If you can't win the game, change the rules. This ignoble sentiment has become a slogan for the modern labor movement, which has struggled to reverse its steady decline in membership. Rather than taking a hard look at the reasons why employees have abandoned unions, some labor organizers have embraced a new brand: Worker centers. The term sounds innocuous enough, but it's legally significant. Worker centers aren't bound by the same […]

In 2013, Gov. Andrew Cuomo was selected one of the worst Governors in America. With his latest proposal to trash New York's minimum wage for employees who earn tip income (such as restaurant servers), it appears he's gunning for the title again in 2018. A quirk in New York's labor law allows the Governor to bypass the legislature to create industry-specific wage requirements. It's disturbingly simple: A wage board […]

In the new year, less-skilled workers across California will face an old, familiar threat to their employment: A soaring minimum wage. In 2016, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that put the state minimum wage on track to reach $15 per hour by 2022. The next increase—from $10.50 to $11.00—is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2018. If you're a business in one of thirteen different California localities--from […]

Amazon recently received proposals from cities hoping to host its second headquarters. A number of California localities—including Los Angeles, Sacramento, Pomona and Chula Vista—were in the mix. But the tech titan should tread carefully in the Golden State, where policy makers are studying punitive measures against companies that use workplace robots. The latest example is a statewide campaign launched this fall by Jane Kim of the […]

"Why Is New York Full Of Empty Stores?" That's the question posed by the New York Times editorial board in today's paper, as it worries about a "scourge of store closings that afflicts one section of the city after another, notably in Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn." The editorial offers few answers to its question and at least one bad solution in the form of a new "vacancy tax" for building owners […]

With Gov. Chris Christie leaving office early next year, New Jersey's $15 minimum wage backstop leaves as well. Twice during his tenure, Christie vetoed dramatic minimum wage increases passed by the state’s Democratic legislature, including $15 legislation last year. Gov.-elect Phil Murphy campaigned on a $15 minimum wage, and Democratic state Senate President Steve Sweeney has indicated that legislation will be forthcoming early next year. Perhaps […]