Benjamin Sachs is the Kestnbaum Professor of Labor and Industry at Harvard Law School and a leading expert in the field of labor law and labor relations. He is also faculty director of the Center for Labor and a Just Economy. Professor Sachs teaches courses in labor law, employment law, and law and social change, and his writing focuses on union organizing and unions in American politics. Prior to joining the Harvard faculty in 2008, Professor Sachs was the Joseph Goldstein Fellow at Yale Law School. From 2002-2006, he served as Assistant General Counsel of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) in Washington, D.C. Professor Sachs graduated from Yale Law School in 1998, and served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His writing has appeared in the Harvard Law Review, the Yale Law Journal, the Columbia Law Review, the New York Times and elsewhere. Professor Sachs received the Yale Law School teaching award in 2007 and in 2013 received the Sacks-Freund Award for Teaching Excellence at Harvard Law School. He can be reached at [email protected].
Welcome to On Labor, a new blog by Jack Goldsmith and myself dedicated to current developments in the world of workers, unions, and politics. Labor is a complicated field today. Complicated because the traditional labor movement is in dramatic decline, and, on some accounts, on the brink of disappearing entirely. The decline of unions – why it’s happening, whether and how it will continue, and what it means for our economy and our politics – is worth attention and analysis, which we will give it. But despite union decline – actually, in part because of it – “labor” questions remain central to multiple ongoing public debates. Witness the last two days on the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times: the Journal goes on the attack about political disclosure rules for unions; the Times takes up strikes by fast food workers. Or consider the Supreme Court’s recent docket: one case raises the constitutionality of the current structure of public sector unions; another the legality of current models of organizing private sector unions.
As traditional unions decline, moreover, new worker organizations are moving to fill the gap, and, as a result, these organizations are now the subject of intense contestation. There are also innumerable questions about how work ought to be structured and managed, how workers ought to be represented and compensated, and about what the appropriate role of government is in all of this. We mean the blog to be a place where these questions will get raised and debated and, hopefully, clarified.
As a law professor, I have written extensively about these subjects, and the blog will be a forum for shorter writing that is more responsive to contemporary developments. Most of the posts will come from Jack and me, but we will be joined by a group of Harvard Law Students who will provide summaries of top daily news stories, background briefings on relevant legal and political developments, and some posts of their own. We will occasionally have guest posts from others in the field.
Like many blogs, On Labor is a work in progress. We welcome your ideas and suggestions as we go.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
March 9
Federal judge orders the reinstatement of NLRB Board Member Gwynne Wilcox; DOL reinstates about 120 employees who were facing termination
March 6
A federal judge hears Wilcox's challenge to her NLRB removal and the FTC announces a "Joint Labor Task Force."
March 5
In today’s news and commentary, lots of headlines for the United Auto Workers as the union comes out in support of tariffs, files for an election at a Volkswagen distribution center in New Jersey, and continues to bargain a first contract at the Chattanooga VW plant they organized last spring. The UAW released a statement […]
March 4
In today’s news and commentary, the Tennessee Drivers Union allegedly faces retaliation for organizing, major hospital groups are hit with a wage suppression lawsuit, and updates from Capitol Hill. The Tennessee Drivers Union announced on social media that its members are facing retaliation from Uber and Lyft for their rideshare organizing activities. Specifically, 34 members […]
March 3
Democrats invite fired federal workers to Trump’s address to a joint session; the NLRB’s acting general counsel announces agency focus on boosting settlements; the United Federation of Teachers may face a regime change
March 2
Judge partially blocks federal worker firings; Trump Administration wants data on federal worker unions; AFT fights Musk by pressuring Tesla.