Federal agency charges Walmart with violating workers' rights in 14 states | Al Jazeera America

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a complaint against Walmart on Wednesday, alleging the world's largest retailer violated labor laws in 14 states through actions it took against striking workers.

A complaint issued by the NLRB's general counsel's office said Walmart representatives appeared on national news broadcasts and threatened to retaliate against workers if they went on strike. It also alleged they disciplined and fired workers for engaging in legally protected protest activity.

According to the NLRB complaint, 19 employees were discharged “allegedly as a result of their participation in activities protected by the National Labor Relations Act.”

More than 60 Walmart supervisors and one corporate officer are named in the filing.

Brooke Buchanan, a spokeswoman for Walmart, said, "We believe that our actions were valid. We take our obligations very seriously. We look forward to sharing our side of the facts in these cases with a judge."

Federal agency charges Walmart with violating workers' rights in 14 states | Al Jazeera America

A court just gutted your right to sue your boss - Craig Becker - POLITICO Magazine

Unnoticed except by employment lawyers, the United States Court of Appeals in New Orleans last month issued what might be the most important workers’ rights opinions in decades. The decision permits employers to require workers, as a condition of keeping their jobs, to agree to arbitrate all workplace disputes and to do so as individuals, standing alone against their employer. The ruling could spell the end of employment class actions that were instrumental to breaching the barriers of both race and sex discrimination after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and remain critical to enforcement of minimum wage and other labor standards laws.

The case involved D.R. Horton, a home-builder operating in 27 states with annual revenue over $6 billion. The company required all employees to sign an agreement providing that employment disputes would be resolved by binding arbitration and that the arbitrator “may hear only Employee’s individual claims.” When one employee tried to pursue a claim that D.R. Horton had misclassified an entire category of workers as exempt from the protection of federal overtime law, the company insisted that each worker had to file his or her own claim.


A court just gutted your right to sue your boss - Craig Becker - POLITICO Magazine