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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June 30
Antidiscrimination scholars question McDonnell Douglas, George Washington University Hospital bargained in bad faith, and NY regulators defend LPA dispensary law.
June 29
In today’s news and commentary, Trump v. CASA restricts nationwide injunctions, a preliminary injunction continues to stop DOL from shutting down Job Corps, and the minimum wage is set to rise in multiple cities and states. On Friday, the Supreme Court held in Trump v. CASA that universal injunctions “likely exceed the equitable authority that […]
June 27
Labor's role in Zohran Mamdani's victory; DHS funding amendment aims to expand guest worker programs; COSELL submission deadline rapidly approaching
June 26
A district judge issues a preliminary injunction blocking agencies from implementing Trump’s executive order eliminating collective bargaining for federal workers; workers organize for the reinstatement of two doctors who were put on administrative leave after union activity; and Lamont vetoes unemployment benefits for striking workers.
June 25
Some circuits show less deference to NLRB; 3d Cir. affirms return to broader concerted activity definition; changes to federal workforce excluded from One Big Beautiful Bill.
June 24
In today’s news and commentary, the DOL proposes new wage and hour rules, Ford warns of EV battery manufacturing trouble, and California reaches an agreement to delay an in-person work mandate for state employees. The Trump Administration’s Department of Labor has advanced a series of proposals to update federal wage and hour rules. First, the […]