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May 2, 2021

Kevin Vazquez

Kevin Vazquez is a staff attorney at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2023. The opinions he expresses on this blog are his own and should not be attributed to the IBT.

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Daily News & Commentary

Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all

October 17

Third Circuit denies DOL's en banc rehearing request; Washington AG proposes legislation to protect immigrant workers; UAW files suit challenging government surveillance of non-citizen speech

October 16

NLRB seeks injunction of California’s law; Judge grants temporary restraining order stopping shutdown-related RIFs; and Governor Newsom vetoes an ILWU supported bill.

October 15

An interview with former NLRB chairman; Supreme Court denies cert in Southern California hotel case

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.

OnLabor In The News

Wired

Hundreds of Video Game Workers Join New Union as Trump Attacks Labor Rights: Prof. Sachs on challenges to union organizing under the second Trump Administration.

Los Angeles Times

Column: How anti-union southern governors may be violating federal law: Ben Sachs quoted in a column about the anti-union governors' letter and the fragmentation of labor law; John Fry's post referenced on the question of whether state level card-check bans are preempted by the NLRA.

Fast Company

Amazon’s Labor Union is divided but closing in on electing leadership: Prof. Sachs on Amazon's use of legal roadblocks to delay negotiations.

Semafor

Unions’ picket power now extends to U.S. boardrooms: Prof. Block on the influence of labor unions on other playing fields.

Bloomberg Law

Boeing Talks Will Test Unions’ Sway as Labor Market Softens: Prof. Block on Boeing's labor negotiations with the International Association of Machinists.

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Labor Day 2.0: Reviving Worker Power through Sectoral Bargaining

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Decades of Labor Days have come and gone with no hope of labor law reform legislation moving through the U.S. Congress. Since the Taft-Hartley reforms of the 1940s, few issues have divided the parties more clearly than labor law reform. The last Republican to consider voting for comprehensive labor law reform was Arlen Specter — and then […]

Why Not a Real Labor Court?

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In case you missed it, the Fifth Circuit recently held that any employer charged with violating the National Labor Relations Act is entitled to an injunction to block any hearing from going forward. The Fifth Circuit’s theory is that the NLRA is unconstitutional because Administrative Law Judges do not act at the direction of the President. This […]

Tracking Attacks on the NLRB: Fifth Circuit Finds NLRB Removal Protections Unconstitutional

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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that removal protections for NLRB Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and Board Members are unconstitutional. This ruling affirmed district court injunctions that halted unfair labor practice proceedings against three companies: SpaceX, Energy Transfer, and Findhelp. The Fifth Circuit held that being subject to an unconstitutional […]

Ruelas v. County of Alameda — California Pretrial Detainees Denied Minimum Wage for Corporate Labor (Part 3)

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In Ruelas v. County of Alameda, the Supreme Court of California denied pretrial detainees’ state minimum wage claim, reasoning that section 4019.3 of the state’s Penal Code — capping jail laborers’ wages at two dollars per day — instead governed. The first part of this three-part series discussed the California Supreme Court’s holding and reasoning. The second part gave a history of California’s constitution and jail labor in the state, concluding that the two-dollar daily wage cap could not have applied to plaintiffs, who were pretrial detainees performing unpaid labor for a corporation.

Ruelas v. County of Alameda — California Pretrial Detainees Denied Minimum Wage for Corporate Labor (Part 2)

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In Ruelas v. County of Alameda, the Supreme Court of California held that pretrial detainees forced to labor for a corporation are ineligible for a minimum wage under the state’s Labor Code. The court construed Penal Code section 4019.3 broadly, interpreting it as incompatible with California’s Labor Code. The court concluded that the Penal Code prevents pretrial detainees from earning more than two dollars per day for their labor, absent a local ordinance.

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