By Kevin Lauro Workers make the world go round. They build bridges, fix broken bones, and dispose of trash. Traditionally, we think of the relationship between a worker and their employer as one in which the employer gives the worker a job. However, the employer can also take that job away, but what if the…
Category: Labor
Silencing Gig Workers: Arbitration and Misclassification in the Gig Economy
By: Jacqueline Vanacore, Senior Staffer The rise of the gig economy, accompanied by the proliferation of mandatory arbitration agreements requiring gig workers to waive their rights to litigation, has not only hindered gig workers’ ability to resolve workplace disputes but, in the absence of a statutory framework, has contributed to their struggle to be classified…
Arbitration at the ILO: A New Mechanism
By: Yonah Wasik; Senior Staffer In over 100 years of international arbitration, courts have settled only one labor arbitration case. In April 2013, the Rana Plaza Factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, collapsed and killed over 1,100 workers in the garment industry, injuring many more. By 2018, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) oversaw and settled the…
What the Penn Plaza Decision Means for a New Generation of Union Workers
By: Dominic Charles On June 23, 2023, Starbucks Workers United (Union) announced that 3,500 workers would strike in retaliation to Starbucks’ corporate policy ordering stores to remove all LGBTQ+ decorations. The Union’s concern over the needs of its LGBTQ+ members reflects a diversifying union workforce in which two-thirds of workers are women and/or people of…
The Future of Mandatory Arbitration Clauses in Employment Contracts
By: Marimar Seda, Senior articles Editor Employment arbitration is a method of resolving issues between an employer and an employee in an out-of-court setting. Arbitration has been around for a long time but was first codified in 1925 with the passage of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA). Congress passed the FAA, to establish a foundation…
The Arbitration Brief 