Anita Alem is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news and commentary, Biden’s labor aide resigns and is replaced with a former union official, states continue to pass restrictions against nondisclosure agreements, and Mitch McConnell says that Americans are not participating in the labor market because they feel “flush for the moment.”
Seth Harris, a deputy assistant to President Biden on labor, recently resigned from his position at the White House for a teaching post at Northeastern University. Celeste Drake, who was previously a senior trade official at the AFL-CIO and the “Made in the America” director for the White House Office of Management and Budget, will be replacing Harris.
The #MeToo movement shone a light on how nondisclosure agreements (NDAs) imposed following sexual harassment settlements silenced workers. Bloomberg reports that fifteen states have responded within the past several years by passing laws restricting employers from imposing NDAs following claims of workplace sexual harassment. For example, California’s law outright bans NDAs in sexual harassment and assault claims, whereas Maine’s law, which goes into effect in August, permits NDAs in any discrimination claims only if the employer can demonstrate express monetary consideration in exchange for the agreement. Washington’s law, which went into effect in June, has gone even further to forbid NDAs altogether in all workplace discrimination and wage and hour claims.
On Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell shared that he believes the labor shortage is a result of potential workers “sitting on the sidelines because, frankly, they’re flush for the moment” as a result of stimulus checks that went out more than one year ago as part of pandemic relief. Instead, McConnell said, “What we’ve got to hope is once they run out of money, they’ll start concluding it’s better to work than not to work.” However, the Washington Post reports that unemployment rates are at historic lows while the gas and consumer goods prices are at historic highs, placing immense pressure on workers.
Daily News & Commentary
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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.
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.