On the picket line

Women’s class-action suit vs. Wal-Mart

A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled 2 to 1 on Feb. 6 that the largest sex discrimination lawsuit in this country’s history could proceed as a class-action suit. Plaintiffs’ lead lawyer Brad Seligman estimated that the class—all women who have worked at Wal-Mart since December 21, 1998—includes more than two million women. “Simple math, given the size of the class and the types of disparities we’ve shown, indicates that the losses to women are in the billions,” Seligman told the New York Times. (Feb. 7)

After a review of extensive evidence, the two-judge majority found “significant proof of a corporate policy of discrimination.” They also concluded that “female employees nationwide were subject to a common pattern and practice of discrimination.” With so much at stake, Wal-Mart announced that it would ask a full panel of 15 appeals court judges to consider the case.

In another case resolved on Jan. 25, Wal-Mart agreed to settle a federal suit and pay $33.5 million in back wages plus interest to 86,680 workers. However, more than 40 state lawsuits, which accuse the world’s largest, wealthiest retailer of not paying overtime and making employees work off the clock, are still pending.

Immigrants: captive labor

How did 12 Guatemalans granted six-month legal work visas to plant pine trees in North Carolina end up as captive laborers in Connecticut? After their passports were confiscated, the immigrants were forced to work nearly 80-hour weeks for $3.75 an hour, denied emergency medical care and threatened with jail and deportation if they complained.

A federal court in Hartford will hear the case the men have brought against Imperial Nurseries, a large plant wholesaler. Law students in Yale’s Workers and Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic helped the Guatemalans file the suit. (New York Times, Feb. 8)

Supermarket baggers fight for hourly wages

Organizers representing the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union are scouting supermarkets throughout New York’s five boroughs to unionize unpaid baggers. These workers are forced to subsist on tips that range from $4 to $30 an hour.

On Feb. 10, workers at Food Bazaar on Manhattan Avenue in Williamsburg held a picket line to publicize their legal suit demanding hourly wages. And the Bushwick community group Make the Road by Walking is demanding more than $1 million in back wages for baggers at the Associated on Knickerbocker Avenue. (New York Times, Feb. 11)

Though two large chains, Gristedes and Food Emporium, each agreed several years ago to $3 million settlements after they were accused of paying delivery workers $75 for a 60-hour week, progress for these sub-minimum-wage workers is painfully slow. Legal suits are often fought store by store through the attorney general’s labor bureau.

With $7.15 as the state’s new minimum wage as of Jan. 1 and with union organizers on the case, there’s a ray of hope for these below-poverty-level workers.

Paid sick leave mandated

As of Feb. 5, San Francisco became the first U.S. city requiring employers to give workers paid sick leave. Workers will also be able to miss work to help a sick family member or a domestic partner. Workers will accrue one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours of work.

The new policy, passed by a ballot vote in November, was promoted by a coalition of mostly young restaurant workers, who make up many of the more than 100,000 workers without sick leave. The city should also be applauded for having the highest local minimum wage in the country: $9.14 an hour.