Bleeding Edge takes place in 2001

[alice wellintown]

While some may read between the bleeds in search of conspiracy
theories, I suspect that P will continue to write about  workers and
the law. If the novel is directed at our current lives, as I suspect,
we should think about how we live after 9-11. P lives in NYC where a
billionaire mayor is finishing his third term in office. How the mayor
managed to change the law so that he could run for a third term, how
he dominates every institution of power in the city, how he has
attacked labor....occupy wall street...so on.

Article: Labor's Fragile Freedom of Association Post-9/11

Winter, 2006,   8 U. Pa. J. Lab. & Emp. L. 283,   Ruben J. Garcia

Excerpt

 "Freedom of association" is an American ideal much like "free
speech," but neither is free nor absolute. Qualifications limit both
of these concepts. There is the Holmesian precept that one may not
"yell fire in a crowded theater" when there is no fire and claim First
Amendment protection. 1 Similarly, freedom of association can be
limited in certain circumstances in order to protect public safety,
enforce anti-discrimination laws, and prevent unlawful conspiracies. 2
The historical difficulty has always been to strike the appropriate
balance between civil liberties and the protection of order during
periods of domestic insecurity, such as wartime, terrorist attacks, or
the Cold War on communism. 3

 This Article examines the proper limits of labor's freedom of
association in the United States since the terrorist attacks of
September 11, 2001. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act of
1935 (NLRA) defines labor's freedom of association as:

The right to self-organization, to form, join or assist labor
organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of
their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities for
the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or
protection. 4

 While section 7 of the NLRA is the foundation of the rights
guaranteed to American private sector workers, it is only the starting
point for labor's freedom of association. The NLRA protects those
workers defined by the statute as "employees." 5 Many of the
principles embodied in the NLRA are afforded to public sector
employees through the Constitution, federal ...

AND

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Civil Liberties Today

Criminal law changed surprisingly little after the attacks. How law
was enforced is another matter.


http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/us/sept-11-reckoning/civil.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0