A new bill introduced in both the House and the Senate could bring an end to employers forcing workers to sign non-arbitration clauses. Many workers do not even know what these clauses are, but about 60 million U.S. workers have already signed them as part of the hiring process.
Major companies like Walmart, Starbucks, Macy’s, Uber, Google, and McDonalds require all or some of their workers to sign them. Basically, what these clauses do is to prevent workers from suing a company that breaks the law, whether it has to do with wage theft, discrimination, or some other illegal practice. This forces workers to take their claims to private arbitration, where they are less likely to win and they generally get less money when they do win.
If it passes, the bill would bring an end to the practice. It has support among some Democrats in both houses of Congress, but, since the Democrats are the other party of capital, our best bet as workers is still organizing and causing a ruckus in the streets. Nevertheless, the new bill could help workers get some edge over the bosses, who currently are dominating the playing field.