In today’s news and commentary, an NLRB judge finds UPS violated federal labor law, Tennessee bans noncompetes for certain workers, and Colorado passes a bill limiting the use of AI to set prices and wages.
On Friday, Administrative Law Judge Keltner W. Locke at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) found that the United Parcel Service, Inc. (UPS) violated federal labor law when it denied certain employees pay raises they were otherwise entitled to while the workers decided whether to join a union. Ordering the company to pay the employees the raises they would have received, Judge Locke found that UPS “denied these employees pay raises because of the upcoming election which resulted from their protected union activities.” Changing wages or benefits in the midst of union organizing efforts can be considered an unfair labor practice. Ironically, the situation arose after the company announced its intent to withhold raises to avoid unfair labor practice liability, but Judge Locke ultimately found that UPS failed to provide workers the “necessary assurances that they would receive the pay increases after the election, and regardless of the election’s outcome.”
On Friday, it was reported that Tennessee had banned noncompete agreements for workers earning less than $70,000 per year, and any prior such agreements subject to that income threshold will be voided. The law also directs courts to consider two-year restrictions for workers above that amount a “reasonable” time,...
A person in his 30s who demanded compensation for alleged foreign substances in cup noodles and the absence of meat in stir-fried pork was sentenced to prison in both the first trial and the appel...