Maddy Joseph is a student at Harvard Law School.
The June jobs report was released this morning. There’s coverage here and here. In anticipation of the report, coverage in major papers this week remarked on the economy’s continued slow expansion and the slower-than-last-year jobs growth in the first five months of 2017.
The Department of Labor filed a brief defending most of its fiduciary rule, which was developed during the Obama Administration and partially implemented on June 9. The Department of Labor did not defend the rule’s anti-arbitration condition “[i]n light of the position adopted by the Acting Solicitor General” in NLRB v. Murphy Oil. See some of our previous coverage of the fiduciary rule here.
In Uber news, the New York Times details the mounting evidence that the company deducted far more than it has acknowledged from drivers’ earnings to pay New York State taxes that were supposed to be paid by passengers.
Yesterday, the New York Times had an editorial about stagnating wages and rising income inequality. Citing a recent NBER Working Paper, the editorial explained: “As workers lose ground, inequality deepens, because money that would flow to wages tends to flow instead to those at the top of the income ladder.” The Times argued that “[u]pdated overtime pay standards would raise pay broadly in the service sector, as would closing the gender pay gap, through better disclosure of corporate pay scales, anti-discrimination legislation and litigation.”
The changing U.S. job market also got some attention. The New York Times analyzed “How the Growth of E-Commerce is Shifting Retail Jobs.” And the Washington Post covered a new survey of Americans’ earnings from popular “gig economy” platforms, including Airbnb and Uber.
Daily News & Commentary
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August 13
EEOC complaint process expected to harm federal workers; former UAW leaders endorse Fain challenger; Xbox employees protest layoffs.
August 12
Third Circuit affirms dismissal of driver’s bias and retaliation claims against CBS and Teamsters; employment litigation surges in Washington state; MIT Sloan professor argues the rise of “disposable workers” is transforming American employment.
August 11
Rideshare drivers nearing union certification in California; UFCW campaigns against electronic shelf labels; Teamsters support NYC delivery driver bill.
August 10
Employee sues for a fossil-fuel-free 401(k) plan as a religious accommodation; DHS submits a proposed rule eliminating 60-day grace period for H-1B workers; Eighth Circuit dismisses constitutional challenge to the FMSHRC.
August 7
Starbucks beats claims it denied shifts to union workers; Center for State Labor Innovation aims to address labor law shortcomings.
August 6
Taylor Farms faces scrutiny over labor practices; Bipartisan labor bill gains momentum.