Yesterday, adding to a prominent series of firings related to sexual harassment and abuse allegations, NBC fired Matt Lauer, the co-host of the channel’s most profitable franchise, “Today.” NBC News Chairman said NBC news had received an allegation that he had made inappropriate sexual contact with a subordinate and had reason to believe this was not an isolated incident. A day after defending Al Franken, Garrison Keillor was fired by the Minnesota Public Radio for inappropriate behavior. Keillor had been the host of NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion. Time reports.
Federal Judge Loretta Preska of the Southern District of New York ruled this week that the records related to the details of Donald Trump’s settlement of 1998 class-action lawsuit over dangerous labor conditions be unsealed. The documents were originally requested by Time Inc and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. They revealed that Donald Trump paid $1.375 million in 1998 to settle the claims of 200 undocumented Polish workers who were paid half the minimum wage for 12-hour shifts without any safety equipment, ripping up electrical wires and concrete in clouds of dust and asbestos to demolish the Bonwit Teller building, where the Trump Tower now stands. The New York Times reports.
Because of a scheduling glitch, American Airlines currently has about 15,000 flights scheduled from December 17-31 without a pilot, co-pilot, or both. The pilots’ union, The Allied Pilots Association, has opposed American’s tactics to fill those spots by tapping reserve or on-call pilots and offering overtime pay for some flights. They claim that American is violating its labor contract by imposing a solution without union input, and is improperly restricting premium pay. Reuters and The Washington Post reports.
The Japanese government plans to lower the number of overtime hours workers can work, in order to reduce the country’s long working hours. Earlier as reported on the blog here, several news sources reported cases of karoshi, or death by overwork. The plans may save the Japanese government by as much as 5 trillion yen. Reuters reports.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
September 16
In today’s news and commentary, the NLRB sues New York, a flight attendant sues United, and the Third Circuit considers the employment status of Uber drivers The NLRB sued New York to block a new law that would grant the state authority over private-sector labor disputes. As reported on recently by Finlay, the law, which […]
September 15
Unemployment claims rise; a federal court hands victory to government employees union; and employers fire workers over social media posts.
September 14
Workers at Boeing reject the company’s third contract proposal; NLRB Acting General Counsel William Cohen plans to sue New York over the state’s trigger bill; Air Canada flight attendants reject a tentative contract.
September 12
Zohran Mamdani calls on FIFA to end dynamic pricing for the World Cup; the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement opens a probe into Scale AI’s labor practices; and union members organize immigration defense trainings.
September 11
California rideshare deal advances; Boeing reaches tentative agreement with union; FTC scrutinizes healthcare noncompetes.
September 10
A federal judge denies a motion by the Trump Administration to dismiss a lawsuit led by the American Federation of Government Employees against President Trump for his mass layoffs of federal workers; the Supreme Court grants a stay on a federal district court order that originally barred ICE agents from questioning and detaining individuals based on their presence at a particular location, the type of work they do, their race or ethnicity, and their accent while speaking English or Spanish; and a hospital seeks to limit OSHA's ability to cite employers for failing to halt workplace violence without a specific regulation in place.