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What I've Been Reading This Week


As I finish up my cup of coffee at a nice little coffeehouse in Dallas before heading to court, I find it hard to narrow things down this week.  Between articles on minimum wage hikes, right to work issues, paid leave (and literally everything in between), I found it difficult to not highlight a vast majority of articles I came across this week.  With that being said, I think the articles highlighted below will give readers a good overview of some major developments this past week, in particular the recent nomination to the National Labor Relations Board.

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


Ivanka Trump Finds Paid Leave To Be An Uphill Fight

As a follow up to last week's note, Ivanka Trump appears to still be looking for a member of Congress to support the President's proposal for six weeks of paid leave for new mothers and fathers.  The plan, proposed in President Donald Trump's budget several weeks ago, resulted in Ivanka making a trip to Capitol Hill last week to hold a discussion with lawmakers on the topic.  Currently, there appears to be support among some Republicans in Congress to offer a tax credit to employers who voluntarily offer leave to their employees.  On the other side of the aisle, Democrats contend that neither measure goes far enough to support working parents.  No one said this would be easy, right??


Could Native American Jurisdictions Be Exempt From NLRB Jurisdiction? Perhaps...

Currently, a bill is working its way through Congress which would exempt Native American jurisdictions from NLRB jurisdiction.  Tribal leaders have previously called on Congress to exempt Native American jurisdictions from oversight by the NLRB...a "freedom" enjoyed by every other government in the country (save for Native American governments).  While tribal leaders have been vocal in their support of the bill, critics have raised concern that removing NLRB oversight would remove any protections that tribal workers currently have (thus letting tribes freeze out labor unions and leave workers with little recourse).  This is certainly a bill to watch closely.



As Max Ehrenfruend over at The Washington Post writes, the University of Washington recently conducted a study on the impact of Seattle's minimum wage hike (incrementally raising the rate to $15/hour) and found that the minimum wage hike might not be achieving its intended results.  The study estimated that on the whole, the average low wage worker in the city lost $125/month because of the wage hike.  This lost income has been attributed to lost jobs and fewer hours worked as employers sought to cut labor costs to help cover the pay raise.  I doubt this study will drastically tip the scales in either direction as the minimum wage debate continues...but it certainly gives fodder to those who have long cautioned that raising the minimum wage rates (such as to $15/hour) might not actually be good for hourly workers.


President Trump Makes Nomination For Final Remaining NLRB Vacancy

Earlier this week, President Trump nominated William Emanuel to fill the fifth and final seat on the NLRB.  The seat, currently vacant, would give Republicans a 3 - 2 majority (should Emanuel get confirmed).  Readers might recall that earlier this month, President Trump nominated Marvin Kaplan to fill one of the other seats on the NLRB that is currently vacant.  At the time of Kaplan's nomination, Republican Senator Lamar Alexander (who is chairman of the Senate committee which will oversee Kaplan and Emanuel's nominations), promised a speedy confirmation process.  With Republicans having majority control of both houses of Congress, short of some unforeseen scandal arising, I would expect Senator Alexander and other Republicans to quickly work to confirm both nominees.  Once that happens and the NLRB has a Republican majority, I think it is quite likely that more employer friendly decisions will start to be issued.

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