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Labor unions win, drug companies lose in new trade deal

The big winners and losers from the Trump administration’s deal with Democrats on its NAFTA replacement, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, are not necessarily the traditional ones. Pharmaceutical companies, which usually see …

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New NAFTA’s Labor Terms Sway AFL-CIO, But Not All Unions on Board

The nation’s largest union umbrella organization is now supporting the new North American trade pact based on recent revisions to labor terms that not all unions are immediately ready to …

Labor Took on “Bad Bosses” Long Before #MeToo

“Will There Ever Be a #MeToo-Style Movement for Bad Bosses?” New York magazine asked readers in a tone-deaf fog of obliviousness last month. The piece itself was fairly benign, addressing the long-standing and profoundly …

Antitrust, the Gig Economy, and Labor Market Power

Worker bargaining power has diminished over the last forty years. Between 1948 and 1979, median wages closely tracked output per worker.1 Since then, productivity has continued to increase (until leveling …

Behind the Smiles: Amazon’s internal injury records expose the true toll of its relentless drive for speed

When Candice Dixon showed up for her first day of work at an Amazon warehouse in Eastvale, California, she stepped into a wonder of automation, efficiency and speed. Inside the …

The PRO Act and Workplace Fissuring

For too many people, work means low pay, unpredictable hours, and nonexistent opportunities for advancement. A major reason for this dire situation is what David Weil has termed “workplace fissuring.” Fissuring occurs …

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How protecting immigrant farmworkers benefits everyone in the food chain

Suppose all the people in US without proper documentation did all just leave one day. Millions, back to their countries of origin. What next? Well, those of us left behind …

The State of the Deregulatory First Amendment at the NLRB

I often criticize the Trump NLRB for taking too narrow a view of workers’ rights, creating an inevitable clash with First Amendment principles. But recently, I’ve had the opposite complaint: …

How California’s AB5 protects workers from misclassification

In September, California adopted a new law aimed at combatting the misclassification of workers. The legislation, Assembly Bill (AB) 5, will take effect on January 1, 2020. AB5 adopts the …

Uber Fined $649 Million for Saying Drivers Aren’t Employees

New Jersey has demanded that Uber pay $649 million for years of unpaid employment taxes for its drivers, arguing that the ride-hailing company has misclassified the workers as independent contractors …