Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

Union wants New York to pass legislation that protects freelance workers

The New York-based Freelancers Union has issued what amounts to the world’s longest and perhaps largest invoice — with a bill of over $13.5 million — to highlight legislation that is being considered by the New York State Senate.

The legislation calls on the Department of Labor to protect the rights of freelancers who have been stiffed by companies and not been paid for their work. Victims would be able to file a complaint which will be investigated, the legislation says.

If found valid, workers would then be entitled to have 100 per cent of what they’re owed paid to them as well as the money for attorney’s fees and any interest on the amount owed.

The legislation, which is co-sponsored by both Republicans and Democrats, has been passed in New York State’s legislative assembly and now awaits a vote in the New York Senate. Union organizers hope it will be passed before the Senate rises at the end of June.

The invoice — which will be delivered to lawmakers in May — has been created to bring national and international attention to what the Freelancers Union believes is a growing and distressing problem.

“This new part of the workforce has been largely ignored,” said Sara Horowitz, founder and executive director of the Freelancers Union.

“The world’s longest invoice makes it very visible and real and shows this is really happening.”

Horowitz is encouraging everyone people to add their names to the list if they too are independent workers who haven’t been paid properly.

So far the invoice has 2,500 entries — 1,900 are from outside New York. Each entry has been checked by a staff person to make sure it is relevant, said Horowitz.

The Freelancers Union represents 175,000 workers across the U.S. Non-payment of fees affects about 77 per cent of the independent workers, Horowitz said.

On average freelance workers were stiffed $4,600 each, according to 2011 union data.

A study by Rutgers University economist William Rodgers found 42 per cent of the nearly 900,000 independent workers in New York had trouble collecting payments last year, amounting to an estimated $4.7 billion in lost wages, union organizers say.

There are 42 million Americans who are independent workers, according to the Freelancers Union.

Twelve per cent of the members of the Freelancers Union had to go on food stamps during the recession, partially because they weren’t paid for work they had done, Horowitz said.

Original Article
Source: Star
Author: Debra Black

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