The Republican Party might have changed a lot between Ronald Reagan railing against “Mr. Gorbachev” and Donald Trump being a starry-eyed fanboy of Vladimir Putin, but some things never change. Republicans were anti-worker 100 years ago, and they’re still anti-worker today.
In fact, some of the bills now being pushed by Republicans would repeal worker protections that are more than 100 years old, including rolling back child labor laws from before World War I.
Republicans seem intent on taking horrific conditions suitable for a Dickens novel and treating them as a goal. If that’s what it takes to squeeze every last dime for their billionaire masters, they’re happy to go there. And if it means making people suffer … well, that’s just a bonus.
At this moment, the two richest men in America are engaged in the biggest act of union-busting in history. Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos may be rivals when it comes to space, but they’re perfectly simpatico when it comes to their effort to blow up the National Labor Relations Board and make it much more difficult for employees to organize.
Both SpaceX and Amazon have responded to charges of labor law violations by arguing that the entire NLRB is unconstitutional. As Fast Company notes, “If SpaceX—and the other companies like Amazon and Trader Joe’s that have joined in this argument—win, the consequences for labor organizing the country could be disastrous.”
This effort from Musk follows the successful strike by the UAW, which earned workers a large raise and improved benefits. With the union taking aim at Tesla and Tesla workers already receiving a pay bump as Musk’s company attempts to tamp down desires for a union, it’s understandable that he’s frightened about the possibility of a labor win. Likewise, with a stack of labor violations and a fleet of drivers protesting “brutal” conditions, Bezos has a good reason to join with his rival.
Not to be left out of the fun, Republicans in the House have also advanced a bill that according to the Center for America Progress would undercut workers’ ability to form unions. House Joint Resolution 98 would rescind regulations that allow outsourced or franchise workers to organize. Many workers find themselves in a position where the name on their paycheck doesn’t match the company where the decisions about their work and employment are made. These employees are still allowed to organize. For now.
But keeping workers divided and powerless isn’t all that’s in the works. Republicans have set traps for workers large and small.
A bill before the Kentucky House would allow employees to shuffle workers between work sites without having to pay for the time they are in transit. The bill features a provision that would exempt from the minimum wage 14 different categories of workers, including farm workers, home health care workers, home child care workers, and workers at small retail establishments. Just to underscore its completeness, it includes babysitters and people delivering newspapers. No minimum wage for you. Now, get out there and learn about capitalism, kids.
But the hidden kicker in this bill is the way that it would allow employers to avoid paying employees for transport time, not just at the beginning and end of the workday, but when moving between job sites, even if the move is inside a vehicle provided by the employer.
Why would that be important? Perhaps because the author of the bill is Republican Rep. Phillip Pratt, and because the only line on Pratt’s bio reads: “Pratt's Lawn & Landscape.” This definitely seems like the kind of business that could be much more profitable if Pratt didn’t have to pay workers during travel.
While that Kentucky bill is underscoring just how few of the jobs open to younger Americans are protected by minimum wage laws, a growing number of states are working to drop laws that protect underage workers, including those 110-year-old laws in Florida.
Most of the time, when laws that old are being written out, it would be nice to think that they are outdated because they included regulations that were bigoted against someone based on race or gender. Or because safety rules needed to be improved. Seeing states eager to erase laws that protect children from being exploited for labor is a lot less encouraging.
Attempts to expand child labor laws have expanded to West Virginia, Indiana, and Kentucky (which could make Pratt’s business even more profitable). Arkansas is ahead of the pack: Gov. Sarah Sanders signed a law making it easier to put children to work last March. That law is supposed to expand the age range for many jobs down to 14, but since it also removes any requirement about checking children’s ages, it’s hard to say what the real limit might be.
Finally, to show they are really thinking ahead, Florida wants to block local jurisdictions from making any rules that protect outdoor workers from the effects of working during extreme hot weather, including eliminating any requirements for shade or water breaks. This is especially far-sighted as no local jurisdiction has so far passed such a law.
But workers should know that just in case some city or country does try to get in the way, Florida Republicans are there. There to make sure workers stay hot, miserable, and underpaid.
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