I’ve Read the Government’s Arguments to Screw Amazon Workers and I’m Furious [View all]

[eridani]

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/10/10/1335670/-I-ve-Read-the-Government-s-Arguments-to-Screw-Amazon-Workers-and-I-m-Furious

There’s a monumental case at the Supreme Court that has got me obsessed, bewitched, enraged and mildly despondent. Technically, it’s called Integrity Staffing v. Busk. It actually is Amazon v. Amazon’s warehouse workers. (Integrity Staffing is the subcontractor stooge hired by Amazon to employ its warehouse workers).

After Amazon workers finish a 12 hour shift in which they can run an average of 10 miles on concrete, they are required to go through a security screening at the warehouse exit. The screening lanes are understaffed and the wait is often 25 – 35 minutes. The workers are not paid for the wait or the screening time. The workers sued to get paid for the long wait. Integrity Staffing (for ease of understanding I’m going to call Integrity Staffing, alone and with Amazon, “Amazon” in this post) moved to dismiss the case and won. Later, a panel of judges disagreed, saying that, yes, the workers could have a claim and deserve a day in court. Now, Amazon has appealed, arguing that the workers are not entitled to money.

...it is a tragedy that our government — led by a Democrat — is pushing an illogical, cruel and degrading argument that 5% of a worker's time is so dispensable as to not be compensable.

To the surprise and outrage of most progressives, the Obama administration has come out forcefully against the workers, arguing that going through long security lines is not something for which they should be paid.

I have read the Amicus Brief — it is dreadful. I have annotated it, so you can take a look at bad lawyering and worse policy. You can find my annotated brief here. I Promise: you won’t have to read lawyer language. I translated it and included my comments (apologies for the profanity). I have been so enraged by the Obama involvement with this case, I did my show on it, I made an ugly infographic about it, I annotated the Obama Amicus Brief and I wrote this explanation of the case and why it makes me so damned mad.

If you can’t read any longer, here is what I want you to realize: It is bad enough that someone with power is arguing that bosses don't have to pay for time and chores that are outside the scope of the job when they ordered those chores and could make them go quicker. But, it is a tragedy that our government — led by a Democrat — is pushing an illogical, cruel and degrading argument that 5% of a worker's time is so dispensable as to not be compensable.