Jon Weinberg is a student at Harvard Law School.
As the debate over the proposed settlement in O’Connor v. Uber continues, some advocates have focused on how deference to arbitration agreements is a fundamental problem. Katherine V.W. Stone writes for the Economic Policy Institute that “it is now more clear than ever that everyone who cares about employment rights and the fair treatment of workers should support federal legislation to end mandatory arbitration in employment and put workers and corporations on a more equal footing.” Stone reviews the Uber litigation in the context of developments with respect to arbitration, and concludes that ” Uber’s use of arbitration clauses could effectively wipe out all the class actions brought by drivers in all 50 states. Even if some judges adopt Judge Chen’s reasoning and invalidate the 2013 and 2014 arbitration agreements, Uber can and will modify their arbitration agreements to address any issues a court finds problematic going forward and require as a condition of continued employment that its drivers agree to give them retroactive application.”
The Verizon strike has entered its second month, and it’s clear Verizon has heard the strike’s effects. CNN Money reports that Verizon shares have lost 5% of their value since the strike began, while Motherboard notes that Verizon is urgently seeking temporary replacement workers to perform necessary work.
Unions continue to wrestle with the appeal of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to their constituencies. According to USA Today, the AFL-CIO is launching a major anti-Trump campaign in Rust Belt states in the coming weeks which “will include digital ad buys, door knocking and phone banking and is expected to reach between 5 million and 6 million voters in key swing states.” Meanwhile, Bloomberg investigates differing union positions on the Democratic primary and how “the split amid an unexpectedly contentious Democratic primary season has exposed contrasting agendas in organized labor. Trade unionists are exercised by international deals, which they blame for the loss of hundreds of thousands of manufacturing jobs. Service workers less affected by globalization advocate collective-bargaining rights and wage protection.”
Daily News & Commentary
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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
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 […]