WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of about $19 million in grants for current national recipients in the Senior Community Service Employment Program to apply for additional funding in a demonstration of sector-based training for older workers. 

SEATTLE - Un tribunal federal ha ordenado a un productor de coronas navideñas para su venta por grandes comercios, incluidos Costco, Publix, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart y Wegmans, pagar $1.85 millones en salarios atrasados y daños a casi 700 trabajadores después de que el Departamento de Trabajo de Estados Unidos descubriera que el empleador no pagó los salarios de horas extras requeridos y vulneró los derechos de los trabajadores migrantes y de temporada.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative today announced the conclusion of a Rapid Response Mechanism petition under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement with respect to Teklas Automotive Mexico, an auto parts facility in Aguascalientes. The petition alleged that the company had denied its workers their freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and Office of the U.S. Trade Representative today announced the conclusion of a self-initiated Rapid Response Mechanism action under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement with respect to Draxton Mexico, an auto parts facility in Guanajuato. The action alleged that the company had denied freedom of association and collective bargaining rights.

LIBERTYTOWN, MD – Individuals employed by a Libertytown plumbing subcontractor who worked on a Woodyard Station construction project may be eligible to receive their share of $156,495 in wages and fringe benefits recovered by a U.S. Department of Labor investigation.

ATLANTA – For the second time in less than a year, federal workplace safety inspectors have found a global electric vehicle battery manufacturer exposing employees to serious safety and health hazards at its Commerce plant, after workers suffered potentially permanent respiratory damage in an October 2023 lithium battery fire.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $2.9 million in grant funding to Pennsylvania’s Department of Labor and Industry to assist people affected by the health and economic effects of widespread opioid use, addiction and overdose.

IONIA, MI ‒ The U.S. Department of Labor has recovered a total of $110,000 in back wages and liquidated damages for six employees of an Ionia hotel, including two who worked there for more than 40 hours per week for nearly 10 months without pay. The couple thought they were working in exchange for free lodging at the hotel, but the hotel still charged them for their stay on some nights they worked.

WASHINGTON – The Biden-Harris administration today announced an initial award of $3.5 million in emergency dislocated worker grant funding to the state of Maryland to support cleanup and recovery activities after a container ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge’s support pylons on March 26, 2024, causing the bridge to collapse.

Workers whose jobs were impacted, due to no fault of their own, will have access to new training and may have their wages subsidized if they are engaged in post-disaster employment activities. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has joined other federal departments and agencies calling for fairness, equality, justice and compliance as automated systems — including artificial intelligence or “AI” — become more commonly used. The department also emphasized that existing legal authorities apply to the use of automated systems and new technologies as they apply to other practices.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su issued the following statement on the March 2024 Employment Situation report: 

“Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the American economy added 303,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.8 percent. This report once again demonstrates steady growth and a strong labor market with a three-month average of 276,000 in job gains. The jobless rate has been below 4 percent for the 26th month in a row — the longest stretch in more than 50 years. 

ST. LOUIS – Federal workplace safety inspectors found a Missouri roofing contractor again risking the safety of its employees by failing to protect them against the construction industry’s deadliest hazard — falls from heights— at five residential worksites in Wentzville in October and November 2023. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Department of the Treasury, IRS and Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. have jointly extended the comment period soliciting public input on existing reporting and disclosure requirements for retirement plans. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor will host an information session on April 10 in Portsmouth, Ohio, for current and former nuclear weapons workers and their families employed at covered facilities on the benefits available under the federal Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. 

SEATTLE – A federal court has ordered a producer of Christmas wreaths and seasonal greens for major retailers — including Costco, Publix, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart and Wegmans — to pay $1.85 million in back wages and damages to nearly 700 workers after the U.S. Department of Labor found the employer failed to pay required overtime wages and violated migrant and seasonal workers’ rights.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of $49.2 million in funding to provide career training services to prepare workers in the Appalachian, Lower Mississippi Delta and Northern Border regions to obtain quality jobs. 

In the week ending March 30, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 221,000, an increase of 9,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 2,000 from 210,000 to 212,000. The 4-week moving average was 214,250, an increase of 2,750 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 500 from 211,000 to 211,500.

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement today requested the Mexican government conduct a review based on its finding that a denial of workers’ rights has occurred at Minera Tizapa S.A. de C.V., in Zacazonapan.

AUSTIN, TX – An Austin subsidiary of one of the nation’s largest producers of modular and manufactured homes faces $272,479 in penalties after federal investigators found the company exposing employees to more than two dozen serious violations during an October 2023 inspection.