Los Angeles has become the latest city to implement a $15 per hour minimum wage, according to the New York Times. In a 14-1 vote, the city council approved a plan to increase the minimum wage from $9 to $15 by 2020. Los Angeles County, moreover, is considering a plan to similarly increase wages in surrounding areas that are not part of the city of Los Angeles. According to the Times, “proponents of the wage increase say they expect that several nearby cities, including Santa Monica, West Hollywood and Pasadena, will also approve higher wages.” The Los Angeles Times has further coverage.
The Washington Post reports that Democrats in Congress are increasingly skeptical about the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Of particular concern is whether the deal will adequately ensure that participating countries implement higher labor standards for their workers. Taking Vietnam as an example, Democratic Representative Sander Levin told the Post that “[a]t this point, there are no commitments from Vietnam to take any steps” and said that he had “no confidence that it will be done before we vote.” That the deal would include “enforceable improvements in the labor standards of participating countries” has been central to the Obama administration’s arguments in favor of the plan.
In her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton has thus far remained neutral on the Trans-Pacific Partnership, although she was “a one-time booster of the pact,” according to the Wall Street Journal. Despite this, she continues to enjoy the strong support of labor unions, who have been staunch opponents of the trade deal but who “don’t appear eager to bloody the Democrats’ front-runner for the nomination.”
In further international news, the Associated Press reports on the lack of labor rights for refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria. Many of these refugees work in Jordan and Lebanon, “usually for far less than what local residents would accept, driving down wages across the board for unskilled labor.” The humanitarian crisis has been further exacerbated by cuts to U.N. aid programs.
Daily News & Commentary
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July 11
Regional director orders election without Board quorum; 9th Circuit pauses injunction on Executive Order; Driverless car legislation in Massachusetts
July 10
Wisconsin Supreme Court holds UW Health nurses are not covered by Wisconsin’s Labor Peace Act; a district judge denies the request to stay an injunction pending appeal; the NFLPA appeals an arbitration decision.
July 9
the Supreme Court allows Trump to proceed with mass firings; Secretary of Agriculture suggests Medicaid recipients replace deported migrant farmworkers; DHS ends TPS for Nicaragua and Honduras
July 8
In today’s news and commentary, Apple wins at the Fifth Circuit against the NLRB, Florida enacts a noncompete-friendly law, and complications with the No Tax on Tips in the Big Beautiful Bill. Apple won an appeal overturning a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) decision that the company violated labor law by coercively questioning an employee […]
July 7
LA economy deals with fallout from ICE raids; a new appeal challenges the NCAA antitrust settlement; and the EPA places dissenting employees on leave.
July 6
Municipal workers in Philadelphia continue to strike; Zohran Mamdani collects union endorsements; UFCW grocery workers in California and Colorado reach tentative agreements.