
Leigh Thomas is a student at Harvard Law School.
Yesterday, the Trump Administration announced a plan for a $1 trillion stimulus, which would include $250 billion in direct checks to Americans by the end of April. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Republican senators that he envisioned direct payments covering two weeks of pay would go out by the end of April. Secretary Mnuchin warned that without government intervention, the unemployment rate could rise to nearly 20 percent. The Trump plan also will allow individuals to defer income tax payments, interest free and penalty free, for 90 days. Republican senators have been reluctant to embrace the narrower relief package passed by the House (as Zach and Deanna have covered recently). However, given the urgency of the mounting crisis, Senator Mitch McConnell said the Senate would try to pass the House bill before moving on to larger interventions.
The New York Times has shone a spotlight on several industries hard hit by layoffs during the COVID-19 crisis. Marriott International announced yesterday it would be furloughing tens of thousands of employees worldwide. Backstage workers of the touring industry are also suffering as concerts and most large gatherings are cancelled for the foreseeable future. These workers, including sound engineers, lighting technicians, and production assistants most often work freelance and are not unionized, leaving them without meaningful employment protections. New York’s unemployment insurance website crashed on Monday due to the volume of applications from newly laid off workers. The Economic Policy Institute forecasts that the coronavirus shock will likely claim 3 million jobs by summer.
Not all businesses are engaged in layoffs. Amazon announced on Monday that in order to meet rising demand of orders for household goods, it will be hiring for 100,000 roles, and will increase pay by $2/hr.
The Detroit Department of Transportation shut down all bus service yesterday after bus drivers refused to work due to concerns about the coronavirus. The drivers stated they lacked important protections from the virus: buses were not cleaned frequently enough, and drivers are unable to wash their hands due to widespread business closures. By the end of the day, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and representatives from three unions announced that the city would restore bus service by Wednesday. This announcement came along with promises to clean buses more frequently and make restrooms for hand washing available for drivers along their routes. This incident highlights the issues that confront workers in “necessary” sectors, unable to shut down during the COVID-19 crisis.
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.