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May 22, 2022

Swap Agrawal

Swap Agrawal is a student at Harvard Law School.

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Daily News & Commentary

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

January 20

In today’s news and commentary, SEIU advocates for a wealth tax, the DOL gets a budget increase, and the NLRB struggles with its workforce. The SEIU United Healthcare Workers West is advancing a California ballot initiative to impose a one-time 5% tax on personal wealth above $1 billion, aiming to raise funds for the state’s […]

January 19

Department of Education pauses wage garnishment; Valero Energy announces layoffs; Labor Department wins back wages for healthcare workers.

January 18

Met Museum workers unionize; a new report reveals a $0.76 average tip for gig workers in NYC; and U.S. workers receive the smallest share of capital since 1947.

January 16

The NLRB publishes its first decision since regaining a quorum; Minneapolis labor unions call for a general strike in response to the ICE killing of Renee Good; federal workers rally in DC to show support for the Protecting America’s Workforce Act.

January 15

New investigation into the Secretary of Labor; New Jersey bill to protect child content creators; NIOSH reinstates hundreds of employees.

January 14

The Supreme Court will not review its opt-in test in ADEA cases in an age discrimination and federal wage law violation case; the Fifth Circuit rules that a jury will determine whether Enterprise Products unfairly terminated a Black truck driver; and an employee at Berry Global Inc. will receive a trial after being fired for requesting medical leave for a disability-related injury.

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.

More From OnLabor

Foster Care Parents and the Push for Collective Bargaining Rights

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Massachusetts struggles to recruit and retain qualified foster parents. Foster parents, including licensed kinship caregivers, provide temporary homes to children in the custody of the state. By some reports, Massachusetts has lower rates of kinship foster care than other states. Foster parents receive stipends, ranging from $34.12 to $40.39 per day, which are often well below the […]

Building Worker Power in a Precarious Federal Landscape: Sectoral Strategies and Worker Democracy

Dec 22, 2025 Sharon Block, Seema Nanda, Rajesh Nayak and Benjamin Sachs

This post launches a new series exploring how states and cities can expand worker power in the United States. The series is grounded in a set of working papers and policy briefs that offer creative approaches for state and local action in a time when the federal labor law framework is increasingly unreliable. Each post […]

Hospitals Become Sites of Confrontation for Healthcare Workers and Immigration Agents

Dec 19, 2025 Ariel Boone

On January 20, 2025, the Trump administration rescinded a longstanding policy which previously protected “sensitive” areas like hospitals and clinics from immigration enforcement. Stripped of these protections, healthcare workers and noncitizen patients now face escalating intrusions by federal agents. Masked ICE agents are entering hospitals and clinics, refusing to show identification, surveilling patients, and stopping workers from […]

The Boss Has Entered the Chat

Dec 18, 2025 Paneez Oliai

In recognition of the “inequality of bargaining power” between employees and employers, Congress protected workers’ rights to participate in concerted activity as defined by § 7 of the NLRA. Yet employers have long sought to limit the scope of § 7 protections. Now, a set of firings by a Vermont-based company has forced the D.C. […]

The Untapped Potential of Rideshare Take-Rate Disclosure Requirements

Dec 17, 2025 Mila Rostain

Rideshare drivers are winning through the legislative process. In the last year, two states have enacted pathways to unionization. Unionizing is critical, but drivers need additional structural changes if they are to curb the largely unchecked power of gig corporations and win meaningful improvements in the terms and conditions of their work. One such structural change is access to […]

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