Gig Workers Face Setback in NYC but Gain Advantage at NLRB<\/strong>:\u00a0On July 12, a New York City law establishing a minimum wage for app-based delivery workers was slated to come into effect. However, days before, a Manhattan judge issued a temporary restraining order<\/a> in response to a lawsuit brought by Uber, DoorDash, and other app-based companies. The companies claim that the law is \u201carbitrary and capricious.\u201d However, advocates and workers contend that this law is necessary because the workers are classified as independent contractors, and therefore excluded from other minimum wage laws.<\/p>\n This state-level development comes a month after the NLRB issued its decision in Atlanta Opera<\/a> which looked at the standard for determining whether someone is an independent contractor and therefore excluded from the National Labor Relations Act. In the decision, the Board returned to its previous FexEx II standard, overturning the Trump-Board decision in SuperShuttle that made it easier to find that someone is an independent contractor. The core difference between the two standards is the role that \u201centrepreneurial opportunity\u201d plays. Now, the Board will just look at entrepreneurial opportunity as one of multiple factors, and will only look at actual, not just theoretical, opportunity. Applying this standard to the case, the Board found that the stylists employed by the Atlanta Opera were employees, and therefore eligible to unionize.<\/p>\n NLRB Issues First Complaint Against Amazon and Sues Starbucks:<\/strong>\u00a0The NLRB issued a complaint<\/a> against Amazon for their refusal to bargain with the union representing workers at its JFK8 fulfillment center. The complaint seeks a bargaining order as well as remedies to make bargaining unit members whole for the lost opportunity to be covered by a collective bargaining agreement during this period.<\/p>\n The NLRB also brought an action in federal court against Starbucks<\/a>, alleging that its reorganization plan in its Seattle stores chilled union activity. The petition seeks an injunction to block Starbucks from firing and disciplining workers for their union activities, or taking other actions because of their activities such as forcing them to reapply or denying higher wages and benefits. The petition also seeks back pay and reinstatement for the 33 impacted workers.<\/p>\n Hollywood on strike<\/strong>: SAG-AFTRA, which represents over 150,000 actors, announced<\/a> the start of a strike, its first since 1980. Their core demands relate to protections from the use of AI technology and getting a greater share of profits from streaming services, which have transformed the industry and eliminated \u201cresiduals<\/a>.\u201d The actors join screenwriters in the Writers Guild of America (WGA)<\/a> who have been on strike since May. This marks the first time that actors and writers are on strike simultaneously since 1960<\/a>. SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher announced the strike in a speech condemning Hollywood\u2019s extractive business model, and connecting actors\u2019 demands to the demands of the labor movement as a whole. Watch the full speech here<\/a>.<\/p>\n LA Hotel Workers: Hotel workers represented by Unite Here Local 11\u00a0engaged in a series of strikes<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0demanding better pay to address the soaring cost of living in the Los Angeles area. Thousands of workers at over 30 hotels have gone out on strike, which comes after the expiration of many contracts this past June. So far only one hotel has reached an agreement. In addition to wage increases,\u00a0the union is focused on<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0staffing levels, digital tipping, and strong benefits. A group representing the hotels\u00a0has filed charges<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0with the NLRB, alleging that a proposal that hotels support an affordable housing ballot measure is beyond the scope of bargaining. The union however points out that it is low-wage hotel workers who are most impacted by the affordable housing crisis.<\/p>\n Workers are everywhere and even news stories that on their face are about something completely different often have a labor angle. At WRI we want to show how labor movements in the U.S. and abroad make and shape all sorts of news. Accordingly, we will try to bring you a labor angle to a big news story that is otherwise being covered from a different perspective.<\/p>\n International Labor Solidarity:<\/strong><\/p>\n The strike wave discussed above is not limited to the United States, and there have been international pronouncements of solidarity in key labor disputes:<\/p>\n Amazon workers in the UK, Germany, and the US\u00a0engaged in strikes<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0surrounding Amazon\u2019s \u201cPrime Day.\u201d Workers in the\u00a0UK<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0demanded higher wages and union recognition; workers in\u00a0Germany<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0demanded better working conditions and workloads; and workers in the\u00a0US<\/span>(This link opens in a new tab)<\/span><\/span><\/a>\u00a0went on strike in response to Amazon\u2019s Unfair Labor Practices.<\/p>\n Workers take action in the courtroom and on the streets to assert their rights: <\/strong>developments over the past month show how workers are using both the legal system and protests to have their demands met:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nOrganizing and Strike News<\/h2>\n
Labor Is Everywhere<\/h2>\n
\n
\n