Workers' Rights Briefing

December 2021

Join The Institute In Advancing Workers’ Rights

This is an exciting time at the Institute. We are embracing our new identity as the National Institute for Workers’ Rights, a name which reflects our national scope as well as our dedication to addressing long-term and emerging challenges faced by all workers, regardless of employment status. The Institute is delving into new areas of employment law, growing our staff, and more determined than ever to bring about real change in the American workplace. We remain steadfast in our mission to advance workers’ rights through research, thought leadership, and education for policymakers, advocates, and the public.

Please consider a year-end, tax-deductible contribution to the Institute because improving the lives of America’s workers is vital.

Your contribution today will enable us to continue to offer this monthly newsletter free of charge, while we expand our efforts to bring racial justice to the workplace. Your support also will fuel our ongoing programs to end forced arbitration in the workplace and exploitation in the gig economy. If you haven’t reviewed the two white papers we released earlier this year, No Due Process, No Rights: How Forced Arbitration Enables Misclassification In The Gig Economy and Old Boundaries, New Horizons: How Anti-Discrimination Law Can Better Protect Black Gig Workers In The Time Of COVID-19, they are available on our website.

Thank you for joining us in advancing workers’ rights.

DONATE

In The News

BSNF, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific have filed lawsuits against railroad workers’ unions to determine whether they have the authority to mandate vaccines for all of their employees.
Workers at John Deere ended their 5 week strike after signing a deal for a 10% immediate raise and an $8,500 signing bonus
A federal judge in Missouri blocked a vaccine mandate for health care workers in 10 states.
Workplace strikes continue to surge, which could contribute to near-term inflation. Economists cite that labor costs are growing as the pandemic continues.
Unemployment levels have fallen to approximately 200,000–much closer to pre-pandemic levels.
The NLRB has authorized a second union election at the Amazon warehouse in Alabama after allegations that Amazon had intimidated workers and pressured them to cast votes in a camera monitored mailbox.

Workers' Rights By The Numbers

>3,500

The number of organizations that currently require workers to get the COVID-19 vaccines.

(The White House)

Number of locations across the country with an active strike occurring since the beginning of November. (Labor Action Tracker, Cornell University)

In Th Courts

A federal judge in the 5^th circuit has blocked the President’s vaccine mandate for health care workers.
A federal jury has issued a verdict that rejects a King and Spalding’s wrongful termination claims over the allegations that the firm retaliated against him for ethics concerns. See Joffe v. King & Spalding LLP.
The Sixth Circuit will render a decision around the Department Of Labor rule requiring companies with at least 100 employees to mandate COVID-19 vaccines or weekly tests.

The Workers' Rights Briefing is a monthly newsletter designed to help keep you up-to-date on breaking news and emerging trends impacting America's workers. From the growth of forced arbitration of employment disputes, to employee misclassification, to stories of wage theft and workplace discrimination, the Workers' Rights Briefing reports on employment law and policy developments from the federal government to state legislatures to the courtroom and everywhere in between. Our goal is to provide you with a digestible snapshot of the events shaping employment law and policy so that you can be kept abreast of the most important issues facing today's workers.