For Sean Carlisle (a pseudonym) a 32-year-old graduate student and native of California’s Inland Empire, the last three years at his local Amazon fulfillment center have been an education. As a student of urban planning, he studies how built environments shape a community’s behavior. As a picker, he packs items at a breakneck pace amid stacks of inventory and snaking …
The future of work is here, ushered in by a global pandemic. But is it turning employment into a Workers’ Paradise of working at home? Or more of a Big Brother panopticon? Disturbing increases in use of digital surveillance technologies by employers to monitor their remote workers is raising alarm bells. With the number of remote workers surging as …
Employers Are Spying on Remote Workers in Their Homes Read More »
Seattle really pissed off gig economy companies by imposing $2.50 in hazard pay for each food delivery order during the pandemic. It’s no surprise that some of the big companies stiffed their workers—but there is a surprise here: Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards (OLS) successfully pressured DoorDash and Postmates to do internal audits and pay up. “After receiving calls …
Seattle makes DoorDash and Postmates pay out COVID-19 hazard pay Read More »
We’re calling Walmart out on its misleading public relations push. Welp, they’re at it again! Walmart kicks off its annual U.S. Manufacturing Summit in Arkansas on Tuesday, highlighting “progress” in its 10-year commitment to purchase $250 billion in American-made goods. For the second year in a row, the retail giant has unveiled a handy infographic …
ANOTHER Walmart Made in America Infographic Needed Some Work, So We Fixed It Read More »
During World War Two, employers were prohibited from raising wages because of wartime Wage and Price controls. With labor in short supply, employers and union leaders sought ways around the government limits and agreed to new health insurance benefits as an alternative to increased compensation. Thus was born our odd system of employer-based health insurance. …
“Just Cause”: Isn’t It Time For All Workers to Have Some Job Security? Read More »
As if we didn’t already have enough on our plates (having to fend off attacks from the “Fix the Debt” CEOs), now there’s another group of CEOs, the Business Roundtable, telling us we need to “modernize,” a.k.a. cut, Social Security and Medicare benefits by raising the eligibility ages and reducing cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs). How helpful. R.J. Eskow took …
Oh Great, More CEOs Telling Us We Need to Cut Social Security and Medicare Benefits Read More »
Showing solidarity with our union brothers and sisters is a great way for us to ring in the New Year, says Jim Key, vice president at large of Steelworkers Local 550 in Paducah, Ky. Key, also his local’s legislative and political chairman, is asking union members and union supporters nationwide to take a minute to …
An interesting look at the unemployment rate. “What is currently a temporary long-term unemployment problem runs the risk of morphing into a permanent and costly increase in the unemployment rate” unless Congress takes action to create jobs. Why the Unemployment Rate Is So High – New York Times Unemployment claims have increased slightly. “The Labor …
Unemployment: Why Won’t Congress Talk About It!? Read More »
The NLRB in the past few weeks made public a number of significant decisions, most reached in the final days of the term of Member Brian Hayes, which ended on December 16. The Board continues with three members, Chairman Mark Gaston Pearce and Members Richard F. Griffin, Jr. and Sharon Block. The decisions touch on …
My Fair Share is a cross-post from Working America’s Dear David workplace advice column. David knows you deserve to be treated fairly on the job and he’s available to answer your questions, whether it is co-workers making off-handed comments that you should retire or you feel like your job’s long hours are causing stress. Question: What can you do about not being paid a …
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
