Maddy Joseph is a student at Harvard Law School.
A policy rider in the spending bill passed last night bars employers from skimming workers’ tips. As we noted earlier this week, Democrats sought the rider after controversy engulfed the Department of Labor’s effort to repeal an Obama Era tip regulation. The Trump rescission would have allowed employers to keep tips as long as workers were otherwise earning minimum wage. Democrats say that, despite the rider, they’re still seeking answers about reports earlier this week that Secretary Acosta and Mick Mulvaney, the head of OMB, pressed for the burial of a quantitative analysis predicting that $640 million in tips would be skimmed every year under the Trump rule. An audit of the rulemaking process is already underway by the DoL Inspector General.
Massive strikes by students, teachers, and transportation workers across France shuttered schools and halted transportation. President Emmanuel Macron, who has already pushed through major reforms of the country’s notoriously intricate code du travail, is gearing up to overhaul France’s public sector, slashing public workers, reforming state-run railways, and adjusting unemployment benefits and pensions.
Airport workers in the New York area are close to securing a $19 minimum wage after years of demanding raises. Many of the workers — at JFK, La Guardia, and Newark International Airports — currently earn state minimum wage, which is $15 in New York but only $8.60 across the river in New Jersey. The proposal to raise the wage over five years was approved by the directors of the Port Authority, the airports’ operator, and is expected to be adopted by the agency’s board this summer.
IBM has cut 20,000 workers over the age of 40 in the last five years. A ProPublica-Mother Jones investigation uncovers the company’s orchestrated strategy to replace an aging workforce with younger workers. In the process, “IBM has flouted or outflanked US laws and regulations intended to protect later-career workers from age discrimination.” IBM’s moves might foreshadow other corporations’ strategies for forcing out or replacing Baby Boomers.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
October 9
Equity and the Broadway League resume talks amid a looming strike; federal judge lets alcoholism ADA suit proceed; Philadelphia agrees to pay $40,000 to resolve a First Amendment retaliation case.
October 8
In today’s news and commentary, the Trump administration threatens no back pay for furloughed federal workers; the Second Circuit denies a request from the NFL for an en banc review in the Brian Flores case; and Governor Gavin Newsom signs an agreement to create a pathway for unionization for Uber and Lyft drivers.
October 7
The Supreme Court kicks off its latest term, granting and declining certiorari in several labor-related cases.
October 6
EEOC regains quorum; Second Circuit issues opinion on DEI causing hostile work environment.
October 5
In today’s news and commentary, HELP committee schedules a vote on Trump’s NLRB nominees, the 5th Circuit rejects Amazon’s request for en banc review, and TV production workers win their first union contract. After a nomination hearing on Wednesday, the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee scheduled a committee vote on President Trump’s NLRB nominees […]
October 3
California legislation empowers state labor board; ChatGPT used in hostile workplace case; more lawsuits challenge ICE arrests