Labor and Worker's Rights
From Wiscopedia
Contents |
[edit] Where do Progressives Stand?
- Workers should have a right to representation through unions without interference from employers.
- Workers have certain rights to injury compensation, equal pay, overtime compensation, benefits, designated breaks, and a safe workplace which they should receive without consequence. Companies not providing or restricting such benefits must be held accountable by federal laws.
- Legislative efforts to reduce overtime pay and restrict worker‘s rights must be opposed.
- Corporations must be held accountable to strict laws regarding workplace safety, child labor, and discrimination. Penalties for violating such laws must be more costly than repairing the situation.
- Consumers have options to solicit businesses that treat their workers fairly.
[edit] Hot Topics
[edit] Sex Discrimination
While Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is currently the subject of the largest class action sex discrimination lawsuit in the nation with as many as 1.6 million preset an former workers at Wal-Mart and Sam‘s Club stores, dozens of major corporations in the United States are defending themselves against large sex discrimination charges, including Smith Barney, Detroit Edison, Mitsubishi, and Costco. These companies have denied women management positions, hold unequal pay rates for men and women, hold drastic disparities in equal promotions, and have constructed impenetrable glass ceilings for their female workers to confront.
[edit] Unionizing
Unions are the most direct form of worker representation. While workers at numerous companies have fought to unionize their workplace to ensure equal opportunities, living wages, benefits, and safe workplace environments, many large corporate employers have mounted a fight against unions at all costs. Currently employees at Wal-Mart, McDonalds, and Starbucks have attempted to unionize, only to be fired, punished for “infractions”, threatened, and even found their workplace closed in an effort to prevent worker representation. Many companies require anti-union presentations for all future employees wishing to enter or secure a job.
[edit] Workers Rights
Some of the most fundamental rights of a worker such as paid overtime, safe workplaces, worker compensation for injuries, and living wages are still being fought for throughout the United States in large companies.
Numerous companies pay their workers at wages that restrict their income to the degree that they live under the poverty line, even when working more than one job. Furthermore, companies have begun “contracting” workers rather than hiring full time employees to dodge responsibilities of worker compensation. In 2004, President Bush instated the largest reduction of overtime pay since the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and is currently pursuing legislation that will allow companies to substitute time off for the federally required time-and-a-half overtime rates. Worker advocates are also expecting to see a “flex-time” bill that will replace a 40 hour work week with an 80 hour two week pay period that could encourage longer hours and lower wages.
Additionally, the 7.7 million workers currently seeking employment have been rapidly exhausting their unemployment benefits before finding a new source of income, forcing more of the U.S.‘s labor market to slip closer to the poverty line
[edit] The Wal-Mart Case Study
Wal-Mart is the world’s largest retailer with more than 3,000 stores in the US and nearly 1,300 abroad. It employs 1.4 million workers worldwide as well as 1 million workers in the United States. Wal-Mart‘s total sales for fiscal year 2003 were $244.5 billion, more than the Gross Domestic Product of 155 of the 192 countries in the world. In 2000 alone, Wal-Mart was sued 4,851 times, or once every two hours.
Wal-mart pays an average of $8.23 an hour, though it has claimed to pay an average of $9.68 nationally. Even at the highest estimates, a worker putting in the 34 hour “full time” week at Wal-Mart would earn $17,114.24 a year, enough to put a family of four below the poverty line. If Wal-Mart was interested in paying its workers a dollar more per hour, this would only require raising prices a half penny per dollar (an item costing $2.00 would be raised to $2.01), creating a yearly increase of $1,800 per worker.
Additionally, Wal-Mart is responsible for hiring at least 250 undocumented immigrants who were required to work seven days or nights a week without paid overtime or Workman’s Comp. Many of these workers were locked in the stores overnight.
In 2005 after a five year investigation, the US Department of Labor (DOL) found Wal-Mart violated child labor laws assigning at least 85 minors to the operation of dangerous machinery such as chainsaws. Rather than being held accountable for this violation, Wal-Mart was allowed to negotiate its own punishment, a federal fine of $135,540. The DOL then agreed to give Wal-Mart 15 days of notice prior to any further investigations.
Wal-Mart is the employer of nearly ¾ of a million female workers making women 72% of the hourly workforce. However, women earn 5-15% less than men and comprise a mere 33% of management positions. Half of Wal-Mart‘s female workers qualify for federal assistance under the food stamp program. Also, the benefits package that workers must purchase from Wal-Mart does not cover contraceptives such as birth control pills.14 Currently, Wal-Mart is being sued in the largest class action lawsuit for sex discrimination in history, Dukes V. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.
Furthermore, Wal-Mart is infamous for its purchase of sweatshop and prison labor (slave labor) manufactured goods from Saipan, El Salvador, and the Caribbean. Most of these goods are made by young women working seven days a week up to 15 hours a day for 12-28> an hour. These women are housed in crowded dormitories, constantly under surveillance, and are fired for discussing poor work conditions. Often times these women are required to take “pregnancy tests”, often amounting to presenting soiled maxi pads to their employers. For such activities, Wal-Mart was removed from Domini 400 Social Index by KLD and Co., a company that provides research for investors.
[edit] In the News
[edit] Facts and Statistics
- Every day in the United States, 15 workers die from occupational injuries. Every year, nearly 6,000 workers are killed on the job
- The Purchasing Power of workers’ wages is 5% below where it stood 30 years ago.
- CEO pay stands at more than 1,000 times the earnings of workers.
- 92% of employers force workers to attend anti-union presentations in order to secure their job.
- Low wage workers make up 23% of the workforce earning an average of $7.09 an hour. 50% of low paying jobs are in the service industry, and 58% of these workers are women.
[edit] Sources
- Ackman, Dan Wal-Mart And Sex Discrimination By The Numbers, 06.23.04, Forbes Magazine
- http://www.aflcio.org/yourjobeconomy/overtimepay/
- http://www.americanrightsatwork.org/resources/statistics.cfm
- http://www.ufcw.org/issues_and_actions/walmart_workers_ campaign_info/facts_and_figures/walmartgeneralinfo.cfm
- http://www.now.org/issues/wfw/wm-facts.html
- Donald McKenzie, “Wal-Mart Negotiates Its Own Fine For Alleged Child Labor Violations: Company admits no guilt as part of deal,” The New York Times, February 12, 2005
This article incorporates text from Colopedia.org through a prior agreement with the content creators.
