| | | | |  | | By Nick Niedzwiadek | Presented by SourceAmerica | | | | MINING TIME: With little fanfare Thursday, the Senate confirmed two Democratic appointees to the fairly obscure Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission by voice vote, along with a number of ambassadors and other appointed posts. The confirmation of Mary Lu Jordan and Timothy Baker reestablishes a two-two partisan split on the panel, while the pivotal third seat — for which Biden nominated Moshe Marvit back in June — sits vacant. The relatively obscure oversight body, which adjudicates legal disputes between workers and their employers, has been beset by controversy of late. Earlier this year POLITICO detailed allegations that, under Republican appointees, the agency allowed industry to influence its determinations. At the same time it had issued a series of rulings that have unnerved mine worker advocates and progressives. "Republicans started to set some dangerous precedents — or I should say — started to upset some good precedents in terms of how the law is interpreted," said Jordan Barab, the former No. 2 at the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration during the Obama administration, referring to the foundational Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977. More recently in August, as the last remaining Democratic appointee saw his term expire, the sole GOP members laid claim to control of the body (as detailed by our colleagues at E&E News). Last week's confirmations do not fully change that power dynamic, but they at least give Democrats level footing with Republicans for the time being while they await the eventual confirmation of a tiebreaking third appointee. They'll keep bad things from happening, but it's not necessarily going to push the agenda much," Barab, a Democrat, said. It's unclear when — or even if — the Senate will confirm Biden's outstanding designee to the commission given the legislative calendar and existent tug-of-war over the body. A similar situation has held up the nomination of attorney Kalpana Kotagal to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in a standoff that has lasted months. GOOD MORNING. It's Monday, Oct. 3. Welcome back to Weekly Shift, your go-to tipsheet on employment and immigration news. Send feedback, tips, exclusives to emueller@politico.com and nniedzwiadek@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @eleanor_mueller and @nickniedz.
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| | | CANNABIS CAUTIONARY TALES: Marijuana farms are prime targets for bad actors to exploit the labor of undocumented immigrants to produce cheaper goods than regulated competitors, Eleanor and our Natalie Fertig report from Oregon. "The women slept in tents, washed their dishes with hoses, used overflowing portable toilets and ate mostly rice cooked under tarps. There was often no electricity or potable water. The men working alongside them menaced them with sexually aggressive remarks — and getting paid the wages they hoped to send back to family in Michoacán, Mexico, was the exception, not the rule." In summation: These workers "exist in one of the deepest cracks in U.S. labor law: undocumented agricultural workers at an off-the-books worksite in an illegal industry."
| | | | 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. | | | | | | | | THREE'S A TREND: The offices of Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) voted to unionize on Friday, following a vote in Rep. Andy Levin's (D-Mich.) office, our Nancy Vu reports. In a 9-1 vote in Khanna's office, and a unanimous vote in Omar's, the offices voted to elect the Congressional Workers Union as their union, according to a press release. CWU also announced that new petitions for representation have been filed from the offices of Reps. Dina Titus (D-Nev.) and Sean Casten (D-Ill.) More Hill news: "Senate Democrats Are Pushing to Prevent Another Schedule F, As Part of the Defense Policy Bill," from the Government Executive.
| | | JOURNO V. WAPO: Ex-Washington Post reporter Felicia Sonmez's union representative has filed an unfair labor practice charge against her former employer to the National Labor Relations Board, the Daily Beast reports . "The complaint alleges that the Post fired Sonmez for engaging in protected speech when she launched her Twitter campaign against the paper over its social-media policies. "The very public debacle last summer — which included the suspension of one of the paper's top political reporters, multiple reprimands from executive editor Sally Buzbee, and an eventual revamp of the policy — led to Sonmez's firing on June 9." More NLRB news: "Labor Board Reverses T-Mobile Email Decision in Mixed Ruling," from Bloomberg Law.
| | | MINIMUM WAGE INCREASES: Last week's edition of Weekly Shift highlighted forthcoming increases to state minimum wage levels and noted that several states had not yet set their rates for 2023. But in the days since:
- New York: The state Labor Department set a $1 increase upstate to $14.20 an hour. (New York City and neighboring areas are already at $15.)
- Ohio: The minimum wage will move to $10.10, up 80 cents from the prior level.
- South Dakota: Non-tipped employees will bump up 85 cents to a $10.80 minimum.
- Washington: The state will tack on $1.25 to bring its rate to $15.74 per hour, starting Jan. 1.
A NOT-SO-HALLMARK MOMENT: The head of a Florida postcard company pushed employees to continue working even as Hurricane Ian bore down on the state, Vice News reports. "[T]he company insisted that the media was overhyping Hurricane Ian … and that employees were still expected to work through potential disaster, even if that meant bringing their families to the office." The CEO was also deeply dismissive of the risk posed by Covid-19 early in the pandemic. More workplace news: " Pension Strategy Left Funds Vulnerable to Rate Increases," from the Wall Street Journal.
| | | | A message from SourceAmerica:   | | | | | | YOU WON AN ELECTION, NOW WHAT: Employees at hundreds of Starbucks stores are finding out the cold reality that winning a unionization election is only one step in the process, NPR reports. "After growing criticism from the union, which alleged delay tactics, Starbucks last week said it had sent letters to 234 unionized stores, offering three-week windows in October for members of the bargaining teams to come to the table. To date, only three Starbucks stores have begun contract negotiations, and no store is close to settling on a contract." Trend to watch: " [T]he number of stores petitioning to hold union elections has dropped dramatically in recent months. The flood of activity in the first half of the year, with a high of 71 petitions filed in March, gave way to a summer lull, with eight petitions filed in August."
| | | FARM LABOR: New York will lower its overtime threshold for farmworkers working 40 hours per week from 60 hours in 2024 following an order Friday from the state labor commissioner, POLITICO New York's Joe Spector reports. The decision by Commissioner Roberta Reardon is the culmination of two years of debate over whether farmworkers should get overtime after 40 hours like other industries. A Farm Laborers Wage Board voted earlier this month to lower the 60-hour threshold for overtime pay to 40 hours per week by Jan. 1, 2032, and the final step was Reardon's sign-off by Oct. 21. Overtime will be lowered by four hours every two years from the current threshold of 60 hours a week until it reaches 40 hours a week. More state news: "These 7 union-backed workplace laws are coming to California ," from POLITICO California.
| | | | LISTEN TO POLITICO'S ENERGY PODCAST: Check out our daily five-minute brief on the latest energy and environmental politics and policy news. Don't miss out on the must-know stories, candid insights, and analysis from POLITICO's energy team. Listen today. | | | | | | | | — "Why Are Companies Still Hiring When GDP Is Shrinking?," from the Wall Street Journal. — "Amazon Urges Call Center Staff to Work From Home, Plans Closings," from Bloomberg. — " Why Unpaid Labor Is More Likely to Hurt Women's Mental Health Than Men's," from the New York Times. "A Federal Judge Will Allow a Federal Worker to Pursue Overtime Backpay From Training," from Government Executive. THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT!
| | | | A message from SourceAmerica: October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Let's create more meaningful jobs for people with disabilities and make the workforce stronger. SourceAmerica® connects people with disabilities to employment through our nationwide network and the AbilityOne® Program. Because true equity includes all. Discover how disability is a key part of the equity equation—and how you can make your workforce more inclusive. Learn More | | | | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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