As the Supreme Court on Monday derailed claims of gender discrimination by scores of women workers at Walmart stores, the American labor movement absorbed yet another substantial blow....
Read more …As the Supreme Court on Monday derailed claims of gender discrimination by scores of women workers at Walmart stores, the American labor movement absorbed yet another substantial blow.
In recent years, class-action lawsuits have been employed by workers -- particularly lower-wage workers -- as a substitute for the force that collective bargaining once held in an era of broader union representation: By banding together in large-scale lawsuits, workers have effectively organized themselves into unified, powerful voices, gaining leverage in negotiations with management.
But as it decreed that the Walmart employees were not entitled to be treated as one class -- because they worked in so many different places under myriad bosses -- the Supreme Court effectively reinforced the advantages of corporate scale, said legal experts.
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