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As I explain in my new book, corporations are increasingly taking advantage of workers—prohibiting them from filing lawsuits & instead requiring them to go to employer-friendly arbitration is just one way—That's why the California legislation is important
Many corporations have adopted practices that were far rarer or largely unheard of three or four decades ago—hiring hordes of unpaid interns & expecting many workers, white-collar & blue, to toil 60 or 70 hours a week. Many workers are asking whatever happened to the 40-hour week
Many corporations are illegally treating workers as independent contractors rather than employees, thus avoiding any obligation to contribute to their Social Security benefits or pay overtime. If classified as indy contractors, workers can't unionize or sue for race or sex bias.
In recent years, far more companies have reduced employees’ mobility by making them sign non-compete clauses, with some employers requiring even fast-food workers & camp counselors to pledge not to work for competitors. This helps hold down wages.
nytimes.com/2017/05/13/bus…
nytimes.com/2017/05/13/bus…
Far more than in prior decades, retailers & restaurants— in a practice known as “clopening”— are ordering employees to work until 11 pm or midnight to close up & then return at 7 or 8 am to open up, meaning those workers are lucky to get five hours' sleep. nytimes.com/2015/02/22/bus…
In my book Beaten Down, Worked Up, I write that corporations are increasingly squeezing workers because worker power & labor unions have grown too weak. Workers have far too little say in the workplace & in policymaking in Washington. That needs to change. penguinrandomhouse.com/books/246798/b…
