Nicholas Anway is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s news and commentary: Union workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art strike for better wages and healthcare; and a “Workers’ Right Amendment” will be on the ballot in Illinois this fall.
Nearly 200 union workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art are set to strike today, as contract negotiations with the Museum’s management remain unresolved. Workers from the Local 397 of AFSCME DC Local 47 said that the Museum has been unwilling to resolve concerns about fair wages and affordable healthcare. “We’re just asking for a living wage. Folks at the museum are working two jobs just to get by,” Adam Rizzo, President of Local 397, explained to ABC. “A lot of the positions at the museum require a master’s degree at the very least. So, a lot of folks are saddled with debt.” The Museum’s high-deductible health care plan is also a concern. “[I]t means we can’t afford to go to the doctor even though we have health care,” said Rizzo. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the museum remained open while workers picketed outside its entrances during a “warning strike” last Friday. In a statement, the Museum said that it was “deeply disappointed that the union has again chosen to strike,” and that it planned to open again today.
This fall, Illinois voters will decide whether to enshrine workers’ right to unionize and collectively bargain into their state constitution, the Chicago Tribune reported. The “Workers’ Right Amendment” would recognize worker organizing as a “fundamental right,” guaranteeing the right to organize for “the most common elements of collective bargaining, like wages, hours and working conditions,” and for “‘economic welfare and safety at work.’” The proposed amendment would also essentially ban right-to-work laws that prevent companies and unions from requiring union membership as a condition of employment. As Marc Poulos, the “Vote Yes for Workers’ Rights” campaign committee’s counsel and executive director of the Indiana, Illinois, Iowa Foundation for Fair Contracting, told the Tribune, “[t]his would be the strongest constitutional protection in a state constitution in the country.”
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July 2
Block, Nanda, and Nayak argue that the NLRA is under attack, harming democracy; the EEOC files a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former EEOC Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels; and SEIU Local 1000 strikes an agreement with the State of California to delay the state's return-to-office executive order for state workers.
July 1
In today’s news and commentary, the Department of Labor proposes to roll back minimum wage and overtime protections for home care workers, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by public defenders over a union’s Gaza statements, and Philadelphia’s largest municipal union is on strike for first time in nearly 40 years. On Monday, the U.S. […]
June 30
Antidiscrimination scholars question McDonnell Douglas, George Washington University Hospital bargained in bad faith, and NY regulators defend LPA dispensary law.
June 29
In today’s news and commentary, Trump v. CASA restricts nationwide injunctions, a preliminary injunction continues to stop DOL from shutting down Job Corps, and the minimum wage is set to rise in multiple cities and states. On Friday, the Supreme Court held in Trump v. CASA that universal injunctions “likely exceed the equitable authority that […]
June 27
Labor's role in Zohran Mamdani's victory; DHS funding amendment aims to expand guest worker programs; COSELL submission deadline rapidly approaching
June 26
A district judge issues a preliminary injunction blocking agencies from implementing Trump’s executive order eliminating collective bargaining for federal workers; workers organize for the reinstatement of two doctors who were put on administrative leave after union activity; and Lamont vetoes unemployment benefits for striking workers.