Cathy Creighton Speaks at Georgetown Law Journal Symposium on the Current State of the American Worker

The Georgetown Law Journal is hosted its Volume 114 Symposium, October 23 and 24, 2025, on “The Labor Movement and Civil Rights in the Modern Era.” The timely theme featured a variety of speakers and panels tasked with answering the questions around what workers--in the private and public sectors--can do when their rights are being eroded. 

On a panel, "Crisis at the NLRB: Legal Challenges, Political Power, Future Labor Rights," Cathy Creighton, Director of the Cornell ILR Buffalo office, shared the state that U.S. workers find themselves in: the one labor law for private sector workers, the National Labor Relations Act, which currently preempts all state laws, has been crippled and is not functioning in a legal respect. Moderator, Mark Gaston Pearce facilitated the lively panel with two former General Counsels at the NLRB, Jennifer Abruzzo and Richard Griffin, Jr. and American labor activist, Richard Bensinger. 

At present, there are a number of cases now before the Courts stating that the entire NLRB should be found unconstitutional. Even under Jennifer Abruzzo’s leadership at the NLRB, union density slipped to under 6% for private sector workers in the US, continuing its downward trend over the last 50 years.   

The States in have a right and a duty to act to protect American workers, and they are starting to do that. Per the BLC, about 29 percent of the 14.3 million union members lived in just two states (California at 2.4 million and New York at 1.7 million). So, it is not a coincidence that these two states have acted first, where labor’s political power is highest. Creighton spoke about the team she worked alongside to draft a law that was passed in June 2025, and signed by NY Governor Hochul on September 5, 2025.  This Act, now in effect, had the full support and push of the State AFL-CIO. 

Following New York’s lead, on September 30, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 288, which amends the state’s labor law and significantly expands the power of its Public Employment Relations Board (“PERB”) to cover private-sector employees currently under the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”).  

Currently two Cases are Challenging the NY Law. For more information reach out to Cathy Creighton, Director, Cornell ILR Buffalo Office.