This post launches a new series exploring how states and cities can expand worker power in the United States. The series is grounded in a set of working papers and policy briefs that offer creative approaches for state and local action in a time when the federal labor law framework is increasingly unreliable. Each post will introduce ideas for how governments can strengthen worker voice, improve conditions, and foster organizing, even as federal protections waver. This first installment focuses on sectoral models, one especially promising strategy for advancing worker power across entire industries.
This moment calls for fresh thinking about how workers can build power in the United States. The federal labor law framework that for decades structured collective bargaining and labor rights is under sustained attack on multiple fronts. The Supreme Court appears poised to overturn Humphrey’s Executor, a 1935 precedent that has long protected the independence of multimember regulatory agencies by limiting presidential removal power. In the recent oral arguments in Trump v. Slaughter, the Court’s conservative majority expressed skepticism about the century‑old decision and signaled it may empower presidents to fire independent agency officials at will, weakening the safeguards that have insulated bodies like the National Labor Relations Board from political interference. A ruling overturning Humphrey’s Executor could fundamentally reshape labor governance, diminish impartial...
On Tuesday, Border Czar Greg Bovino alleged nearly 500 "criminal aliens" were released from state custody. ST PAUL, Minn. — At a news conference on Tuesday, ICE officials alleged that hundreds of u...