@alvinvelazquez

Cool paper alert: @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social has a new paper examining bankruptcy law’s role in shaping collective power for labor unions and workers.

After Fiscal Board layoffs, Donald Trump keeps PREPA debt restructuring in limbo The White House began the layoffs on Aug. 1, but maintains the six vacancies created by the U.S. president

I provided comments to El Nuevo Día about Puerto Rico's bankruptcy. Both the NLRB and the Oversight Board lack quorum. Should the local government have the power to step in and manage the bankruptcy as New York state is stepping in to fill a gap in labor law? www.elnuevodia.com/english/news...

Yellow’s $6.5 Billion Pension Loss Marks Victory for PBGC (1) Yellow Corp.'s failed bid to slash around $6.5 billion in pension withdrawal liabilities is a significant win for one federal regulator, even as the underlying legal issue is up for a possible revisit...

Who would have thought that Loper-Bright would matter in private sector bankruptcies involving labor unions and pension funds? Apparently, it does in the Yellow Bankruptcy. @bloomberg.com covered my thoughts on it. In short, Judge Ambro got this decision right. news.bloomberglaw.com/bankruptcy-l...

@katejackson.bsky.social wrote a great paper that this LPE Post draws from. What really blew me away was how the descriptive accounts of authoritarian regimes tracked CEO behavior intuitively. This is really insightful stuff, and I'm thankful that Kate is doing this.

Thanks to Michael Duff for the JOTWELL review of my paper the Death of Labor Law and the Rebirth of the Labor Movement. worklaw.jotwell.com/beyond-colla...

I absolutely love this blog post by Eamon Coburn because it brings moral conversations into labor law in an explicit way. I may write a response to it because I liked it so much. It's a great pickup by the LPE Blog.

This is very good on statutory paths to (private sector) faculty unionization:

Bargaining for the Common Good in Bankruptcy - Alvin Velazquez, 2025 When a corporation files for bankruptcy, it is usually bad news for workers. That is because most corporations are usually looking to slash wages or seek other ...

The Labor Studies Journal just published my article "Bargaining for the Common Good in Bankruptcy" after peer-review. It's a playbook for what unions should do in the event of a municipal bankruptcy to fight not only in their interest, but for the public good. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

SpaceX’s Court Victory Paves Way for a Labor Movement Revival Opinion: Maurer School of Law Professor Alvin Velazquez says a Fifth Circuit ruling against the National Labor Relations Board could open a tactical toolbox for organized labor to exploit.

New op-ed out in @bloomberg.com from Prof. @alvinvelazquez.bsky.social:
news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

SpaceX’s Court Victory Paves Way for a Labor Movement Revival Opinion: Maurer School of Law Professor Alvin Velazquez says a Fifth Circuit ruling against the National Labor Relations Board could open a tactical toolbox for organized labor to exploit.

Bloomberg just ran my op-ed on SpaceX's victory in the 5th Circuit. I argue that its win could lead to a labor rebirth by taking out preemption and opening up the toolbox of tactics available to labor. Returning labor law to the law of the jungle? news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/...

Wall Street Stock Market Crash GIF ALT: Wall Street Stock Market Crash GIF

The 5th Circuit holding that the NLRB is not likely constitutional?

This professor's paper "The Death of Labor Law and the Rebirth of the Labor Movement" lays out the case for using Gwynne Wilcox's case to get rid of the NLRA so that workers can engage in these tactics. Risky--yes, but it's the only legal option I see to move forward. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Courts Let Trump Strip Collective Bargaining Rights From Huge Number of Federal Workers Just days after a federal appeals court cleared the way for President...

Trump's so-far-successful effort to strip collective bargaining rights from federal workers appears to have resulted in a decrease in the total number of unionized American workers of more than 2%.

Fragile Movements Crumble Taking seriously the threat to organized labor.

It is very possible that the power of organized labor will be effectively broken under Trump and we will need to rebuild the American labor movement again, without making the same mistakes that got us here.

www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/fragile-mo...

I actually think it's time to rebuild, and partially do that by letting go of the NLRA--(as much as I hate to say it).

The Stanford Law Review has accepted for publication my latest article "Bankupting Labor Power". I am beyond thrilled with it, and hope that it gets labor scholars and activists to think about bankruptcy's role in reviving the labor movement. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Donald Trump asumiría el control de la Junta de Supervisión Fiscal con sus próximos nombramientos La Casa Blanca atacó los gastos del ente fiscal y renovó las críticas del presidente a la “corrupción” en el gobierno de Puerto Rico

Trump's removal of the Oversight Board's members all has to do with getting creditors paid. Old Board v New Board= a restructuring that PR cannot afford. My comments here in @elnuevodia.bsky.social.

www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsal...

The Trump administration dismisses most on a federal board overseeing Puerto Rico's finances The Trump administration has dismissed five out of seven members on Puerto Rico’s federal control board that oversees the U.S. territory’s finances, sparking concern about the future of the island’s f...

I have some thoughts about all of his covered by the Associated Press. apnews.com/article/puer...

Exclusive: Trump Axes Five Members of Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico President Trump fired five members of the Financial Oversight and Management Board for Puerto Rico, Breitbart News can exclusively report.

My hunch...PREPA's creditors hope by removing certain Oversight Board members they will clear a path for raising some of the highest electrical rates on some of the poorest people in the U.S. to get paid back. www.breitbart.com/politics/202...

No, no one has. However, the letter carriers case dealt with that.

I literally just wrote about the term "scab" and how it's seen as defamatory in my upcoming law review article on forgiving labor torts. I even included a picture of scabby for good measure.

Most of them are Omnibus editions so they are out in the open. The Transformers are in the box.

My office screams child of the 80's! I have comic books, with Wolverine 1 as part of my Zoom backdrop. I also have a Roberto Clemente statuette and some Transformers toys on my shelf. Finally, I have some cards that colleagues have written to me over the years. Always starts a conversation.

Thanks for sharing this. I am a big fan of baseball history.

Impera aún la desconfianza en el gobierno de Puerto Rico en el manejo de los temas fiscales y de quiebra, según expertos Analizan el saldo de la sesión del miércoles, en el Congreso, con ocasión del noveno aniversario de la ley Promesa y el desempeño de la Junta de Supervisión

@elnuevodia.bsky.social covered my comments about a recent Congressional hearing on PROMESA. The reality is that Puerto Rico's electrical authority does not have a viable path for restructuring in the long term without a truly feasible debt cut off. www.elnuevodia.com/corresponsal...

Trump Names NLRB Nominees, Paving Path to Functioning Quorum (1) President Donald Trump tapped a pair of National Labor Relations Board nominees who, if confirmed, would give the agency enough board members to fully function.

Anyone have a take on these Board nominees? I would love to hear them as I form my own thoughts.
news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-...

As union action in Indiana continues to grow, here's what one professor has to say Indiana has seen a wide range of union action this year from some workers unionizing their workplace, or successfully negotiating new contracts, to others demonstrating outside of the Statehouse.

Indiana and labor activity are not two words that have gone together in much in the last twenty years. But historically Indiana has had a rich culture of union activity. Thanks to our NPR affiliate for getting my thoughts about the resurgence in labor union activity.
www.wfyi.org/news/article...

100% agree. I actually just cited to that book in some work that I'm doing.

Quoted today in Bloomberg Law about Sunnova's bankruptcy. This is major news in Puerto Rico, and I think demonstrates how bk law doesn't have great tools for handling debtors reliant on federal grant money.