
Zachary Boullt is a student at Harvard Law School.
As pandemic restrictions have loosened across the United States, workers in the restaurant, hotel, retail, and salon industries have received half of all payroll gains in June. Raises and hiring bonuses in those industries have also begun to outpace the overall wage growth rate and inflation, though wages still fall below the overall private-sector average hourly wage.
Yahoo! Finance has reported on an increase in the hiring of teens to fill hiring gaps as businesses reopen. Teenagers accounted for 36% of recent hires in June, in comparison to a median rate of 10% during this same period from 2017 to 2019. Fewer teens are currently out-of-work than at any time over the past six decades. Wages paid to teens have also increased by 13% over the past couple of months.
The Chicago Sun-Times has profiled the recent labor activism of the Industrial Workers of the World. The piece focuses on a recent collective bargaining agreement with Dill Pickle Food Co-Op that the IWW helped secure, along with eight meritorious complaints filed with the NLRB over the co-op’s anti-union activities. The IWW’s international headquarters is still in Chicago and spends much of its time forming and supporting locals and affiliate unions. Representatives of the IWW spoke with optimism when interviewed about growing collective consciousness of issues of labor, imperialism, war, race, and class.
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July 4
The DOL scraps a Biden-era proposed rule to end subminimum wages for disabled workers; millions will lose access to Medicaid and SNAP due to new proof of work requirements; and states step up in the noncompete policy space.
July 3
California compromises with unions on housing; 11th Circuit rules against transgender teacher; Harvard removes hundreds from grad student union.
July 2
Block, Nanda, and Nayak argue that the NLRA is under attack, harming democracy; the EEOC files a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former EEOC Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels; and SEIU Local 1000 strikes an agreement with the State of California to delay the state's return-to-office executive order for state workers.
July 1
In today’s news and commentary, the Department of Labor proposes to roll back minimum wage and overtime protections for home care workers, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by public defenders over a union’s Gaza statements, and Philadelphia’s largest municipal union is on strike for first time in nearly 40 years. On Monday, the U.S. […]
June 30
Antidiscrimination scholars question McDonnell Douglas, George Washington University Hospital bargained in bad faith, and NY regulators defend LPA dispensary law.
June 29
In today’s news and commentary, Trump v. CASA restricts nationwide injunctions, a preliminary injunction continues to stop DOL from shutting down Job Corps, and the minimum wage is set to rise in multiple cities and states. On Friday, the Supreme Court held in Trump v. CASA that universal injunctions “likely exceed the equitable authority that […]