Labor reporter for Bloomberg News and Businessweek, covering the present of work. Email: jeidelson at bloomberg dot net. Pronouns: He, him. (Usual disclaimers)
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Nov 4, 2022 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
Scoop: Twitter was just sued in a proposed class action for conducting a mass layoff without the required 60 day notice bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Latest: “It looks like employees are getting their notices and at least some will be paid until January 4,” says the attorney who sued Twitter under WARN Act. “I am pleased that Elon Musk learned something from the lawsuit we brought against him at Tesla" bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Aug 23, 2021 • 7 tweets • 4 min read
I asked Labor Secretary Walsh if he agrees with Wage & Hour nominee David Weil that Uber and Lyft drivers are employees. “I haven’t had a conversation with David, so let me have that conversation before I say if I agree with him or not,” he answered bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
“There’s lots of conversation around gig workers and what to do with gig workers,” Walsh said. “We’re having those dialogues and conversations now.” He’s said he’s met with companies including Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash, and with some of their workers. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Dec 2, 2020 • 25 tweets • 7 min read
The National Labor Relations Board, and its structure and processes, and the terms it uses, and the terms journalists use for what it does are confusing: a (dry but hopefully maybe useful) thread...
Context: The National Labor Relations Board is the agency created by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act to enforce and interpret private sector labor laws covering collective action and unionization rights (for those workers the NLRA didn't exclude). bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-…
Nov 8, 2020 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
New: With Cali Prop. 22 and Biden both victorious, Lyft, SEIU, & Teamsters leaders are all signaling openness to reaching a deal between the gig corporations & organized labor, a prospect that could be a template for the gig giants to spread across the US bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
"Tech & labor have unnecessarily been at war since the industrial revolution...It’s time for peace” - Lyft prez
“Goal of any union is to grow...There might be a compromise” - Teamsters leader
“I’m really anxious to hear what the drivers think” - SEIU head bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Oct 16, 2020 • 42 tweets • 13 min read
Uber, Lyft, Instacart, Postmates, and DoorDash have put about $180 million – & a slew of in-app messages – behind their push for California Prop. 22, one of the most nationally consequential things on any ballot this year. Here’s some context on how we got here & what's at stake
In April 2018, CA's supreme court issued a sweeping ruling, Dynamex, establishing that if workers aren't doing “work that is outside the usual course” of a firm’s business, then under CA wage law they're employees entitled to protections, not contractors bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Feb 13, 2020 • 4 tweets • 2 min read
This shows how states can and do pass employment laws tougher than the federal government's. After Supreme Court ruled unanimously that federal law doesn't require Amazon pay for time waiting in security lines, lawsuits like this continued at state level bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Companies can be liable for not paying workers for time spent waiting for security checks under California law, unlike federal law, because California's definition of working time is broader than the feds' -it's about being "subject to the control" of boss bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
New: @BernieSanders today is releases a sweeping plan to fundamentally overhaul US labor law, including establishing sectoral bargaining, ending at-will employment, and reversing key provisions of Taft-Hartley bloomberg.com/news/articles/… “I think the momentum is with us,” he tells me
@BernieSanders & Sanders plan (bloomberg.com/news/articles/…) would
-extend bargaining rights to state/local gov't employees
-let federal employees strike
-require "just cause" to fire workers
-protect contracts during mergers
- deny federal contracts over union-busting
- ban right-to-work laws
&...
Jun 16, 2019 • 23 tweets • 7 min read
Recently Uber has used its app to tell drivers that "Recent changes to California law could threaten your access to flexible work with Uber," & ask them to sign a petition to get the state legislature "to modernize the law".
Here's some context on what's afoot & what's at stake.
In 2018, CA's supreme court issued a sweeping ruling establishing that if workers aren't conducting “work that it outside the usual course” of a firm’s business, then under CA wage law they're employees entitled to protections - not independent contractors bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Jun 5, 2019 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
I would suggest news outlets not use “allows staff to unionize” (wsj.com/articles/eliza…) as the way to describe an employer agreeing to recognize a union of their employees
“Unionize” gets used to mean various things: workers choosing to start organizing; workers forming an organization; workers’ union getting recognition from management, & thus the chance to collectively bargain. (“Unionized” as descriptor of a company usually refers to the latter)
May 2, 2019 • 10 tweets • 2 min read
New sweeping labor law reform bill introduced today by House & Senate Dems would:
Ban
- right-to-work laws
- permanent replacement of strikers
- mandatory "captive audience" meetings
- forced arbitration
&also...
- broaden definition of employee, like CA's "ABC" test
- let NLRB assess damages & hold company officials personally liable for violations
- let workers bring civil lawsuits over labor law violations in court
- require arbitration if deal isn't reached on first contract
& also...
Jun 27, 2018 • 6 tweets • 3 min read
Exclusive: Following Court's ruling, campaign of door-to-door canvasses, ads, & workplace visits starts today, aiming to drain West Coast unions of 127,000 members in a year bloomberg.com/news/articles/… Internal docs describe strategy of "insurgency" to "demonize" union among workers
1st round of targets are the CA Teachers Association, CA Federation of Teachers, AFSCME CA, SEIU 1000, Professional Engineers in CA's Government, CA Correctional Peace Officers, SEIU 503, Oregon Education Association, Oregon AFSCME, WA Education Association, WFSE, & Teamsters 117
