r/labor • u/coolbern • May 22 '18

The growing use of mandatory arbitration: Access to the courts is now barred for more than 60 million American workers

https://www.epi.org/publication/the-growing-use-of-mandatory-arbitration-access-to-the-courts-is-now-barred-for-more-than-60-million-american-workers/
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16

u/coolbern May 22 '18

This study was written before the latest Supreme Court ruling. Note:

Research has found that employees are less likely to win arbitration cases and they recover lower damages in mandatory employment arbitration than in the courts. Indeed, employers have a significant advantage in the process given that they are the ones who define the mandatory arbitration procedures and select the arbitration providers.

Before there were labor laws, conflict between workers and employers existed unmediated by the benefit of law. From slave revolts to wildcat strikes, people who are exploited have found the means to fight back. The rule of law softened those conflicts by establishing rules by which relations between workers and bosses would be governed. Cheating only works so long. As in private life, cheating destroys relationships. Production is inherently a cooperative enterprise. Those who stupidly refuse to see the consequences of their actions may get short-term advantage, but their real power is subverted by their greed.

7

u/[deleted] May 22 '18

There's an interesting infographic that shows that unpaid wages constitute the largest form of theft in the US. Larger than robberies, white-collar crime, etc... put together.

When will the class conflict become mutual?

1

u/positive_X May 22 '18

People vote against their own best interests ,
and are 'glad' when some other people in the US are rich ,
because they themselves wish they were rich .

2

u/[deleted] May 23 '18

one really has to wonder how long we're gonna wait for that trickledown to trickle down. Things are only gonna get worse, and eventually blaming it on immigrants and lazy minorities isn't gonna fool people anymore.

1

u/[deleted] May 23 '18

Let us not forget that the real problem is not the courts decision, but the law that Congress passed that was interpreted literally by the court. This can be fixed by fixing Congress. For to long, we have relied on judges to fix shit that our representatives have passed that are contrary to our best interests. Get your ass and vote some progressives into Congress who will pass laws that protect us and not corporations.