CWA endorses Clinton today

With help from Caitlin Emma and Daniel Strauss.

TRAIL NOTES:


— CWA ENDORSES HILLARY CLINTON: The Communications Workers of America, the largest labor union to endorse Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, will endorse Hillary Clinton today. Hillary “has a solid record on the issues that are critical for working families: bargaining rights and the right to organize,” the union said in a statement. “She has reaffirmed her opposition to the Trans‐Pacific Partnership, now and in a possible lame‐duck session of Congress.” And Trump? The Donald “talks a good game about bad trade deals but manufactures his fancy ties offshore,” the statement said. Read the endorsement here: http://bit.ly/29zOkl1

— DNC BACKS $15, BUT SANDERS LOSES TPP FIGHT: Bernie Sanders shoehorned an indexed $15 hourly minimum wage into the Democratic National Committee’s party platform Friday, POLITICO’s Daniel Strauss reports. “But Saturday,” Strauss writes, “the Vermont senator was defeated on the Trans-Pacific Partnership: The draft platform will not include the strong language opposing the trade deal, which Sanders made a key plank of his run for the Democratic nomination.”

“When Clinton-aligned DNC member (and AFSCME President) Lee Saunders introduced an amendment demanding that trade negotiations be more transparent and calling to ‘significantly strengthen enforcement of existing trade rules,’ it set off a heated debate between some of the most high-profile Sanders delegates and Clinton supporters over whether that language went far enough in opposing the TPP.”

Saunders’ version eventually prevailed, winning plaudits from AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka. "The Democratic Party has taken a strong position, but the threat of unfair agreements, including TPP, remains,” the AFL-CIO said in a statement. “We will continue to point out TPP’s fundamental flaws and mobilize to defeat it, and any trade deals that don't work for working people." http://politi.co/29FJsdK

GOOD MORNING. It's Monday, July 11, and this is Morning Shift, POLITICO's daily tipsheet on labor and employment policy. Send tips and exclusives to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected]. Follow us on Twitter at @politicomahoney, @TimothyNoah1, @CoganSchneier, and @marianne_levine.

CARLSON V. AILES BECOMES ARBITRATION FIGHT: The probable reason why former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson didn’t name Fox in her jaw-dropping sexual harassment lawsuit against network Chairman Roger Ailes was that Carlson’s contract required her to arbitrate privately “any controversy, claim or dispute” arising out of her employment.” That should disallow Carlson from bringing any employment lawsuit, Ailes’ lawyers argued in a federal court motion to compel arbitration. “Federal, New York and New Jersey law all definitively hold that a plaintiff cannot avoid an agreed-to arbitration provision with her employer by just suing a corporate officer … in court.”

But Carlson’s attorneys said that motion is a ploy to “force this case into a secret arbitration proceeding. Gretchen never agreed to arbitrate anything with Mr. Ailes and the contract on which he relies does not mention and is not signed by him. Gretchen intends to fight for her right to a public jury trial, a right protected by the discrimination laws and our Constitution.”

The lawsuit comes as the legitimacy of mandatory arbitration agreements, now the norm in consumer and employment contracts, is being questioned in federal appeals court and by agencies like the National Labor Relations Board. Mostly the scrutiny is focused on how such arbitration clauses prevent employees and consumers from pursuing class action lawsuits rather than individual claims like Carlson’s. The NLRB has spent the last couple of years invalidating mandatory class waivers in employment agreements. A recent decision by the Seventh Circuit agreed with NLRB that such waivers were illegal, but the Fifth Circuit has twice ruled the other way, making it likely that the matter will be decided by the Supreme Court (assuming the Senate ever confirms a ninth justice). Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg last year issued a dissenting opinion bemoaning the growth of mandatory arbitration agreements in the consumer and employment class action context, citing a widely read New York Times investigation.

Carlson’s high-profile fight does not involve any class-wide claims (although six additional women have since surfaced with strikingly similar allegations against Ailes--which he denies, along with Carlson’s). But Carlson’s case will likely provide ballast to worker advocates who say that mandatory arbitration is a tool employers use to silence allegations of sexual harassment or other workplace abuses. Carlson’s lawsuit also reflects a growing trend among plaintiffs to emphasize claims of retaliation over discrimination in harassment lawsuits, according to the New York Times’ Noam Scheiber. “So pronounced is this practice that proving retaliation has sometimes displaced attempts to remedy the discriminatory treatment itself, a development that concerns some legal experts.” http://nyti.ms/29FHwlq

APPROPRIATIONS MARKUP: The House Appropriations Committee will this week mark up a labor spending bill that would block just about every major regulation or ruling produced by the Labor Department and the NLRB over the past couple of years. The bill would prevent the overtime and fiduciary rules from taking effect; continue a provision from last December’s omnibus spending bill that allowed H-2B employers to use their own private wage surveys to determine the prevailing wage that they’re required by law to pay workers; block the NLRB from enforcing its broadened joint employer standard and from recognizing smaller bargaining units; block the NLRB’s December 2014 rule to speed up union elections; and exempt Native American tribes and territory from the National Labor Relations Act’s jurisdiction.

