Skip to main content

What I’ve Been Reading This Week


Between a few articles noting minimum wage hikes in Florida and Washington & efforts by organized labor to push through President Joe Biden’s spending plan, I point readers to an update on the National Labor Relations Board General Counsel and the steps she intends to take to advance a labor friendly agenda.  Granted, having a plan to advance a labor friendly agenda and actually putting it into place are two different stories.  With that being said, I refer readers to the article to get a sense of what we might see coming from the National Labor Relations Board in the coming months.

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


Labor Unions Lend Financial Support to Back President Biden’s Spending Package

The Wall Street Journal published an article today in which it noted the aggressive efforts by organized labor to get President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion spending package approved by Congress.  Between millions of dollars being spent by the Service Employees International Union to lobby Congress and the American Federation of Teachers taking to the phones to “dial” up support for the spending package, labor unions are breaking out the big guns to try and help the spending package get across the finish line.  Given that the spending package would provide significant financial aid to many labor friendly policies is reason enough for organized labor doing what they can to assure passage.  Will it be enough?  At this point, it is hard to say but if I were a betting man, I think some sort of spending package will eventually find enough support to reach President Biden’s desk for signature.


Florida’s Hourly Minimum Wage Rate Just Went Into Effect…What’s Next?

Readers might recall hearing about a constitutional amendment being approved by voters in Florida last November which resulted in an hourly minimum wage hike for workers across the state.  Yesterday, the hourly minimum wage rate went from $8.65/hour to $10/hour.  (Tipped workers saw their hourly pay rate rise from $5.63/hour to $6.98/hour.)  However, although this was a significant pay increase for hourly workers in Florida, this is not the end of it.  By September of 2026, hourly workers in the state will see their pay rates rise to $15/hour (and tipped workers will earn $11.98/hour.)  I would hope that Florida employers have already taken steps to prepare for yesterday’s pay raise.  Irrespective of the change to the hourly pay rate that went into effect yesterday, now is as good of a time as any to prepare for the upcoming pay hikes in the coming years.


NLRB’s General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo Lays Out Labor Friendly Agenda

Jennifer Abruzzo, General Counsel at the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”), has made it no secret that she intends to steer the NLRB toward a more labor friendly agenda than her predecessor.  (With the NLRB trending more toward a more labor friendly iteration already, this should not come as much of a surprise.)  With that being said, Abruzzo recently sat down for an interview in which she set out some of the labor friendly policies she seeks to enact while serving as General Counsel.  Whether or not all these ideas come to fruition remain to be seen…but employers should take stock of what ideas Abruzzo has to help bolster unions in the coming years.


Washington State Increasing Minimum Wage Rate For 2022

Earlier this week, the Washington Department of Labor & Industries announced that the hourly minimum wage rate in the state would be increasing in January of 2022 to account for the rising cost of consumer items such as gasoline, food, and housing.  The current hourly minimum wage rate will increase 5.83% from $13.69/hour to $14.49/hour.  I refer readers to this announcement for more information.  For employers in Washington, now is as good of a time as any to start making plans to accommodate this upcoming pay raise.

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,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Breaking: Labor Secretary Rumored to Be Leaving Administration

A few hours ago, word leaked out that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (“Walsh”) is in the midst of negotiations to head up the NHL Players Union and leave his position at the Labor Department. Walsh, who has served as the sole Labor Secretary under President Biden, has taken part in a labor renaissance of sorts as support for organized labor has increased during his term as Labor Secretary (although the number of workers that have joined a union over the past two years has not grown as mush as some expected.)  He has also overseen the ongoing negotiations with rail workers over a new contract, although that matter is still on shaky ground and playing out as we speak. As for who might step into the vacant Labor Secretary role, there are already rumblings that President Biden should nominate Deputy Labor Secretary Julie Su (a strong labor advocate) or even a progressive like Senator Bernie Sanders.  Until Walsh officially gives his notice, however, I would expect some/many potential...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie Vetoes Minimum Wage Hike

A few months ago, readers might remember that I pointed out that the New Jersey Legislature had voted to approve a minimum wage hike in the state .  Under the approved legislation, the minimum wage rate would rise to $10.10/hour in the next year and at least $15/hour over the next five.  (The current minimum wage rate in the state is $8.38/hour).  In that article, I had noted that the bill was then going to go before Governor Chris Christie for his approval or veto. As I had suggested previously, I thought that the Governor would likely veto the bill based upon his prior actions and comments on similar legislation.  Well, a few days ago, Governor Christie did just that and vetoed the bill on the grounds that it "would trigger an escalation of wages that will make doing business in New Jersey unfathomable."  Pointing to the increase in hourly minimum wage rates, the Governor referred to the bill as a "really radical increase."  (It is interesting to c...
Post a Comment
Read more