Anita Alem is a student at Harvard Law School.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court heard oral argument regarding whether a worker who has signed a private arbitration agreement, under which all legal disputes must be handled outside of court, may sue their employer in court under a California labor law that permits private people to bring a public enforcement action. The law, called the Private Attorneys General Act, authorizes private individuals to sue employers for California labor code violations; if the lawsuit is successful, the damages are split with the state. The Court considered whether the California labor law is preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), a 1925 law that the Court has interpreted broadly over the past several decades. Viking River Cruises was the second FAA case the Supreme Court heard this week, after Monday’s oral argument in Saxon regarding what class of workers are exempted from the FAA as interstate employees, as Tala reported on Tuesday.
The Bessemer, Alabama Amazon warehouse union election, which ran via mail from February 4 to March 25, had only 39% turnout according to the Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Union (RWDSU). The election is the second attempt in the Bessemer warehouse. As Jon Levitan reported last November, the NLRB determined Amazon interfered within the previous election, which had 55% turnout, in part because Amazon installed a mailbox to intimidate workers into thinking the company would have access to union ballots. Ballot counting in this election will begin as early as Thursday.
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April 24
NLRB seeks to compel Amazon to collectively bargain with San Francisco warehouse workers, DoorDash delivery workers and members of Los Deliveristas Unidos rally for pay transparency, and NLRB takes step to drop lawsuit against SpaceX over the firing of employees who criticized Elon Musk.
April 22
DOGE staffers eye NLRB for potential reorganization; attacks on federal workforce impact Trump-supporting areas; Utah governor acknowledges backlash to public-sector union ban
April 21
Bryan Johnson’s ULP saga before the NLRB continues; top law firms opt to appease the EEOC in its anti-DEI demands.
April 20
In today’s news and commentary, the Supreme Court rules for Cornell employees in an ERISA suit, the Sixth Circuit addresses whether the EFAA applies to a sexual harassment claim, and DOGE gains access to sensitive labor data on immigrants. On Thursday, the Supreme Court made it easier for employees to bring ERISA suits when their […]
April 18
Two major New York City unions endorse Cuomo for mayor; Committee on Education and the Workforce requests an investigation into a major healthcare union’s spending; Unions launch a national pro bono legal network for federal workers.
April 17
Utahns sign a petition supporting referendum to repeal law prohibiting public sector collective bargaining; the US District Court for the District of Columbia declines to dismiss claims filed by the AFL-CIO against several government agencies; and the DOGE faces reports that staffers of the agency accessed the NLRB’s sensitive case files.