Two wins for America's workers
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Sunday, August 30, 2015, 4:10 AM
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ANDREW SAVULICH/NEW YORK DAILY NEWSLooking sharp
The past week brought two pieces of good news for the millions of Americans who depend on low-paid service-sector jobs to keep roofs over their heads and feed their children.
First, under arm-twisting by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the Gap announced that its five clothing chains, which employ more than 150,000 people, will phase out just-in-time scheduling practices that have kept workers guessing about when they should report for work.
Second, the National Labor Relations Board issued a ruling that will compel corporations to take proper responsibility for the people who work in their stores and restaurants — even if they are technically employed by third parties.
Both developments are welcome victories for the nation’s working men and women, wins that must now become the basis for broader change.
On top of their generally low wages, for years retail workers have had to live with the hassle of computerized scheduling systems that post their hours only a few days in advance — or require them to be “on call” if needed at the last minute.
This cost-cutting practice can play havoc with workers’ private lives, particularly when it comes to arranging child care — and isn’t always necessary for a business to operate effectively.
It also may run afoul of New York labor law, as Schneiderman warned in a letter to 13 retail chains in April. Since then, the Gap is the third chain, along with Victoria’s Secret and Abercrombie & Fitch, to commit to more-humane scheduling. Whether they grew a conscience or feared legal liability, let’s hope more companies follow their lead.
Thursday’s ruling from the NLRB, meanwhile, turned up the heat on another sector of the low-wage economy — fast-food restaurants.
Major chains such as McDonald’s have avoided unionization because most of their workers are employed by semi-independent franchises that have been treated under law as separate businesses.
But on Thursday, the NLRB declared that the corporate owner of a California recycling center was the “joint employer” of workers in the facility — even though their hiring and supervision was handled by a third-party contractor.
If the NLRB applies that same reasoning to franchises — as it should — it will pave the way for fast-food workers to organize unions nationwide and win themselves a fairer shake via collective bargaining.
Also boosted are the prospects of service workers at JFK, LaGuardia and Newark Airports, whose cause has been championed by the Daily News’ Fight for Fair Pay campaign. Though they work on behalf of major airlines, baggage handlers and other staff are technically employed by outside contractors — which have gotten away with paying poverty-level wages.
They — along with retail and fast-food workers — deserve every break they can get.
