Anita Alem is a student at Harvard Law School.
The Federal Trade Commission has cemented a Democratic majority among the commissioners, as the Senate confirmed Professor Alvaro Bedoya on Wednesday. The 51-50 vote, with a tiebreaker from Vice President Kamala Harris, signals a shift that will empower Chair Lina Khan to advance her policy agenda after months of 2-2 deadlock between commissioners. Although Bedoya was first nominated in September 2021, his confirmation process was repeatedly stalled. Republicans criticized Bedoya as unfit for a bipartisan position given his previous social media posts criticizing the Trump administration. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which in April repeatedly urged Congress to continue delaying Bedoya’s confirmation, has already released a statement warning that Bedoya’s confirmation will hamper economic growth.
Hearings continued regarding President Biden’s nominee to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Kalpana Kotagal. Kotagal, who is an attorney at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC, responded to questions on Monday regarding her track record as a litigator and priorities for the EEOC. She expressed interest in addressing the gender pay gap and pregnancy discrimination if she were to receive the nomination. Kotagal is best known for designing the Hollywood “inclusion rider,” a contractual provision which mandates that film casts and crews must have a certain proportion of LGBT, women, and minorities.
Bloomberg Law reported that the number of investigators at the Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division has hit a 50-year low. Due in part to low morale, burnout, and frequent understaffing, 32 investigators have left over the past several months, despite the Division’s plan released in early 2022 to hire on 100 investigators. The total count of 725 investigators is down significantly from the approximately 1,000 investigators staffing the Division from 2010-2013. The attrition raises concerns regarding the agency’s ability to enforce critical employment laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
This week, several senators on the Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions introduced the Wage Theft Prevention and Wage Recovery Act. The bill aims to deter wage theft and improve recovery under the FLSA, including by increasing damages for substantive violations and retaliation claims and enhancing transparency and recordkeeping requirements. The committee’s press release stated that employers are estimated to steal around $50 billion each year through wage theft, disproportionately affecting low-wage and tipped workers.
In other labor news, President Biden delivered remarks at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers’ 40th Annual Conference, where he shared the administration’s advances in infrastructure improvements and reaffirmed his commitment to being the most pro-union president in U.S. history. Biden also touched on healthcare policy and increasing taxes on billionaires.
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June 5
Nail technicians challenge California classification; oral arguments in challenge to LGBTQ hiring protections; judge blocks Job Corps shutdown.
June 4
Federal agencies violate federal court order pausing mass layoffs; Walmart terminates some jobs in Florida following Supreme Court rulings on the legal status of migrants; and LA firefighters receive a $9.5 million settlement for failure to pay firefighters during shift changes.
June 3
Federal judge blocks Trump's attack on TSA collective bargaining rights; NLRB argues that Grindr's Return-to-Office policy was union busting; International Trade Union Confederation report highlights global decline in workers' rights.
June 2
Proposed budgets for DOL and NLRB show cuts on the horizon; Oregon law requiring LPAs in cannabis dispensaries struck down.
June 1
In today’s news and commentary, the Ninth Circuit upholds a preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration, a federal judge vacates parts of the EEOC’s pregnancy accommodation rules, and video game workers reach a tentative agreement with Microsoft. In a 2-1 decision issued on Friday, the Ninth Circuit upheld a preliminary injunction against the Trump Administration […]
May 30
Trump's tariffs temporarily reinstated after brief nationwide injunction; Louisiana Bill targets payroll deduction of union dues; Colorado Supreme Court to consider a self-defense exception to at-will employment