| | | | |  | | By Eleanor Mueller | With help from Nick Niedzwiadek
| | | THE WHITE HOUSE HAS ARRIVED: An emergency board to resolve an ongoing labor dispute between rail carriers and the unions that represent their workers will get to work today, averting strikes that seemed imminent. "I have been notified by the National Mediation Board that in its judgment these disputes threaten substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree that would deprive a section of the country of essential transportation service," President Joe Biden wrote Friday in an executive order that prevents any work stoppage for 60 days. The fine print: The panel will consist of "a chair and two other members, all of whom shall be appointed by the President to investigate and report on these disputes. No member shall be pecuniarily or otherwise interested in any organization of railroad employees or any carrier." It will "report to the President with respect to the disputes within 30 days of its creation." As yours truly reported in May , a decimated railroad workforce has been impeding efforts to transport goods and, in doing so, further hobbling an already-delicate supply chain. Over the last six years, Class I freight railroads — which include BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Kansas City Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific — have hemorrhaged a combined 45,000 workers, or 29 percent of their workforce, according to the Surface Transportation Board. The attrition coincides with existing supply chain challenges and resulting record-high inflation. Unions, which have been in negotiations with employers for years, greeted Friday's news with praise for the administration. "We commend President Biden for announcing a board of neutral arbitrators to investigate and report its findings and recommendations to help both parties work toward a resolution," Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, said. "Quite simply, the facts are on our side and we look forward to the forthcoming recommendations of the presidentially-appointed arbitrators." Employers, who had lobbied unsuccessfully to keep their dispute before the mediation board, were also largely positive. "We are pleased that President Biden has established a [Presidential Emergency Board] to assist the parties in bringing the current round of national rail negotiations to a successful conclusion," the National Carriers Conference Committee, which represents the nation's freight railroads in collective bargaining, said. What happens next: "We anticipate the PEB will hold hearings in the coming weeks and issue a written report, including settlement recommendations, in mid-August," NCCC said. It noted that "although PEB recommendations are not binding, they historically have assisted the parties in reaching voluntary agreements during a 30-day cooling off period that begins when the PEB issues its report." In the meantime: "The Rail Unions remain united in their efforts, and are now working together in preparation of a unified case representing the best interests of all rail employees before the Presidential Emergency Board," the rail unions said in a joint statement. "Our unified case will clearly show that the Unions' proposals are supported by current economic data and are more than warranted when compared to our memberships' contribution to the record profits of the rail carriers." As for the rail carriers, "we look forward to demonstrating to the PEB how a recommendation based on our proposals would appropriately reward rail employees' hard work and skills while best positioning the industry to grow and compete for traffic in the nation's highly competitive freight marketplace." The dispute could, at some point, end up before Congress: In a quirk of rail labor law, Congress would be able to vote to mandate the board's recommendations — in effect, imposing the contract on the parties. It could also take actions like mandating additional cooling-off periods or requiring additional arbitration. GOOD MORNING. It's Monday, July 18. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on employment and immigration news, where we can say confidently we'd take a pass on this hypothetical. Send feedback, tips, exclusives and whether you know what a golden birthday is to emueller@politico.com and nniedzwiadek@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @eleanor_mueller and @nickniedz.
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| | | REPUBLICANS WADE INTO PAID LEAVE: Some GOP lawmakers are increasingly supportive of a federal paid leave policy in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, Axios' Sophia Cai and Emily Peck report. "We're going to have to step up and do more. And I think that people are prepared to do that," Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) told them last week. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said that "we should at least be providing as much help to women who decide to keep their child as those who decide to terminate the pregnancy." Rubio's paid leave proposal, the latest version of which was unveiled in June, would allow parents to access three months of their Social Security benefits to finance paid parental leave. Paid leave advocates are insistent the plan, and others like it, are but a shadow of a truly effective paid leave policy. "It's an insulting and transparent grab for the majority of women voters who support both abortion access and paid leave," Dawn Huckelbridge, director of Paid Leave for All Action, told Morning Shift. "Proposals like Rubio's are not only not paid leave or helpful to women, but they disproportionately harm women — and they're not consolation or accomodation for dismantling abortion rights." Big picture: Congressional Republicans have come a long way on paid leave, which they were even less open to than the business community last year. Yet the proposals, like Rubio's, that they indicate openness to are a far call from the 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave for all workers that Biden campaigned on — and even the significantly scaled down version that the White House was considering in January. The latest data: "Currently, 44 percent of American employees lack guaranteed access even to unpaid, job-protected family and medical leave, with eligibility requirements for the Family and Medical Leave Act excluding many from the law's protections," a report out last week from the Bipartisan Policy Center found . "At the same time, employers — particularly small business owners — face significant challenges in their effort to provide job-protected leave, either through FMLA or otherwise." ICYMI: "Dobbs decision spotlights care policies," from your host MORE HILL NEWS: "Companies Must Clean Up Supply Chains Under Uyghur Forced Labor Law, Legislators Say," from The Wall Street Journal
