Leora Smith is a student at Harvard Law School.
A heartfelt, quick reminder that the Thanksgiving mythology is an immigrant mythology.
While many of us probably enjoyed produce from the California Valley as part of Thanksgiving dinner, The New York Times reports that a health and poverty crisis continues to harm California farmworkers and their families. Though farms in the California Valley are producing crops at record numbers, the low salaries paid to farmworkers means they often cannot afford to eat the nutritious food they grow.
Making its rounds on the internet today is this blog article, “Work is a Gift Our Kids Can Handle,” hosted by the Acton Institute.The article argues for rolling back child labor laws and reconsidering mandatory education for all children. Betsy DeVos, President-Elect Trump’s recently announced Secretary of Education, sat on the Institute’s board for ten years and reports say she has donated over one million dollars to the group.
The fourth anniversary of the Fight for $15 is coming up and organizers are preparing for the biggest wave of strikes yet, in a demonstration that the movement has no plans to slow down in the coming years. Five statewide ballot initiatives to increase the minimum wage were voted in alongside a new President on November 8th. Though the President-elect has not been clear on his minimum wage stance, organizers are confident that raising the minimum wage is a “winning issue,” even in the new political climate. Workers in a range of industries are planning to strike including baggage handlers, fast-food workers, teachers, janitors and homecare workers.
Daily News & Commentary
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March 12
EPA terminates contract with second-largest union; Florida advances bill restricting public sector unions; Trump administration seeks Supreme Court assistance in TPS termination.
March 11
The partial government shutdown results in TSA agents losing their first full paycheck; the Fifth Circuit upholds the certification of a class of former United Airline workers who were placed on unpaid leave for declining to receive the COVID-19 vaccine for religious reasons during the pandemic; and an academic group files a lawsuit against the State Department over a policy that revokes and denies visas to noncitizens for their work in fact-checking and content moderation.
March 10
Court rules Kari Lake unlawfully led USAGM, voiding mass layoffs; Florida Senate passes bill tightening union recertification rules; Fifth Circuit revives whistleblower suit against Lockheed Martin.
March 9
6th Circuit rejects Cemex, Board may overrule precedents with two members.
March 8
In today’s news and commentary, a weak jobs report, the NIH decides it will no longer recognize a research fellows’ union, and WNBA contract talks continue to stall as season approaches. On Friday, the Labor Department reported that employers cut 92,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.4 percent. A loss […]
March 6
The Harvard Graduate Students Union announces a strike authorization vote.