Maxwell Ulin is a student at Harvard Law School.
Unemployment claims dropped but held steady overall this past week, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning. Around 709,000 Americans filed first-time claims within the past seven days, on top of roughly 300,000 additional claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). The number of first-time claims marks a new low since March, but unemployment remains stubbornly high overall. Long-term joblessness is also a growing concern; the number of American who have transitioned over the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PUEC) program following the expiration of their state benefits now exceeds 4.1 million, up from 4 million last week.
Even as Trump continues to contest the election results in unprecedented fashion, a more traditional scramble has begun for cabinet and staff positions within the incoming Biden administration. Yesterday, President-elect Biden announced his intention to appoint Ron Klain as his Chief of Staff, much to pleasure of progressives. The fight for Labor Secretary of has been brewing; yesterday Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) publicly confirmed his interest in the position on CNN. Sanders’s efforts to garner support have been met with mixed reactions from union leaders, however. And with the Senate destined for either divided leadership or an outright Republican majority, the odds of Sanders’s confirmation appear limited. In the meantime, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka has been actively marshaling support among labor leaders for Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, as have AFT President Randi Weingarten and AFSCME President Lee Saunders. Meanwhile, Michigan Congressman Andy Levin, a former union organizer, has also been jockeying for the top DoL position and has already secured support from CWA and UAW leaders.
Daily News & Commentary
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August 26
Park employees at Yosemite vote to unionize; Philadelphia teachers reach tentative three-year agreement; a new report finds California’s union coverage remains steady even as national union density declines.
August 25
Consequences of SpaceX decision, AI may undermine white-collar overtime exemptions, Sixth Circuit heightens standard for client harassment.
August 24
HHS cancels union contracts, the California Supreme Court rules on minimum wage violations, and jobless claims rise
August 22
Musk and X move to settle a $500 million severance case; the Ninth Circuit stays an order postponing Temporary Protection Status terminations for migrants from Honduras, Nicaragua, and Nepal; the Sixth Circuit clarifies that an FMLA “estimate” doesn’t hard-cap unforeseeable intermittent leave.
August 21
FLRA eliminates ALJs; OPM axes gender-affirming care; H-2A farmworkers lose wage suit.
August 20
5th Circuit upholds injunctions based on challenges to NLRB constitutionality; Illinois to counteract federal changes to wage and hour, health and safety laws.