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers said last week that the bill would “rein in the out-of-control regulations that hurt our economy and job growth." But House Education and the Workforce Ranking Member Bobby Scott (D-Va.) said the bill “ignores the struggles of working families” and “would prevent implementation of crucial measures that will improve the lives of working Americans.” The full Appropriations Committee will take up the bill Wednesday at 10:00 a.m. in 2359 Rayburn. http://bit.ly/29CuBC8

CONGRESS CRUNCH TIME

— WILL SENATE FINANCE VOTE ON MINE WORKERS PENSION?: Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) recently secured a promise from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch to hold a vote soon on legislation to improve the solvency of the United Mine Workers’ pension fund, but “soon” is starting to look like September. Last month a bipartisan group of Senators called for a floor vote before the summer recess, but Senate Finance has yet to signal whether a committee vote will take place before then. Lawmakers pushing for the bill warn that if Congress does not act this year, 20,000 coal miners will lose their health benefits in a matter of months. The retirees will begin receiving notices of the impending cuts July 15.

— “BLACKLIST RULE”: Perhaps you’re wondering how the House Appropriations Committee could possibly have forgotten, in its aforementioned labor spending bill, to block the Labor Department’s rule implementing President Barack Obama’s 2014 executive order requiring prospective federal contractors to disclose past labor violations. Answer: That task was left to the pending defense authorization bill, the House and Senate versions of which each contain an amendment shielding defense contractors (the government’s biggest contractors) from what they’ve taken to calling the “blacklist rule.” The House version would exempt all defense contractors from the executive order. The Senate version would exempt all defense contractors except those that have previously been debarred or suspended because of past labor law violations. House and Senate conferees will meet Wednesday but aren’t expected to complete their work until after the August recess.

A COMPANY BY ANY OTHER NAME:: A federal judge ruled Friday that a change of name or corporate structure does not free a company from paying damages.

In the case, an employee sued Jetcharters, Inc. for retaliation, saying she was fired shortly after lodging a harassment complaint. A judge agreed, and awarded her compensatory and punitive damages. But when the employee tried to collect the money the company sent her a letter saying the company she sued, Ultimate Jetcharters, Inc., no longer existed. A holding company had purchased it several years earlier and changed its name to Ultimate Jetcharters, LLC. (“LLC,” you may recall, stands for “Limited Liability Company.”)

The letter said that Ultimate Jetcharters, LLC would work with the employee to settle the matter, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit said Ultimate Jetcharters, Inc./LLC/Whatever had to pay up. “Even a cursory review of the record reveals that the parties, the judge, and the jury knew that Plaintiff’s suit was brought against her former employer, regardless of that entity’s name or legal structure,” wrote Judge Eric Clay. The decision is here: http://bit.ly/29tHP0z

OREO GETS A TILDE: Chicago’s Mondelez International plant made its last Oreo cookie Friday, as the snack company shifts some of its production to Mexico, reports the Chicago Tribune’s Greg Trotter.

As part of the shift, announced last summer, the company is laying off about half of the Chicago plant’s 1,200 workers. GOP presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump has vowed never to eat another Oreo in protest of the company “closing a factory in Chicago,” but in fact the plant will remain open, continuing to bake other products like Mini Chips Ahoy.

Mondelez executives said the switch could save them $46 million a year, but that the company will “remain committed” to U.S. production and to the Chicago bakery. It’s one of the longest-running facilities in the Mondelez network, and had been making Oreos since 1953. (Hydrox sandwich cookies, often scorned as Oreo knockoffs even though Hydrox predates Oreo, are still made in the U.S.) http://trib.in/29AyE0k

RIDESHARING FOR FEDERAL WORKERS: Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) introduced a bill Friday to allow federal workers to apply their transit benefits to ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft while Washington’s Metro system is under repair, reports POLITICO’s Lauren Gardner. Meadows said in a statement that random, frequent Metro delays have caused workers to arrive late and miss meetings, losing “valuable work time.” The bill, he said, will let federal workers expand their commuting options so they don’t have to rely on a single form of transportation. http://politico.pro/29DN1jf

MORE STATES CHALLENGE WHITE HOUSE TRANSGENDER STANCE: Ten more states filed a lawsuit Friday challenging the Obama administration's enforcement of federal civil rights laws to protect transgender students.

The latest suit means that about half of all states are battling the administration over the culturally divisive issue of transgender students and whether they should be permitted to use the bathrooms of their choice. The growing number of lawsuits makes it all but inevitable that the issue of transgender rights is destined for the Supreme Court. More from POLITICO’s Caitlin Emma: http://politico.pro/29rpDDE

WIN THE MORNING. OWN THE DAY. GET THE NEW PLAYBOOK. Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman, along with Daniel Lippman, tell you what’s really going on in Washington and beyond -- with more big scoops, must-read intel, and backstage reporting on politics and power. Sign up here: http://politi.co/29ta4fR

COFFEE BREAK

— J. David Cox dodges AFGE member’s retaliation suit, from Law360: http://bit.ly/29wvfSk

—Brexit brings pension pain, from The Wall Street Journal: http://on.wsj.com/29HX5Hz

— “A Start-Up Shies Away From the Gig Economy,” from the New York Times: http://nyti.ms/29wn1nP

— Gravity Payments CEO wins lawsuit brought by brother, from the Seattle Times: http://bit.ly/29I7u6q

— Labor board denies Rauner’s bid to speed up union case, from the A.P.: http://bit.ly/29woaf7

— Judge won’t dismiss Delta pilot’s 401(k) case, from Courthouse News: http://bit.ly/29xRAed

— Oil industry may face hiring crunch in recovery, from CNBC: http://cnb.cx/29NsQ4Q

— Statistical quirk led to poor May jobs report, from Bloomberg: http://bloom.bg/2a0v11k

— How Uber secretly investigated a plaintiffs lawyer, from the Verge: http://bit.ly/29Ntwr4

— Aspiring IATSE members walk off Tea Party film set, from Deadline: http://bit.ly/29wncQ0

THAT’S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT.

Follow us on Twitter Rebecca Rainey @rebeccaarainey