New reports on labor abuses in the U.S.
Written by barb howe Tuesday, 01 September 2009 12:43
As Labor Day approaches, we've been hearing a lot of talk about the declining conditions for workers in the U.S. and what the new administration can do about it. Today and yesterday three new reports on labor abuses in the U.S. have been released. One by our partner organization, the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), and two by the National Employment Law Project (NELP).
According to NCLR, the very foundation of basic worker protections in this country is being eroded. In their report, Fractures in the Foundation, as our economy continues to falter, more workers than ever --and particularly Latinos-- are entering the low-wage job market and being exposed to threats to health and safety due to lack of enforcement of labor laws. "At this unique moment of economic turmoil and anticipation for what lies ahead, a decision must be made about whether to take on these policy challenges or continue to chip away at the foundation of job quality. Workers’ lives hang in the balance."
Download the full report (69 page pdf doc) or just the Executive Summary (3 page pdf doc).
NELP has two hard-hitting reports out now. One, Confronting the Gloves off Economy: America's broken labor standards and how to fix them argues that not only are labor laws being violated now with more impunity than ever, but also points out that there has been a "wholesale change in expectations" as to what is acceptable in the workplace. "What were once considered basic elements of having a job—access to predictable and regular hours, employer-subsidized health care, pensions, vacation and sick-day accrual—have become, in effect, workplace luxuries as employers have focused more on the bottom line than social responsibility."
I thought this paragraph was a pretty good summary of why this situation has come about.
There are many reasons that the gloves have come off. Businesses strive for new ways to cut costs at the same time that the federal government has largely abandoned its mandate to regulate the labor market. Watchdogs, particularly unions, have weakened. And federal policies aimed at other objectives have generated large populations of extra-vulnerable workers, such as undocumented immigrants or exprisoners. At the same time, entire industries have been excluded from labor law protections under deals cut in the legislative process. Thus certain domestic workers, home care workers and agricultural workers aren't covered by laws most of us take for granted.
You can read the full report on their website.
The third report, Broken Laws, Unprotected Workers, co-authored by NELP Co-director Annette Bernhardt upends the myth that wage violations are the exception to the rule. This is very unsettling stuff! Some of the interesting things this study found include:
- women are more likely than men to suffer wage violations, especially if they are undocumented immigrants
- African-Americans are three times more likely than whites to get ripped off in the workplace, AND...
- Only 8% of workers who suffered serious injuries on the job filed for workers compensation. Why? Because their employers talk them out of it!
Read the full report here, 72 page pdf doc.
Maybe it's just me but, um, is anyone else seeing a pattern here?
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