Editorials

Today’s News & Commentary — April 12, 2018

Edward Nasser

Edward Nasser is a student at Harvard Law School.

NPR reports that journalists from The Chicago Tribune are preparing to organize. The paper has, for decades, been an outspoken opponent of unionizing efforts. Journalists cited decreased job security after two rounds of layoffs in the past six months; irregular and scant raises; rising health care costs; and a desire for more generous family leave conditions as primary reasons behind the organizing effort.

A blog post by the San Francisco Federal Reserve argues that the large number of Americans who find themselves with involuntary part-time work–long argued to be a symptom of a faltering economy–might be a more permanent result of changing structural features. Involuntary part-time workers are five times more likely to live in poverty than full-time workers with similar jobs, less likely to receive benefits, and earn on average close to 20% less per hour than full-time workers in similar positions.

Tesla workers filed suit claiming racial bias and abuse at one of the company’s electric car manufacturing facilities, reports Bloomberg. Because the plaintiffs are contract workers, they are not bound by a mandatory arbitration provision like most Tesla employees. The plaintiffs allege they were subject to near-constant verbal harassment as well as derogatory hand-drawn photos posted around the facility. A federal trial is scheduled to start in 2019.

Big multinational employers are releasing information about how many people they employ overseas thanks to a regulatory mandate required by the Dodd-Frank Act. Dodd-Frank required companies to make public the ratio between what they pay their chief executive and what they pay their median worker. The information about overseas employees is part of an effort by companies to contextualize what can be exorbitant pay ratios.

 

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