Maddy Joseph is a student at Harvard Law School.
Trump officially announced new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum yesterday, with industry workers standing on as he signed the proclamation. As many have reported, the tariffs are billed as a measure to protect American manufacturing workers, but the steel and aluminum industries don’t employ many, and other manufacturing industries could strain under higher prices for foreign steel and aluminum.
The Democratic Party is hurt by right to work laws, a piece in the Times by public policy scholars and an economist concludes. The authors took a quantitative look at how vote trends in adjoining counties across state lines diverge after one state passes a right to work law. After an anti-union law, the makeup of a state legislature also changes, with fewer legislators supporting policies like a higher minimum wage.
The NLRB’s joint employment controversy continues. Bloomberg reports a last ditch-effort by Hy-Brand Industrial Contractors, the company at the center of the NLRB’s most recent but now-vacated joint employment ruling. Hy-Brand will ask the Board to re-examine its decision to vacate, alleging that several members improperly shut Member William Emanuel out of the decisionmaking process days before the initial ruling. The NLRB vacated the initial ruling after the Board’s Inspector general found that Emanuel should have recused himself from participation in the case because of a conflict of interest.
The end of the West Virginia teachers’ strike brought stories about the strike’s origin and meaning. A piece in the Times describes why rank-and-file members decided to break with union leadership to continue striking and argues that labor turns to activism when unions are weakened. Buzzfeed looked into the pivotal role Facebook played in the organizing; the Times echoed this in a broader story about the planning preceding the strike. Finally, in the Times and Dissent, Sarah Jaffe puts the strike in the context of the storied and militant labor history of West Virginia.
Daily News & Commentary
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August 15
Columbia University quietly replaces graduate student union labor with non-union adjunct workers; the DC Circuit Court lifts the preliminary injunction on CFPB firings; and Grubhub to pay $24.75M to settle California driver class action.
August 14
Judge Pechman denies the Trump Administration’s motion to dismiss claims brought by unions representing TSA employees; the Trump Administration continues efforts to strip federal employees of collective bargaining rights; and the National Association of Agriculture Employees seeks legal relief after the USDA stopped recognizing the union.
August 13
The United Auto Workers (UAW) seek to oust President Shawn Fain ahead of next year’s election; Columbia University files an unfair labor practice (ULP) charge against the Student Workers of Columbia-United Auto Workers for failing to bargain in “good faith”; and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) terminates its collective bargaining agreement with four unions representing its employees.
August 12
Trump nominates new BLS commissioner; municipal taxpayers' suit against teachers' union advances; antitrust suit involving sheepherders survives motion to dismiss
August 11
Updates on two-step FLSA certification, Mamdani's $30 minimum wage proposal, dangers of "bossware."
August 10
NLRB Acting GC issues new guidance on ULPs, Trump EO on alternative assets in401(k)s, and a vetoed Wisconsin bill on rideshare driver status