Mackenzie Bouverat is a student at Harvard Law School.
Nikita yesterday joined a flurry of voices commenting on the “labor shortage” reported by American businesses — especially the restaurant industry. In support of the Chamber of Commerce’s call for a repeal of supplemental unemployment benefits, Republican Sen. Marco Rubio echoed Mitch McConnell‘s assertion that businesses cannot fill vacancies because “the government is paying [workers] to not go back to work.” Montana has already taken up the mantle, and announced the cancellation of federal government-funded supplemental benefits, citing the incentive effects of the benefit as his rationale; likewise, the Maine Department of Labor is re-instituting pre-pandemic “work search” requirements for unemployment applicants. Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon, the original author of the pandemic unemployment bonus last year, responds that other factors are at play—namely, ongoing concerns about contracting coronavirus and the unavailability of childcare. As Wall Street Journal’s Heather Long points out, the number of women employed or looking for work fell by 64,000 in the last jobs report; this, according to Long, evidences the fact that so-called worker shortages are related to the inaccessibility of childcare. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh agrees: in an interview with All Things Considered, said that getting women back into the workforce was a key component of full economic recovery, and that childcare was a necessary prerequisite.
The Biden administration intends to name Thea Lee, to head the Labor Department’s international affairs division. Lee, a former AFL-CIO trade official, will oversee the bureau which investigates international labor rights, child trafficking, and forced labor. She will also set policy on imports from China which are suspected to have been produced using forced labor. The role also involves the enforcement of the labor rights provisions of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which was negotiated during Trump’s presidency as a replacement for NAFTA.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
July 18
Trump names two NLRB nominees; Bernie Sanders introduces guaranteed universal pension plan legislation; the DOL ends its job training program for low-income seniors; and USCIS sunsets DALE.
July 17
EEOC resumes processing transgender workers' complaints; Senate questions Trump's NLRB General Counsel nominee; South Korean unions strike for reforms.
July 16
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services lays off thousands of employees; attorneys for the Trump Administration argue against revealing plans to reduce the workforce of federal agencies; and the Fourth Circuit grants an emergency stay on the termination of TPS for thousands of Afghans.
July 15
The Department of Labor announces new guidance around Occupational Safety and Health Administration penalty and debt collection procedures; a Cornell University graduate student challenges graduate student employee-status under the National Labor Relations Act; the Supreme Court clears the way for the Trump administration to move forward with a significant staff reduction at the Department of Education.
July 14
More circuits weigh in on two-step certification; Uber challengers Seattle deactivation ordinance.
July 13
APWU and USPS ratify a new contract, ICE barred from racial profiling in Los Angeles, and the fight continues over the dismantling of NIOSH