This week, President Trump will make the expansion of apprenticeship programs the center of his labor policy. The Wall Street Journal reports that these programs could help fill the record number of job openings—6 million in April. While Trump’s proposed budget continues steady funding for apprenticeship, it cuts funding for other job-training programs by 40 percent.
At Fuyao, a Chinese-owned automotive glass plant in Dayton, Ohio, the New York Times reports that “a major culture clash is playing out on the factory floor.” As foreign companies work to align themselves with the Trump Administration’s promise to create U.S. jobs, Fuyao’s experience reveals potential challenges—including union campaigns and workplace condition lawsuits, both of which are unfamiliar to Chinese executives.
Although U.S. women account for just 57 percent of students enrolled in colleges and universities, they owe $833 billion in student loans (up from $223 billion in 2004), which is almost two-thirds of the national student loan debt of $1.3 trillion. While there are a variety of reasons for the disparity, the persistent gender pay gap is one key explanation.
In the Boston Globe’s opinion pages, Jeff Jacoby argues that even though income inequality rose during the same time period that union membership fell, revitalizing labor unions today will not reduce inequality. He points to globalization, automation, the Internet, and other large-scale changes in the workplace as reasons that unions are no longer relevant as major players in American life.
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July 16
Trump's NLRB nominee set for Senate vote, federal district court grants partial win on WARN Act claims, Brigham and Women's nurses return to work.
July 15
U.S. labor productivity climbs at its fastest pace in decades; a federal judge grants a preliminary injunction to anti-abortion groups challenging Michigan’s civil rights law; and Jackson, Mississippi’s bus workers walk off the job.
July 14
DOJ opens investigation of UAW president; LIUNA protests Pfizer building collapse; national park workers unionize
July 13
New York Times files retaliation suit against the EEOC; US government pushes back TPS designation termination for Haiti; federal judge grants preliminary injunction to federal workers seeking reasonable telework accommodations.
July 12
Postal workers demand investigation into Atlanta distribution center conditions following deaths; University of Chicago Press Workers vote to unionize.
July 10
Brigham and Women’s Hospital locks out 4,000 nurses after one-day strike; appeal filed challenging agency-shop agreements.