Jon Weinberg is a student at Harvard Law School.
The Los Angeles Times reports that there has been a surge in union organizing campaigns by part-time adjunct faculty at nearly a dozen private colleges in California. Faculty members are seeking improved pay and more predictable employment, while administrators worry that the unionization of faculty will drive up tuition and reduce flexibility.
In POLITICO, Timothy Noah interviewed labor lawyer and author Thomas Geoghegan on his new book “Only One Thing Can Save Us: Why America Needs A New Kind of Labor Movement.” Geoghegan characterizes the steps he suggests as a last-ditch effort both for the labor movement and for the Democrats. He recommends that the labor movement direct strikes and campaigns at Democrats and that the labor movement accept a national right-to-work law in exchange for a protection of the right to organize under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
The Japanese government is encouraging mothers to enter the workforce to help bolster the country’s economy, according to the New York Times. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has plans for more state-funded child care and other measures to reverse a decline in the labor force and a recession. Abe faces a gender gap in Japan that is even more significant than that in the United States and Europe, reinforced by Japanese corporate and societal norms. The Wall Street Journal notes that Japanese retailers are also addressing labor shortages by increasing self-checkout.
Federal mediators announced that FairPoint Communications and unions representing over 1,700 striking workers are resuming negotiations, the Boston Globe reports. The workers have been on strike since October, and the last negotiations were held on November 18. As previously noted by OnLabor, the National Labor Relations Board recently rejected the union’s argument that FairPoint failed to bargain in good faith.
The Long Beach Press-Telegram reports that labor negotiations between port operators and dockworkers became even more hostile on Friday, when both sides accused each other of bargaining in bad faith. The conflict has already crippled the posts of Long Beach and Los Angeles, and a strike or lockout could drain $2 billion a day from the US economy. Workers have been without a contract since July.
Writing in The New York Times, Harvard economics professor Sendhil Mullainathan summarizes research on the effect of race on hiring, employment and other areas where there is significant discrimination. He concludes that much of this discrimination is unconscious and results from implicit bias that is harder to identify that outright bigotry.
Writing for Watchdog.org, Tom Seward writes about the decline in union membership in Minnesota and nationwide, despite widespread media coverage on recent strikes and protests. He describes the challenges facing unions in Minnesota as well as several recent accomplishments of unions in the face of those challenges.
Daily News & Commentary
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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.