The deal “would run through May 2019 and provide wage increases, bonus opportunities and work-rule adjustments.” Negotiations have been difficult and have lasted over two years.
According to The New York Times, the share of American teenagers working has plummeted since 2000 and those who most need jobs are often least likely to get them. While experts are unsure of the reason for the precipitous decline in the summer teenage work force, possible factors include an increase in summer school attendance, a longer school year, and off-season athletics practices. Adults may also be crowding out teenagers, and government funding for teenage summer employment has decreased. The article discusses municipal efforts to promote paid work and pressure to take unpaid internships instead of employment.
VICE notes “a controversial piece of legislation ostensibly aimed at increasing transparency in Canada’s labor unions, and on track to become law by next week, could have negative implications for everyone from Sidney Crosby to your local shop steward.” The legislation would require all labor unions in Canada to disclose detailed financial records and logs of time spent on political activities. Labor unions are critical of the legislation and characterize it as political, while defenders believe the information disclosures would require unions to operate at a higher standard. The information from disclosures would be published online.
Ross Perlin criticizes the recent Second Circuit ruling on the test for legal unpaid internships, previously covered by OnLabor, in a New York Times op-ed. Perlin says the judges “ignored the legal standard and ethical principle that work merits pay” and noted that the ruling significantly limits the ability of interns to pursue class action lawsuits, ignoring the complicity of universities while disregarding the benefits employers derive from interns. In response to interns lacking basic workplace protections, Perlin argues for legislation on intern protection and intern pay.
Meanwhile, USA Today reports that 94% of the members of Congress who support legislation to increase the minimum wage do not pay their interns. The article notes government interns are not covered by Fair Labor Standards Act and the law governing them allows for unpaid internships even when interns complete “employment duties.”
Daily News & Commentary
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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.