Professor John Logan Comments on Various Labor Topics in Major News Outlets

Author: LFCoB
June 30, 2024

Department Chair and Professor of Labor and Employment Studies John Logan discussed the approval of the affiliation deal between Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and the Teamsters in ABC27, Law360, and other major news outlets. 

Amazon warehouse workers voted to integrate with the Teamsters which will give ALU additional support in building a strong advocacy for workers’ rights. Logan stated that cooperating with the Teamsters was like a “lifeline” for the ALU as the union is “going nowhere at the moment.”

Logan mentioned that for ALU alone developing labor relations can be challenging, saying “Doing it independently is just so difficult when you’re up against a company like [Amazon], which is big, wealthy and is determined to defeat the union.”

Additionally, Logan talked about the outcome of the Starbucks campaign against the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in an AXIOS news story.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Starbucks in a case involving the NLRB and the so-called Memphis 7, the group of union activist workers who claimed being unlawfully fired after their appearance on a TV news program. Logan commented on the Supreme Court decision, saying "More than any other in U.S. history, [the Starbucks campaign] injected a vividness and a concreteness into the debate over union representation."

In addition, Logan highlighted that for a long time the court has been favoring employer’s rights over the collective rights of labor unions, stating "The court has pretty much always ruled that employers' individual rights (free speech, property) trump labor's collective rights."

Read the full news stories by visiting the links below: