Maia Usui is a student at Harvard Law School.
Sunday is World Day Against Child Labor, and a reminder of the work that still needs to be done. Despite recent successes, the International Labor Organization estimates that there are still 168 million child laborers worldwide. Nonprofit leaders are calling upon corporations to scrutinize their supply chains, noting the continued importance of partnering with unions on this front.
More American workers are being replaced with foreigners on temporary visas, and some of them are starting to speak up. According to the New York Times, some of the workers who have lost their jobs to global outsourcing are now sharing their experiences with the public — but not without running afoul of severance agreements prohibiting them from criticizing their former employers. To combat the chilling effect of these “nondisparagement” agreements, some have suggested revising the visa laws to allow former employees to formally contest their layoffs.
Are manufacturing workers paid enough? NPR reports on a recent study from UC Berkeley’s Labor Center, suggesting that over a third of American manufacturing workers and their families depend on public assistance.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
December 22
Worker-friendly legislation enacted in New York; UW Professor wins free speech case; Trucking company ordered to pay $23 million to Teamsters.
December 21
Argentine unions march against labor law reform; WNBA players vote to authorize a strike; and the NLRB prepares to clear its backlog.
December 19
Labor law professors file an amici curiae and the NLRB regains quorum.
December 18
New Jersey adopts disparate impact rules; Teamsters oppose railroad merger; court pauses more shutdown layoffs.
December 17
The TSA suspends a labor union representing 47,000 officers for a second time; the Trump administration seeks to recruit over 1,000 artificial intelligence experts to the federal workforce; and the New York Times reports on the tumultuous changes that U.S. labor relations has seen over the past year.
December 16
Second Circuit affirms dismissal of former collegiate athletes’ antitrust suit; UPS will invest $120 million in truck-unloading robots; Sharon Block argues there are reasons for optimism about labor’s future.