Labor News & Commentary June 16, 2024 unions ask the NLRB to not issue a new joint employer regulation & more

https://onlabor.org/june-16-2024/

By Gilbert Placeres

Gilbert Placeres is a student at Harvard Law School.

In today’s News & Commentary, Hamilton Nolan on the political role of public sector unions, Apple sued for gender discrimination in pay, and unions ask the NLRB to not issue a new joint employer regulation.

In In These Times, Hamilton Nolan writes about the recent Fairfax County, Virginia public school employees’ union election victory and argues that public sector unions play a pivotal role in improving public services and defending democracy. According to him, attempts by the Republic Party to quash public sector unions are part of an anti-democratic strategy to sap Democratic power and ease the path to making states more corporate-friendly and right wing. This makes the political role of public sector unions, particularly in red states, as important as their economic role for the workers themselves. For instance, teachers unions are not just important so that teachers can make a decent living but also so that public school systems are well-funded and prioritized. As David Walrod, President of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, put it, “I know every teacher wants to just stay in their classroom, and every teacher wants to make sure that they’re doing the best job for their kids that they can. But part of the reality is that anything you do has a basis in politics.”

Key to the electoral victory was sowing solidarity between the two bargaining units, one consisting of 16,000 teachers and the other 11,000 operational employees. “If we don’t have bus drivers, kids can’t get to school. If we don’t have custodians, teachers have to clean their classes. If we don’t have food service workers, then nobody is going to feed the kids. Do you see where I’m coming from?” asked Leslie Houston, president of the Fairfax Education Association. Walrod hopes to see the Fairfax victory begin a “ripple effect” of public sector unionization across Virginia.

FULL story at link above.