This is the first conclusion reached by the institute Economic Policy Institute (EPI), in a report published this week and warns that the situation may worsen because the Supreme Court will face in October a series of cases to decide whether or not it is legal for arbitration clauses to waive class actions.
La Opinion
October 2, 2017
On October 2, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case that implicates the very concept of collective action. NLRB v. Murphy Oil asks whether it is a violation of workers’ rights to force them to enter into arbitration agreements that prohibit collective or class litigation. Such agreements, often entered into as conditions of employment, require workers who want to sue their employers to do so individually in a private arbitration setting, rather than as a class of aggrieved workers who can pool their resources and knowledge. According to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, more than 60 million U.S. workers have now lost access to the courts because of such forced arbitration agreements.
In These Times
October 2, 2017
“If the Supreme Court sides with corporate interests and the Trump administration, workers will likely be forced to sign away the long-held right to join together with their co-workers to address workplace disputes,” said Celine McNicholas, counsel for the Economic Policy Institute(link is external), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank. McNicholas, who has published a long analysis of the case, said arbitration cases are costly for individual employees and are usually won by employers.
Workday Minnesota
October 2, 2017
Arbitration agreements required by employers have increased significantly over the last two decades, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. Its report, based on a national survey of employers, found that more than 60 million Americans are now covered by arbitration agreements at work. It also found that since the early 2000s, the number of workers subject to mandatory arbitration has doubled, now exceeding 55 percent of the American workforce.
KPVI
October 2, 2017
A recent study from the Economic Policy Institute estimates that 60 million workers in the United States are subject to forced arbitration clauses, and of those 25 million are subject to an individual arbitration requirement, barring class, collective or group action. If the Supreme Court decides this case in favor of corporations, we can expect those numbers to rise, while it becomes more and more difficult for workers to access our court system.
Above the Law
October 2, 2017
Business Management Daily
More than half of private-sector nonunion workers must sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment, according to a new study by the Economic Policy Institute. Arbitration agreements require employees to waive their right to sue to resolve employment disputes, instead of taking them to arbitration. They typically cover Title VII discrimination and harassment charges, Fair Labor Standards Act wage-and-hour disputes and ADA and FMLA claims.
Business Management Daily
October 2, 2017
Josh Bivens, Economic Policy Institute research director, and Diana Furchtgott-Roth, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and director of its Economics21 program and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University, weigh in on the new Republican tax plan.
The Brian Lehrer Show
September 29, 2017
A similar report released Wednesday by the Economic Policy Institute suggests that these mandatory arbitration clauses are not merely the province of large employers. Across the board, arbitration clauses keep about 56% of non-union employees out of court, or roughly 60.1 million American workers, according to the EPI study, authored by Cornell professor Alexander J.S. Colvin. (EPI cited throughout)
Money
September 29, 2017
More than 55 percent of nonunion private sector employees in the U.S. have arbitration agreements in their workplaces, a report from the Economic Policy Institute said Sept. 27. That percentage is almost double what it was when the information was last collected in the early 2000s, the report said. Celine McNicholas, EPI’s labor counsel, said the group expected an increase but “were surprised” that over half the workers in the study had arbitration agreements in their contracts. McNicholas was formerly the NLRB’s director of congressional and public affairs, and special counsel. The report also found that large employers “are more likely to have these arbitration agreements,” McNicholas told Bloomberg BNA. About 65 percent of companies with 1,000 or more employees have arbitration agreements, whereas about 56 percent of companies with fewer than 1,000 employees use the agreements, the report said. EPI’s report includes responses from 738 companies, collected between March and July 2017. (Celine quoted throughout)
Bloomberg BNA
September 29, 2017
More than half of private sector non-union workers – or 60 million people – are subject to mandatory arbitration in employment contracts, which takes away their access to the court system that protects their legal employment rights. That’s according to new paper from the Economic Policy Institute. The paper was written by Cornell Professor Alexander J.S. Colvin.
Mandatory arbitration agreements are used by employers to require employees, as a condition of employment, to agree to arbitrate legal disputes rather than being able to go to court. (whole story, Celine quoted)
Corporate Crime Reporter
September 29, 2017