Labor News & Commentary April 10, 2024 LA County Federation of Labor joins the call for a ceasefire in Gaza & more

[Omaha Steve]

https://onlabor.org/april-10-2024/

By Jacqueline Rayfield

Jacqueline Rayfield is a student at Harvard Law School.

In today’s News and Commentary, the NLRB general counsel vows not to succumb to pressure from SpaceX, Amazon, and others, the NLRB will seek make-whole remedies for unlawful work rules, and the LA County Federation of Labor joins the call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Attorneys from SpaceX, Amazon, Trader Joe’s and Starbucks all argued in recent months that the NLRB is unconstitutional. NLRB general counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo, accused these companies of jumping on the bandwagon of challenging the NLRB instead of spending money “improving their workers’ lives and their own workplace operations.” The most serious challenge by SpaceX and others was filed in Texas earlier this year claiming that NLRB adjudication violates SpaceX’s right to a jury trial and administrative law judges (ALJs) should be easier to remove.

Abruzzo issued a memo earlier this week urging the NLRB to seek full remedies for all victims of unlawful conduct. The memo clarifies that victims of unlawful conduct include employees harmed by unlawful work rules or contract terms. Simply removing an unlawful rule is not enough, Abruzzo explains, and does not remedy the chill caused by the rule in the first place. Instead, the board should also seek to expunge any previous discipline under the unlawful rule and provide make-whole relief.

The Los Angeles Federation of Labor released a statement explaining: “The death toll in Gaza has already been unbearable, and it threatens to spiral exponentially if the course of the war is not altered. We cannot bomb our way to peace.” The Federation represents more than 300 unions and labor groups in the LA area and joins other major unions in calling for a ceasefire.