Benjamin Sachs is the Kestnbaum Professor of Labor and Industry at Harvard Law School and a leading expert in the field of labor law and labor relations. He is also faculty director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy. Professor Sachs teaches courses in labor law, employment law, and law and social change, and his writing focuses on union organizing and unions in American politics. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty in 2008, Professor Sachs was the Joseph Goldstein Fellow at Yale Law School. From 2002-2006, he served as Assistant General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Washington, D.C. Professor Sachs graduated from Yale Law School in 1998, and served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His writing has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the New York Times and elsewhere. Professor Sachs received the Yale Law School teaching award in 2007 and in 2013 received the Sacks-Freund Award for Teaching Excellence at Harvard Law School. He can be reached at [email protected].
Recognizing the potential folly in engaging with a Trump tweet, I thought it was worth two quick comments on what the President had to say about Janus. Here’s the tweet:
Supreme Court rules in favor of non-union workers who are now, as an example, able to support a candidate of his or her choice without having those who control the Union deciding for them. Big loss for the coffers of the Democrats!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 27, 2018
One, the first sentence of the tweet gets the the relevant law completely wrong. No worker, even before Janus, could ever be compelled to support a candidate they didn’t like. That decision was never within the “control” of the union, because unions could never charge for political activity.
Two, the second sentence of the tweet is more on point. In fact, this last sentence captures exactly what this line of cases – from Knox to Harris to Friedrichs to Janus – has always been about.
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December 2
New reporting on Trump DoL nominee; NLRB strikes down Starbucks dress code.
December 1
International trade politics create labor tension in France; Minnesota Uber/Lyft driver minimum wage law takes effect; DOL appeals decision vacating overtime rule
November 27
Lawsuit accuses supermarket chains of colluding during UFCW strike; Beth Israel residents and physicians organize; Mississippi judge blocks DOL farmworker protection rule
November 26
Whole Foods workers in Philly file for first-ever union under Amazon; Waffle House sues the NLRB; Amazon workers across the world threaten to strike and protest on Black Friday.
November 25
Charlotte Airport workers go on strike; the NLRB rules that Google is a joint employer; farm industry groups petition President-elect Trump to spare their workers from deportation
November 24
Trump picks Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer for Labor Secretary; German Volkswagen workers on the precipice of major strike.