Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week


As I finish up this note, I am at the beach.  Well, in full disclosure, I am looking out a window outside the courtroom at the beach...I suppose that is as close as I will get for the time being.  Before I head back inside the courtroom, I wanted to highlight a few articles for readers that jumped out at me.  Some readers might have heard that President Trump's nominee for Labor Secretary, Alexander Acosta, had his confirmation hearing this past Wednesday.  As a result, I wanted to lead things off with a nod to that confirmation hearing and what to expect going forward in regard to the nomination.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.



On Wednesday, Alexander Acosta went before the Senate HELP Committee for his confirmation hearing to become the next Labor Secretary.  As Jonnelle Marte at The Washington Post writes, Acosta received a relatively easy going hearing (at least in comparison to what would have likely face the prior Labor Secretary nominee, Andy Puzder).  Notably, a question did come up in regard to how Acosta viewed the proposed new overtime regulations which have been challenged in court.  While Acosta did not directly address whether he was for or against the new overtime regulations, he stated that it was "unfortunate" that the overtime rules had not been updated in more than a decade but thought that the proposed salary increase proposed by the Obama administration would "create a stress on the system".  At this point, it does not appear that Acosta's nomination has been derailed at the confirmation hearing.  I would expect the Senate HELP committee to approve his nomination shortly and then get passed along to the Senate thereafter.


Will Illinois Follow Suit & Become a Right to Work State?

A few years ago, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner had attempted to make right to work a reality in traditionally liberal (and pro-union) Illinois.  Unfortunately for him, those efforts largely proved to be unsuccessful and Illinois has yet to become the next right to work state.  Glenn Minnis at The Sangamon Sun wrote a good article recently in which he suggested that now that both Kentucky and Missouri have become right to work states, Illinois might eventually manage to pass similar right to work legislation.  With many businesses leaving Illinois and moving to right to work states, concern has risen about how the Illinois economy and job market will be able to compete.  As experts have pointed out, data shows that right to work states are exhibiting faster wage and job growth than their unionized (and non right to work) counterparts in Illinois.  I think this is still going to be an uphill fight for some time (as traditionally middle of the road New Hampshire could not manage to pass a right to work bill this legislative session), but perhaps there is some "hope" on the horizon.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum, it was noted that emplo
Post a Comment
Read more

Happening Tomorrow: Connecticut’s Minimum Wage Increases

For those employers and employees alike in Connecticut, mark your calendars as tomorrow, the minimum wage rate increases in the state from $13/hour to $14/hour. This wage hike comes after Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont had signed Public Act 19-4 into law in 2019 which progressively raised the state’s hourly minimum wage rate every year for five years.  In fact, next year, the hourly wage rate will top out at $15/hour.  Beginning in January of 2024, the hourly wage rate will be indexed to the employment cost index. For additional information:   https://portal.ct.gov/Office-of-the-Governor/News/Press-Releases/2022/06-2022/Governor-Lamont-Reminds-Residents-That-Minimum-Wage-Is-Scheduled-To-Increase-on-Friday
Post a Comment
Read more

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

A few years ago, I remember when the “Fight for $15” movement was taking off around the country.  Lo and behold, it appears that a $15/hour minimum wage is not the stopping point, which should be no surprise.  As the below article notes, New York is aggressively moving to ramp up hourly wage rates even higher.  While all the  below articles are worth a read, I called particular attention to that one. As always, below are a couple article that caught my eye this week. Disney World Workers Reject Latest Contract Offer Late last week, it was announced that workers at Disney World had rejected the most recent contract offer from the company, calling on their employer to do better.  As Brooks Barnes at The New York Times writes, the unions that represent about 32,000 workers at Disney World reported their members resoundingly rejected the 5 year contract offer which would have seen workers receive a 10% raise and retroactive increased back pay.  While Disney’s offer would have increased pa
Post a Comment
Read more