Posts tagged Congress
Commentary: Labor Law’s Illiberal Trajectory
November 11, 2026 // State policymakers are following the same playbook. For example, in Massachusetts, California, and Illinois, they have created new “sectoral bargaining” systems for rideshare drivers. These systems group all drivers into a single election unit and slash the thresholds for union organizing. If as few as 2.5 percent of them say they want a union, the union gets contact information for the remaining 97.5 percent. And if the union then gets signatures from as few as 15 percent, it becomes their exclusive representative. The drivers never vote: they just wake up one day and find themselves in a union. Some states are going even further, experimenting with “industry standards” boards. These boards essentially replace workplace-level bargaining with industry-wide regulation.
Post-midterms, federal unions push for pay raise, restoration of bargaining rights
November 6, 2026 // Labor leaders said they are hopeful lawmakers could tackle some priorities in Congress’ "lame duck" session, ahead of Democrats’ formally taking control of both the House and Senate next year.
TV production company fights NLRB’s power to order damages without a jury
November 6, 2026 // In 2023, X Factor S2, LLC, a television production company based in Escondido, California, filmed the second season of X Factor (Beyond Belief). A few days into filming, the company replaced four members of its production crew. A union filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging the workers were fired for participating in unionization efforts. X Factor denied discharging anyone or discouraging union activity.
(Language Alert) Commentary: Will Labor Strike to Overcome Trump’s Vetos?
November 5, 2026 // CWA Local 7250 President Kieran Knutson, who launched the call for the Minneapolis General Strike with four local union presidents, said that labor must keep the option of striking on the table. “Labor has to start understanding that elections may change who is in office, but our ultimate power comes from our numbers and our leverage as workers,” Knutson told Payday Report. “We need to make that leverage a permanent part of our arsenal - not just during contract expiration or first Tuesday in November.”
Teamsters Voted Trump. O’Brien is Still Sending Their Dues to Democrats Anyway.
November 4, 2026 // No Teamsters financial support went to Sen. Moody or Sen. Marshall this cycle. Meanwhile, Teamsters' PAC, DRIVE, was sending checks to the two biggest Democratic super PACs fighting for control of Congress: $300,000 to Senate Majority PAC in September and $500,000 to House Majority PAC in October. That's $800,000 aimed at handing Chuck Schumer the Senate and Hakeem Jeffries the Speaker's gavel. O'Brien endorsed Marshall on September 3. Two weeks later, DRIVE sent $300,000 to the super PAC whose whole purpose is flipping Republican Senate seats. Then on October 6, DRIVE gave half a million dollars to House Majority PAC, the group that exists to defeat House Republicans like Mike Lawler. Sixteen days after that, O'Brien was standing next to Lawler calling him a friend of labor.
Commentary: House stumbles advancing new union law
November 4, 2026 // But a deadline does not make an imposed agreement a good agreement. Voting for union representation and approving the terms of a contract are different decisions. Workers may want collective representation while disagreeing with a particular arrangement governing compensation, benefits, or working conditions. Congress should protect their opportunity to judge the outcome.
Two Labor Fights to Watch in the Lame-Duck Session
November 3, 2026 // After the midterm elections, Congress returns for a lame-duck session, where must-pass bills frequently attract policy riders. Two labor policy fights could be at issue during that time. One would expand union leverage at workers’ expense, while another would protect a path into the middle class and beyond.
Op-ed: Big Labor Schemes Power Grab for Democrats
November 3, 2026 // But there’s reason to doubt the sincerity of labor groups in building a long-lasting relationship. Away from the headlines, Big Labor has been an obstacle against the Trump Administration in court. Unions have sued the Trump Administration more than 70 times–nearly once a week–to stop initiatives including reducing and reorganizing the bloated federal bureaucracy, reducing federal spending, and reining in rogue “independent” bureaucracies full of personally motivated actors who didn’t want to be accountable to the President.
Commentary: Federal unions got caught standing still: Federal workers face the consequences
October 26, 2026 // The executive orders (EOs) were merely the catalyst. The vulnerabilities were decades in the making: reliance on political allies, fragmented organization, no preparation for a hostile administration. This isn’t about bad faith — it’s institutional complacency. That demands a reckoning, and this account draws on a decade representing federal employees and unions. The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 established the modern federal labor-management framework
US Supreme Court will not review Trump’s firing of labor board member
October 20, 2026 // The justices turned away former NLRB member Gwynne Wilcox's appeal of a lower court's ruling that said the Republican president's January 2025 firing of her was a valid exercise of executive authority.