Can Uber
drivers and other gig workers legally go on strike? Until very recently, the
answer was no, in the absence of special authorization by state law. Categorized
as independent contractors by gig corporations, these workers, generally
speaking, cannot collectively bargain or strike without violating antitrust
laws. The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission said
as much in a 2017 brief.
The House January 6 committee, looking for direct evidence of Donald Trump’s involvement in insurrection, is considering changes to the Insurrection Act to prevent another January 6. What is the Insurrection Act? Signed in 1807 by President Thomas Jefferson, the act allows a president to call up the military in times of serious crisis to keep the peace. Amended twice during and after the Civil War, it was intended to quell insurrection from states and protect the newly recognized constitutional rights of Black people from white supremacists.
Being a climate reporter over the last few months has involved a fair amount of déjà vu. Once again, Joe Manchin has a list of various things—many boosting domestic fossil fuel production—that he would like in exchange for his vote on a key priority for his party. Once again, this wish list remains vague, hinted at in interviews, press conferences, and leaks to the press but never fully articulated. Whether he’ll actually vote for something is even less clear.
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Lesley Allen will never know what triggered her final panic attack last fall.
The Democratic Party is finally going to give Iowa the boot. It’s high time. The 2020 caucuses, you’ll recall, were a mess. A kludgy vote-counting app was at the heart of the problem, and things were so screwed up that the results of the February 3 caucus weren’t made official until February 27, depriving the winner of any momentum. And who won, by the way? Even that wasn’t clear. Bernie Sanders won the popular vote, but Pete Buttigieg won the most “state delegate equivalents,” whatever they are. Читать дальше...
