Maia Usui is a student at Harvard Law School.
Fox News has paid out as much as $13 million to fend off sexual harassment claims against their top anchor, Bill O’Reilly. A New York Times investigation has revealed that five women (including employees) have received payouts either from O’Reilly or the network in exchange for their promise not to pursue litigation or speak out in public. This is the second sexual harassment scandal to hit Fox News in the last year: long-time chairman Roger Ailes resigned in July after several female employees accused him of inappropriate conduct.
President Trump’s nominee for Labor Secretary is on his way to the Senate floor. On Thursday the Senate HELP Committee approved Alexander Acosta. No date has been set for the confirmation vote, but the expectation is that he will be approved. And while Acosta has been welcomed as a far more qualified candidate than Trump’s last nominee, Andrew Puzder, some remain skeptical. The Nation warns that Acosta’s deference to the President’s labor policies — such as the rollback of overtime rules and the elimination of OSHA training grants — makes him “more dangerous” than he might appear.
Does the United States need a wall? Not according to the numbers, The New Yorker argues. A recent paper from researchers at UC San Diego reveals that the pace of undocumented immigration into the United States has slowed over the past decade, meaning that the competitive pressure on low-skilled jobs and wages is easing up. The dilemma facing the United States is not how to protect its borders, the researchers claim, but rather “how to prepare for a lower-immigration future.”
The bigger threat to jobs might be robots, as several recent reports have highlighted. Over at The Washington Post, Vivek Wadhwa and Jeff Greene argue that the future is bleak — 4 out of 10 jobs in the United States could be replaced by robots in the next fifteen years — and that the Trump administration is not doing enough to prepare for it.
Modern-day slavery is a reality, new data suggests. A report from Polaris, an organization that fights human trafficking, claims that many workers in the American food industry — from farms to restaurants and bars — are smuggled into the country and forced into jobs they cannot leave. Quartz has more.
Finally, in other news from the food industry, restaurants faced with a shortage in kitchen staff are looking for new ways to entice workers. According to NPR, some restaurants are experimenting with revenue sharing in order to reduce the wage gap between tipped and nontipped workers. Initial results have been encouraging.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
August 5
In today’s news and commentary, a pension fund wins at the Eleventh Circuit, casino unionization in Las Vegas, and DOL’s work-from-home policy changes. A pension fund for unionized retail and grocery workers won an Eleventh Circuit appeal against Perfection Bakeries, which claimed it was overcharged nearly $2 million in federal withdrawal liability. The bakery argued the […]
August 4
Trump fires head of BLS; Boeing workers authorize strike.
August 3
In today’s news and commentary, a federal court lifts an injunction on the Trump Administration’s plan to eliminate bargaining rights for federal workers, and trash collectors strike against Republic Services in Massachusetts.
August 1
The Michigan Supreme Court grants heightened judicial scrutiny over employment contracts that shorten the limitations period for filing civil rights claims; the California Labor Commission gains new enforcement power over tip theft; and a new Florida law further empowers employers issuing noncompete agreements.
July 31
EEOC sued over trans rights enforcement; railroad union opposes railroad merger; suits against NLRB slow down.
July 30
In today’s news and commentary, the First Circuit will hear oral arguments on the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) revocation of parole grants for thousands of migrants; United Airlines’ flight attendants vote against a new labor contract; and the AFL-CIO files a complaint against a Trump Administrative Executive Order that strips the collective bargaining rights of the vast majority of federal workers.