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Several unions representing federal employees have filed a lawsuit challenging a Trump administration policy that would reclassify about 50,000 government workers as at-will employees under a new category called “Schedule Policy/Career.” The change would make it easier to fire workers and limit their ability to appeal dismissals. Unions argue the policy violates federal law and threatens the merit-based civil service system by allowing political influence over government jobs.

Germany’s largest industrial union, IG Metall, failed to gain a majority in the works council election at Tesla’s Berlin gigafactory, winning 13 of 37 seats. Non-union members retained control of the council, marking a setback for the union’s efforts to gain more influence over working conditions at the plant. The election campaign was contentious, with accusations of anti-union sentiment from Tesla management and disputes between the company and union representatives. Works councils play a major role in German labor relations, so IG Metall’s loss limits its ability to push for changes at Tesla’s only European production site.

The U.S. economy lost 92,000 jobs in February, surprising economists who had expected job growth. The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.4%, and earlier job numbers for December and January were revised downward. Job losses occurred across several sectors, including healthcare, transportation, information, and the federal government. Economists say hiring has slowed significantly since 2025, with overall job growth last year reaching only 181,000 jobs, the weakest since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thousands of DHL Express drivers and warehouse employees represented by the Teamsters have voted by a 96% margin to authorize a strike if negotiations fail to produce a new national contract before March 31. The union says pay, working conditions, and benefit protections remain unresolved, and leaders have warned they will not agree to any contract extensions. Bargaining teams have been meeting in Washington, but the union insists that both the national agreement and all supplemental local agreements must be finalized before the deadline. The standoff follows earlier labor unrest at DHL’s Cincinnati air hub and in Canada, signaling broader tensions across the company’s North American operations.

A new analysis from the Institute for Policy Studies shows that employees at some of the largest U.S. corporations earn wages so low that many qualify for Medicaid and SNAP, even as executive compensation and stock buybacks continue to climb. The report identifies 20 major S&P 500 companies whose median pay falls below basic assistance thresholds for a family of three, with Walmart and Amazon showing particularly high rates of workers enrolled in public programs. Researchers argue that corporate spending on buybacks—more than $32 billion in 2024—could have doubled wages for a million workers to a level sufficient to afford average U.S. rent. Companies pushed back, saying eligibility for benefits depends on household income and that federal minimum wage reform is needed, while labor advocates describe the situation as a form of corporate cost‑shifting onto taxpayers.

Private employers added 63,000 jobs in February, marking the strongest monthly increase since mid‑2025 and reversing a weak start to the year. Most of the growth came from education and health services, while construction also expanded and manufacturing continued to lose positions. The report arrives just ahead of the official federal jobs release, with economists expecting overall hiring to slow and unemployment to remain at 4.3%. With the labor market steadying despite tariff‑driven uncertainty and inflation still elevated, the data reinforces expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged at its upcoming meeting.

A staff strike inside the Writers Guild of America West has forced the cancellation of the guild’s Los Angeles awards ceremony, originally scheduled for March 8. Guild leadership said they would not ask members or guests to cross a picket line while non‑supervisory employees continue protesting over pay, AI protections, and basic contract safeguards. The staff union alleges that management has engaged in surveillance, retaliatory firings, and surface bargaining during negotiations that began last fall. With the New York ceremony still moving ahead, the cancellation adds tension to the upcoming Minimum Basic Agreement talks with Hollywood studios, recalling the guild’s major 148‑day strike in 2023.

Several major Japanese automakers have agreed to the full wage‑increase and bonus demands put forward by their unions during this year’s shuntō negotiations. Mazda, Mitsubishi Motors, and Yamaha Motor each approved substantial monthly pay raises — ¥19,000, ¥18,000, and ¥19,400 respectively — along with bonuses worth roughly five months of salary. The companies moved earlier than most firms, aiming to sustain wage‑growth momentum despite financial pressure from U.S. tariff policies and a difficult business climate. Mazda also committed to its largest monthly raise since 2003, while Yamaha granted an additional annual day off for the first time in over three decades, reflecting broader industry efforts to improve working conditions.

A newly seated Republican majority on the National Labor Relations Board has reinstated the narrower 2020 joint‑employer standard, reversing a broader Biden‑era rule that never took effect after being struck down in court. The revived test requires companies to have direct and immediate control over essential working conditions before they can be held jointly responsible for bargaining or labor‑law violations involving contractors or franchise workers. Business groups have long favored this approach, while unions argue it ignores how large corporations influence working conditions indirectly through franchise and staffing arrangements. The decision is expected to face legal challenges and signals further rollbacks of union‑friendly policies adopted under the previous administration.

Artificial intelligence may push the U.S. into a period where unemployment remains higher even when the economy is functioning normally, according to outgoing Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic. In his interview, he explains that if companies permanently need fewer workers, the Fed cannot simply cut interest rates to force joblessness back down without risking inflation or policy mistakes. Bostic argues that structural labor shifts require policymakers to accept new economic realities rather than rely on traditional monetary tools. He also emphasizes that the Fed must continue examining how different demographic groups experience the labor market, even as political pressure around these issues intensifies.