| | | | | |  | | By Eleanor Mueller | Editor's Note: Weekly Shift is a weekly version of POLITICO Pro's daily Employment & Immigration policy newsletter, Morning Shift. POLITICO Pro is a policy intelligence platform that combines the news you need with tools you can use to take action on the day's biggest stories. Act on the news with POLITICO Pro. | | | ALL EYES ON THE PRO ACT: The Senate HELP Committee will hold a hearing this Thursday on the Protecting the Right to Organize Act — Democrats' bill that would make it easier for workers to join unions — and will discuss how to get it enacted into law. President Joe Biden, a self-described union man, had proposed enacting the PRO Act as part of his infrastructure plan, though it would've stood little chance of enactment via regular order in the face of fierce opposition from Republicans. Democrats revealed last week that they would instead include it in their $3.5 trillion partisan package, which they plan to pass using reconciliation, the wonky Senate budget procedure that allows clearance by a simple majority. But only allow certain spending-related provisions, like enabling the NLRB to levy civil penalties on violating employers, are actually eligible for passage via reconciliation. FIRST IN SHIFT: Businesses are already out in force in advance of the hearing. The chair of the Coalition for a Democratic Workforce, which represents employer organizations like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement that "hopefully, this hearing will expose the PRO Act for what it is — a power grab by Big Labor bosses to re-write our nation's labor laws with the sole purpose of boosting the number of dues paying members at the expense of workers, Main Street consumers, entrepreneurs, and small and local businesses." Also up in arms: Ride app workers will strike across California Wednesday to spotlight their support for the PRO Act, which, if passed, would give independent contractors (such as most gig workers) the right to bargain collectively. Drivers with Lyft, Uber and other employers plan to rally outside LAX in Los Angeles, Uber's headquarters in San Francisco and Lyft's office in San Diego. GOOD MORNING. It's Monday, July 19, and this is Morning Shift, your tipsheet on employment and immigration news. Send tips, exclusives and suggestions to emueller@politico.com and rrainey@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @Eleanor_Mueller and @RebeccaARainey. | | | CRUNCH TIME ON INFRASTRUCTURE: The bipartisan group of 22 senators working to reach a bipartisan agreement on infrastructure met again Sunday ahead of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's Wednesday deadline, our Myah Ward reports. "Sen. Rob Portman said Sunday that IRS enforcement was officially off the table as a means for funding the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill," she writes. "The deal would have provided a $40 billion budget boost for the Internal Revenue Service after decades of cuts, funding that would presumably allow the IRS enforcement division to collect unpaid taxes." "Portman didn't say whether or not the bill could be finalized by Schumer's 'arbitrary deadline,' but said it's 'more important to get it right.'" Mark your calendar: Your host will be participating in a briefing with other reporters for Pro subscribers on infrastructure at 11 a.m. Thursday. More details to come. ICYMI: "Strange but true: Bernie takes a 'very pragmatic' turn," from POLITICO | | | | Be a Policy Pro. POLITICO Pro has a free policy resource center filled with our best practices on building relationships with state and federal representatives, demonstrating ROI, and influencing policy through digital storytelling. Read our free guides today . | | | | | | | | HOUSE DEMOCRATS PUSH PAID LEAVE: More than 80 House Democrats, led by Reps. Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut, Judy Chu of California and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, sent a letter to House leadership Friday urging passage of paid family and medical leave as part of the bipartisan infrastructure package, rather than as part of the reconciliation bill. "Many of us have long supported universal, comprehensive paid family and medical leave as cosponsors of the FAMILY Act," they wrote. "We are thrilled that both President Biden and Chairman [Richard] Neal have introduced universal paid family and medical leave programs that build off of the FAMILY Act." But, the lawmakers wrote, they "also want to highlight that increasing access to job-protected leave will be critical in helping our nation's families and economy recover and rebuild from the coronavirus pandemic. … This is particularly harmful for low-wage workers, who are disproportionately women of color." ICYMI: " Passing paid leave without GOP could leave out most vulnerable," from POLITICO MORE HILL NEWS: "Key lawmaker quizzes airlines on delays, worker shortages," from Associated Press | | | FLORIDA MARTY: Labor Secretary Marty Walsh travels to Florida today as he continues to advocate for the Biden administration's proposed investment in the care economy. On the agenda: Walsh will sit down with parents at a Boynton Beach daycare center to discuss the need for investment in child care, and then join representatives of SEIU, Florida Rising and the Black Women's Roundtable at a West Palm Beach library to talk home care. He'll also join a discussion at an eldercare facility. EEOC WINS WALMART DISCRIMINATION CASE: A federal judge in Wisconsin on Friday ruled that Walmart must pay more than $125 million in a discrimination case filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The jury found that the retailer failed to accommodate Marlo Spaeth, an employee of 16 years with Down syndrome, before firing her in 2015 because of her disability, according to an agency press release. Doing so was in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. | | | QUANTIFYING CUT-OFF UI: Twenty-six governors have so far begun turning away federal unemployment insurnace benefits — a decision that's likely to produce an estimated 1.84 million jobs through the end of the year, a new analysis by John Leer for Morning Consult found. That said, just one-fifth of UI recipients who previously worked full-time indicated the money they received from unemployment benefits did a better job of covering their basic expenses than the income they earned from working. And the U.S. economy will remain roughly 4.7 million jobs short of where it was prior to the pandemic, even after workers on unemployment insurance return to working. THE EXCEPTION TO THE RULE? Low wages and low tips — not unemployment insurance — are preventing workers from returning to the restaurant industry, a new study from One Fair Wage and the University of California, Berkeley Food Labor Research Center found. Almost 6 in 10 restaurant workers said they struggled to even access unemployment benefits due to low wage, according to the study. By May 2021, more than half of remaining restaurant workers said they were considering leaving the industry: 76 percent due to low wages and low tips. | | | | STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | FEDERAL JUDGE SHUTS DOWN DACA: A Texas judge on Friday ruled against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, our Sabrina Rodriguez and Josh Gerstein report. "In a 77-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Andrew Hanen found that DACA is unlawful and that the Department of Homeland Security can no longer approve new applicants into the program, which has granted work permits and protection from deportation to more than 600,000 young immigrants brought to the U.S. as children. He also ruled that DHS could continue to process DACA renewals for now as the issue continues to move through the courts." "Immigrant advocates, attorneys and DACA recipients had been bracing for Hanen to rule against DACA given the Trump administration's handling of the case and the judge's track record on immigration. They had been waiting on a ruling since a hearing took place in late December," Sabrina and Josh write. Next steps: Biden on Saturday "called the ruling 'deeply disappointing' and said the Department of Justice would appeal the decision." MORE IMMIGRATION NEWS: "Democrats launch immigration reform Hail Mary," from POLITICO | | | — "Hard bargain: How Amazon turned a generation against labor," from Harper's Magazine — "New Ways to Work Anywhere in the World," from The Wall Street Journal — " A Postal Worker Begged for Stronger COVID-19 Protections. She Ended Up Spending Six Weeks in the Hospital," from ProPublica — "The biggest job wage boom post-pandemic is blue collar, but will it last for workers?," from CNBC — " 'We're not animals, we're human beings': US farm workers labor in deadly heat with few protections," from The Guardian — "America's Workplaces Are Seeing a Job Turnover 'Tsunami,' According to JLL's Work Dynamics CEO," from TIME — " Some restaurants are temporarily closing because they can't find enough workers. One said diners have gotten ruder amid the labor shortage and even made staff cry," from Insider — ICYMI: "Policy Hackathon: How to get more Americans back to work," from POLITICO THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment