Maia Usui is a student at Harvard Law School.
Concerns continue to mount over Brexit. EU leaders are calling on Britain to make a speedy exit (“[T]his is not an amicable divorce,” said the European Commission president), but the consequences of its departure remain unclear. The Financial Times looks at what Brexit might mean for immigration, predicting greater barriers for immigrant workers. Many Leave campaigners have advocated for an immigration regime similar to Australia’s, which admits immigrants based on certain characteristics — language, qualifications, work experience — and enforces occupation-based quotas.
Meanwhile, in the United States, small steps are being taken to improve job opportunities for former prisoners. More than half of those released from prison will return within three years, without having found employment. The New York Times reports on an ambitious prison-to-work program in the Eastern District of Missouri and its recent successes matching former prisoners with the right employers.
Lastly, more businesses are starting to experiment with employee stock ownership programs (ESOPs), with now about 7,000 ESOPs nationwide. The New York Times explores the benefits of one such program at King Arthur Flour in Vermont, which has experienced significant growth since becoming 100% employee-owned — and which could become a model for other businesses, too.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
October 14
Census Bureau layoffs, Amazon holiday hiring, and the final settlement in a meat producer wage-fixing lawsuit.
October 13
Texas hotel workers ratify a contract; Pope Leo visits labor leaders; Kaiser lays off over two hundred workers.
October 12
The Trump Administration fires thousands of federal workers; AFGE files a supplemental motion to pause the Administration’s mass firings; Democratic legislators harden their resolve during the government shutdown.
October 10
California bans algorithmic price-fixing; New York City Council passes pay transparency bills; and FEMA questions staff who signed a whistleblowing letter.
October 9
Equity and the Broadway League resume talks amid a looming strike; federal judge lets alcoholism ADA suit proceed; Philadelphia agrees to pay $40,000 to resolve a First Amendment retaliation case.
October 8
In today’s news and commentary, the Trump administration threatens no back pay for furloughed federal workers; the Second Circuit denies a request from the NFL for an en banc review in the Brian Flores case; and Governor Gavin Newsom signs an agreement to create a pathway for unionization for Uber and Lyft drivers.