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posted by on Monday May 22 2017, @03:39PM   Printer-friendly
from the for-gewg dept.

For the past four decades, the majority of American workers have been shortchanged by economic policymaking that has suppressed the growth of hourly wages and prevented greater improvements in living standards. Achieving a secure, middle-class lifestyle has become increasingly difficult as hourly pay for most workers has either stagnated or declined. For millions of the country's lowest-paid workers, financial security is even more fleeting because of unscrupulous employers stealing a portion of their paychecks.

Wage theft, the practice of employers failing to pay workers the full wages to which they are legally entitled, is a widespread and deep-rooted problem that directly harms millions of U.S. workers each year. Employers refusing to pay promised wages, paying less than legally mandated minimums, failing to pay for all hours worked, or not paying overtime premiums deprives working people of billions of dollars annually. It also leaves hundreds of thousands of affected workers and their families in poverty. Wage theft does not just harm the workers and families who directly suffer exploitation; it also weakens the bargaining power of workers more broadly by putting downward pressure on hourly wages in affected industries and occupations. For many low-income families who suffer wage theft, the resulting loss of income forces them to rely more heavily on public assistance programs, unduly straining safety net programs and hamstringing efforts to reduce poverty.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @10:44PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @10:44PM (#513819)

    People drive on a particular side of the road not because it is mandated by a government, but because they don't want to die.

    Contract negotiation, dispute resolution, and contract enforcement do not require coercion; indeed, the enforcement of a contract is voluntary by virtue of the fact that the parties involved agreed to such enforcement in advance, as per the contract.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @11:20PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday May 22 2017, @11:20PM (#513839)

    contract enforcement do[es] not require coercion

    Boy, that shit you guys smoke in Libertarianland must be really great stuff.
    Meanwhile, in the real world, gangland warfare is what the always-be-maximizing-profits business environment looks like without laws and courts and cops.

    -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]

  • (Score: 2) by dry on Tuesday May 23 2017, @03:08AM (1 child)

    by dry (223) on Tuesday May 23 2017, @03:08AM (#513940) Journal

    Look at the article we're discussing. There are lots of people who will break a contract as quick as it benefits them. And as the past shows, they'll hire their own mercenaries, or private police force to make sure that contract is not enforced.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @11:48AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 23 2017, @11:48AM (#514139)

      So, then, what could the point of your Government possibly be? It even fails at what you claim it's good at: Making sure people's contracts are enforced.