Grocery Strike Wave Continues
And the White House faces a skeptical judge in its attempts to end federal worker union rights
In April, labor unions sued the White House over an executive order stripping collective bargaining rights from federal workers across agencies. Unions charged that the White House order was retaliatory, issued in response to unions criticizing President Donald Trump’s policies.
Yesterday, an Obama-appointed federal judge held a hearing on the case, and seemed very skeptical of the White House’s arguments, multiple news outlets report.
For example, one of the White House’s justifications for the executive order was that collective bargaining agreements post a national security risk.
“One of the agencies is the National Allergy Institute. Can you tell me how a bunch of allergy researchers are going to violate national security by using their time at work for collective bargaining?” U.S. District Judge James Donato asked the government lawyers.
Here are some good tools for tracking all of the union lawsuits against the Trump administration:
News and Views
The grocery store strike wave continues: thousands of New Mexico workers represented by the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1564 just voted to strike Albertsons and Kroger-owned stores. Read more about the ongoing strike across the West here and here.
Read this op-ed from Glenn Sacks of the United Teachers Los Angeles about why unions need to continue standing up for immigrant rights.
The official unemployment rate remains at historically low levels. But a new study circulating from the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity finds that an increasing number of Americans are “functionally unemployed” – meaning they work less than full-time or earn less than a living wage. The Ludwig institute estimates that more than 24 percent of Americans are “functionally unemployed.” More on that measure and why it’s so high here.
Today’s Win
After protracted negotiations, three labor unions representing nearly 300 workers on Nantucket steamships just won contracts and raises.