Kate Andrias discusses new state initiatives to protect and enhance the power of workers.

In a conversation with The Regulatory Review, Kate Andrias of Columbia Law School discusses novel state worker-protection initiatives, federal preemption of state labor law, constitutional challenges to federal labor law, and obstacles to labor organizing.

Andrias explains how reform initiatives have advanced at the state level and why they have not taken hold at the federal level. These initiatives have included the establishment of worker standards boards—which can set minimum requirements for workers in particular sectors through collaboration among state actors, workers, and employers—and state constitutional amendments that reflect “fundamental commitments” to worker protection. Although the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) preempts state regulation of collective bargaining, it does not preempt state worker boards and other state regulatory initiatives governing employment standards. Andrias also draws a parallel between the New Deal-era and today’s emerging constitutional challenges to the NLRA-established National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Moving beyond legal reforms, Andrias identifies ways that organized labor can acquire greater political power. She then explains how the well-publicized move to achieve “abundance”—in transit, housing, clean energy, and infrastructure—can be “paired” with union-organizing initiatives and worker-protection initiatives.

Andrias is the...

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