| | | UNIONS BEG URGENCY IN FTA PROTECTIONS FOR TRANSIT WORKERS: Congress passed long-fought-for provisions aimed at improving transit workplace safety as part of its bipartisan infrastructure bill in November, 20 months into a pandemic that saw violence against workers spike across industries, your host reports. "But the agency responsible for implementing the language, the Federal Transit Administration, says it doesn't plan to enforce the provisions until the end of 2022. And the group that represents transit agencies, the American Public Transit Association, is pushing to extend that timeline, which it says does not give its members enough time to pull together the required communities." "As bus drivers, subway operators, maintenance workers and others face a growing risk of attacks, economists warn that the delay could hamstring recruitment and retention of transit workers, rendering the infrastructure bill's $39 billion in new public transit funding less effective." "The Transportation Trades Department and the unions like ATU it represents have been pressuring FTA to move faster. In March, they sent a letter to DOT and FTA asserting that "our members should not be asked to wait another day to feel safe on the job." They've also "done a lot more privately" in meetings with agency officials, TTD's president said. "There are some signs that the transit worker unions' pressure campaign could be paying off. FTA published a notice in the Federal Register Friday expanding its definition of what counts as an assault — the first demand listed in their March letter." JUDGE BLOCKS BIDEN'S LGBTQ PROTECTIONS: A federal judge pressed pause on the Education Department's Title IX guidance that prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation in schools and workplaces, our Bianca Quilantan reports. "Eastern District of Tennessee Judge Charles Atchley in an order late Friday said the agency's guidance 'directly interferes with and threatens Plaintiff States' ability to continue enforcing their state laws' that restrict transgender people from playing on sports teams and using bathrooms that match their gender identity." "The preliminary injunction essentially ties the department's hands when it comes to protecting transgender students" and workers "from discrimination in 20 states that have laws or are attempting to pass laws that restrict their access to facilities and sports. The department will have to finalize its Title IX rule to enforce its guidance." HOW REMOTE WORK COULD AID THE FED: The pandemic-era surge in remote work could help the Federal Reserve fight surging inflation, NBC News' Greg Iacurci reports. "As many employees have enjoyed commute-free workdays, less stress and better work-life balance, their employers have also benefited from remote work by paying lower wages than they otherwise might, according to a recent working paper co-authored by a group of five economists and published by the National Bureau of Economic Research." "Specifically, researchers found that 38% of employers had expanded opportunities to work from home or another remote location in the 12 months through May in order to reduce what they termed 'wage-growth pressures'; 41% expect to do so in the next year."
| | | | DON'T MISS DIGITAL FUTURE DAILY - OUR TECHNOLOGY NEWSLETTER, RE-IMAGINED: Technology is always evolving, and our new tech-obsessed newsletter is too! Digital Future Daily unlocks the most important stories determining the future of technology, from Washington to Silicon Valley and innovation power centers around the world. Readers get an in-depth look at how the next wave of tech will reshape civic and political life, including activism, fundraising, lobbying and legislating. Go inside the minds of the biggest tech players, policymakers and regulators to learn how their decisions affect our lives. Don't miss out, subscribe today. | | | | | | | | UNION REJECTS BOEING'S LATEST OFFER: Boeing on Saturday said it is "disappointed" that the union representing nearly 2,500 employees at its St. Louis-area facilities has recommended rejection of its contract offer, Reuters' Jose Joseph and Shivani Tanna report. "The contract is set to expire on Monday, July 25. After a seven-day waiting period, the workers could begin picketing on Aug. 1 if they vote to reject the contract offer and go on strike, the union said." MORE UNION NEWS: "Abortion Research Group Guttmacher Targeted in Labor Complaint," from Bloomberg AND: "Union calls on UK Uber users to join 24-hour strike over revelations," from The Guardian
| | | NEW YORK LEGISLATIVE STAFFERS LAUNCH UNION BID: Nearly 80 state Senate employees in New York went public with plans to unionize on Friday. The figure represents roughly 10 percent of the chamber's legislative aides , and organizers say their goal is to lessen pay disparities between various offices as well as other issues like overtime. "In addition, members said they hope to speed up the onboarding process for new staffers, who often have to wait up to 30 days to receive their first paycheck," City & State reports. The effort follows similar ones in Boston and on Capitol Hill that have gained steam among Democratic offices but continue to face challenges to achieving their stated goals. OBAMA CABINET REUNION IN MARYLAND: It's pretty unusual for two alumni of a presidential cabinet to face one another in an election, but that is the case for Maryland Democrats on Tuesday. Tom Perez, President Barack Obama's labor secretary for most of his second term, and John King, who succeeded Arne Duncan as Obama's education secretary, are two candidates in an exceptionally crowded field hoping to flip a Republican-held governorship. Observers have generally pegged Perez's odds as the better of the two — and roughly on par with author-cum-entrepenuer Wes Moore — though none of the candidates have distinguished themselves from the pack. On the Republican front, Kelly Shultz — term-limited Gov. Larry Hogan's commerce secretary and ex-labor chief — is facing off against the Trump-backed Dan Cox in what's a de facto proxy war between the former president and Hogan. MORE STATE NEWS: " San Francisco Mayor Breed says city faces remote work challenge as tech workers leave town or stay home," from CNBC AND: "Nail technicians demand safer working conditions and steadier pay as Covid aggravates risks," from NBC News
| | | — "I'm Black. Remote Work Has Been Great for My Mental Health," from Slate — "How Managers Can Disrupt Marginalization at Work," from TIME — " Amazon pauses work on six new U.S. office buildings to weigh hybrid work needs," from Reuters — "Employers who want workers in the office more often may be in for a fight," from CNN — "With labor negotiations upcoming, NBA is unquestionably in a good place," from The Boston Globe — "Nobody wants to be in the office on Fridays," from The Washington Post — "Why requiring workers to spend more days in the office could backfire," from CNN — " 'Love is Blind' contestant sues Netflix after being forced to work 'inhumane' 20-hour days without enough food or sleep," from Business Insider THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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