30/08/2020
Commentary: Lawmakers must act to protect workers from wage theft
These requirements are imposed on more than 64 percent of low-income
workers, 59 percent of Black workers, 54 percent of Latinx workers, and nearly
58 percent of female workers, all groups who are disproportionately employed in
the state's essential occupations.
Because forced arbitration heavily favors employers, most workers abandon
their claims. Experts estimate that forced arbitration reduces the number of
employment claims that would otherwise have been filed by 98 percent.
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This is exactly what happened to a group of workers at a restaurant in Corona,
Queens, a neighborhood ravaged by the coronavirus, who sought help from Make
the Road New York because they were paid sub-minimum wages without
overtime pay. Their employer, who had been sued for wage theft before, told the
workers they could sign arbitration requirements or lose their jobs. Because the
requirements prevented them from bringing wage claims together, and each
worker's claim on its own would have been too costly to litigate, the workers
were unable to recover their stolen wages.
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https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Commentary-Lawmakers-must-act-to-protect-workers-15511424.php
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