Jack Goldsmith is the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, where he teaches and writes about national security law, international law, internet law, and, recently, labor history. Before coming to Harvard, Professor Goldsmith served as Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel from 2003-2004, and Special Counsel to the Department of Defense from 2002-2003.
My academic fields of expertise are at the intersection of national security law and international law, and I already blog at a site devoted to these topics. One thus might wonder why I am participating in this blog on labor law and politics. The short answer is that I grew up in a labor family, I have had a significant intellectual interest in labor history and politics for several years, and I am in the process of writing a book about Jimmy Hoffa’s place in American political and legal history. I have nothing like Ben’s experience or expertise in this area, my interests are more selective than his, and I will almost certainly post less frequently than he will. But my outlook differs as well, and hopefully the labor literature I will be reading over the next few years, and my reactions to it, will be of some interest to some readers. Right now I am reading Nelson Lichtenstein’s terrific (and 16-year-old) biography of Walter Reuther, which has interesting implications for the modern American labor movement, some of which I hope to sketch when I am done.
Our ambition for the site is to make it a place to collect and analyze the important events of the day – in law and politics – that relate to labor, unions, and workers. We will be offering commentary on important cases, laws, political developments, and the like, and we hope to build a daily “news and commentary” summary and student-written “explainer” posts as well. Ben and I each have particular takes on these issues, but our aim is to keep the analysis and conversation — with each other, and others outside the site — civil and constructive.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
May 8
Court upholds DOL farmworker protections; Fifth Circuit rejects Amazon appeal; NJTransit navigates negotiations and potential strike.
May 7
U.S. Department of Labor announces termination of mental health and child care benefits for its employees; SEIU pursues challenge of NLRB's 2020 joint employer rule in the D.C. Circuit; Columbia University lays off 180 researchers
May 6
HHS canceled a scheduled bargaining session with the FDA's largest workers union; members of 1199SEIU voted out longtime union president George Gresham in rare leadership upset.
May 5
Unemployment rates for Black women go up under Trump; NLRB argues Amazon lacks standing to challenge captive audience meeting rule; Teamsters use Wilcox's reinstatement orders to argue against injunction.
May 4
In today’s news and commentary, DOL pauses the 2024 gig worker rule, a coalition of unions, cities, and nonprofits sues to stop DOGE, and the Chicago Teachers Union reaches a remarkable deal. On May 1, the Department of Labor announced it would pause enforcement of the Biden Administration’s independent contractor classification rule. Under the January […]
May 2
Immigrant detainees win class certification; Missouri sick leave law in effect; OSHA unexpectedly continues Biden-Era Worker Heat Rule