March 26, 2024

’Tis the season of the worker, sort of. In a growing number of Starbucks shops and university campuses, certainly. And also, just yesterday, at the White House and on Capitol Hill.

Yesterday, the House voted by 335 to 97—which means not just all the Democrats, but a majority of the Republicans, too—to ban forced arbitration in cases of sexual assault and harassment. Tens of millions of workers are compelled by their employment contracts to forgo the right to sue their employer for abuses, discrimination, and the like, and submit their claims to private arbitration, which in the overwhelming majority of cases results in a pro-employer ruling. That forced arbitration even exists is itself a form of worker abuse, but at least it now appears doomed (the bill has overwhelming support in the Senate and, of course, the Oval Office) in matters of sexual harassment.

More from Harold Meyerson

Also yesterday, the White House released a long and detailed set of rules and policies to bolster workers and unions, which was developed by its Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. The new rules will help foster worker organizing among those federal employees who are not now union members, and at companies that are recipients of federal grants. The report comes in the wake of President Biden’s proclamations that employees of federal contractors must be paid an hourly wage of at least $15, and that workers on every project funded to the tune of at least $35…

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