Skip to main content

What I’ve Been Reading This Week


This week (and this year) have been somewhat labor centric.  With that being said, the two articles I highlight this week are worth a read even for those not as interested in labor law.

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



Recently, a task force created by President Joe Biden that was directed to find ways to boost union membership and collective bargaining among private and public employees has released approximately 70 steps the Biden administration can take.  As Noam Scheiber at The New York Times writes, those steps include allowing union organizers to have access to workers on federal property, creating preferences in federal grant and loan programs for employers with strong labor standards, and prohibiting employers from using federal contract money on anti union campaigns. For an administration that is in desperate need of good news on the labor front, it will be interesting to see if these proposed steps from the task force lead to a recognizable (and sustained) boost in union membership.



I think it is fair to say that halfway through February, the big labor & employment law story of 2022 has been the ongoing unionization efforts at various Starbucks across the country.  As this article from The Huffington Post notes, Starbucks is locked in an intense battle with the union seeking to represent Starbucks workers.  That union, Starbucks Workers United, has notched a few victories including the successful unionization at two Buffalo area locations as well as securing elections elsewhere around the country.  I refer readers to this article for more information about how Starbucks has been trying to curb the wave of unionization at the company.  So far, those efforts to stymie unionization are mixed, to say the least given that workers at 54 locations in 19 states (and counting) have made moves to unionize.

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