This is a weekly post spotlighting labor topics in focus by the US legislative and executive branches during the previous week.
In this issue, we cover:
President Boosts Unions
January Jobs Report
America COMPETES Act Update
Potential Overtime Rule Change Scrutinized
Wage & Hour Division Plusses Up
Federal Vaccine Mandate Updates
COVID-19 Updates
Upcoming Congressional Hearings
Both chambers of the U.S. Congress were in session this week. The U.S. House of Representatives approved its trade/competitiveness bill on Friday, setting up a potential conference with the U.S. Senate to reconcile this much broader bill with the narrower one approved by the Senate last year. Next week, the House is expected to take up a three-week Continuing Resolution to extend funding for the Federal Government through March 11, ahead of the February 18 funding lapse deadline. Negotiations continue on an Omnibus bill to fund the Government for the remainder of the fiscal year, with the hope that work will be completed by March 11.
President Boosts Unions. On February 4, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an Executive Order that requires large federally funded projects to use project labor agreements, a pre-contract commitment by employers to enter into a collective bargaining agreement with at least one union. This would include project funded via the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and contracts ranging from “the maintenance of nuclear sites to base construction to waterways and...
A nursing home run by the family of Kim Keon-hee lost the first trial in a lawsuit seeking to cancel the National Health Insurance Service's disposition to claw back about 1.4 billion won in long-...