Edward Nasser is a student at Harvard Law School.
The ACLU filed a lawsuit in the Middle District of North Carolina on behalf of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) alleging that a new state law would make it all but impossible for the farmworkers’ union to continue operations. The lawsuit challenges the North Carolina Farm Act of 2017, which targets FLOC in two ways. First, the law invalidates contracts guaranteeing that employers will honor employees’ requests to deduct union dues from their paychecks. Second, the law invalidates settlement agreements negotiated by the union to advance farmworkers’ rights. The ACLU is making rights to association and equal protection arguments against the law.
More than half of US workers did not receive a salary raise in the past year, reports USA Today. A survey conducted by Bankrate.com also revealed that while Labor Department reports show average wages have gone up around 2.5% annually the last few years, most the gains are being reaped by more highly educated workers whose wages are growing faster than average. Just 17% of workers earning less than $30,000 a year got raises, compared to 43% of those earning $75,000 or more.
Jason Moyer-Lee, general secretary of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain, questions whether workers will actually get their rights after a UK appeals court ruled that Uber drivers are workers, not contractors. Mr. Moyer-Lee argues that last Friday’s ruling only reinforced what was already true: workers in Britain’s on-demand economy have always been entitled to employment rights under UK law. He concludes, “the fundamental problem of employment rights is a lack of enforcement of existing law.”
Daily News & Commentary
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September 17
Unions push to block Google from buying Spirit Airlines employment records; U.S. Department of Labor sues Oklahoma coffee chain over alleged wage violations.
September 16
Trump nominates Catherine Eschbach as EEOC general counsel; NLRB declines to resolve union work-assignment dispute; Allina Health physicians begin four-day strike.
September 15
Documents reveal the inner workings of Amazon's union avoidance program; Washington state public sector unions reach tentative deals amid a difficult bargaining cycle; hundreds of Nevada Culinary Union members protest their union's health care changes.
September 14
NCAA and Big Ten file motion to dismiss in former star player's NIL suit; Seventh Circuit rules against former postal worker in discrimination suit.
September 13
Documents released on the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks show that city officials encouraged workers to return to Ground Zero despite knowing the risks of asbestos exposure, and new polls demonstrate continued widespread support for labor unions.
September 10
Amazon workers allege pregnancy discrimination; federal unions challenge USDA reorganization; NYC warns of silicosis risks.