Adi Kamdar is a student at Harvard Law School.
According to the BBC, the Institute of Directors, an organization of business leaders in the United Kingdom, surveyed 1,000 members and found that nearly two-thirds thought the Brexit vote was negative for their business—meaning workers will likely take a hit. A quarter of respondents planned to freeze recruitment, and 5% planned to cut jobs. In the last few days, two major banks, HSBC and Morgan Stanley, have announced plans to move thousands of jobs outside of England if the country successfully leaves the European Union.
Brittany Bonson, a casino worker in Las Vegas, applauds Hillary Clinton’s concrete plan to address child care in the United States through federal tax credits, relieving the burden on many low-income workers, but sees validity in Donald Trump’s business-based approach too. In her opinion piece in the New York Times, Bonson notes that while Clinton’s credits would be an economic boon for workers, the hospitality industry in Nevada—which employs 375,000 people—should be incentivized to step up its game too. Casino workers operate odd hours, making it difficult to find a child care facility that will accommodate their erratic schedules. Federal subsidies coupled with pressure on businesses to provide and encourage a workplace culture that supports child care “is not only an ethical proposition, but a worthwhile economic investment.”
Simon Johnson, a former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund and professor at MIT Sloan, has penned an opinion in the Boston Globe blasting Trump’s plans to impose huge tariffs on imports from countries like China and Mexico. Such tariffs would only be met by reciprocal tariffs, and too many U.S. jobs rely on our export economy for that to be a positive outcome. While many export-heavy states will likely be voting Democratic, Johnson notes that Texas, Florida, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota all have hundreds of thousands of export-supporting jobs.
A fascinating piece in In These Times highlights how workers in the wrestling and porn industries struggle to effectively organize. Professional wrestlers have deep pay disparities, despite the sport’s largely scripted nature, and few receive healthcare and other benefits. The porn industry has a history of sexual assault and often does not provide benefits (including requisite STI testing). “Both industries use freelance status to put performers through grueling schedules and scenes while evading responsibility for their safety and health-care.” Both industries profit on their performers bodies, “but fail to provide the resources or protections to preserve those bodies.”
Daily News & Commentary
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October 26
California labor unions back Proposition 50; Harvard University officials challenge a union rally; and workers at Boeing prepare to vote on the company’s fifth contract proposal.
October 24
Amazon Labor Union intervenes in NYS PERB lawsuit; a union engages in shareholder activism; and Meta lays off hundreds of risk auditing workers.
October 23
Ninth Circuit reaffirms Thryv remedies; unions oppose Elon Musk pay package; more federal workers protected from shutdown-related layoffs.
October 22
Broadway actors and producers reach a tentative labor agreement; workers at four major concert venues in Washington D.C. launch efforts to unionize; and Walmart pauses offers to job candidates requiring H-1B visas.
October 21
Some workers are exempt from Trump’s new $100,000 H1-B visa fee; Amazon driver alleges the EEOC violated mandate by dropping a disparate-impact investigation; Eighth Circuit revived bank employee’s First Amendment retaliation claims over school mask-mandate.
October 20
Supreme Court won't review SpaceX decision, courts uphold worker-friendly interpretation of EFAA, EEOC focuses on opioid-related discrimination.