Let's not "gig" working families

There are lots of ways working people can be deprived of their rights on the job. They can be discriminated against on the basis of race, nationality, religion, sex, sexual orientation, etc.

They can be denied pay for overtime, a practice known as wage theft. They can be cheated out of break- and mealtimes. They can be deprived of their rights to associate and organize.

They can be compelled to work under unsafe conditions. They can have promised benefits, such as pensions, taken away.

But maybe the worst way to abuse working people is to deny that they are workers at all.

Unfortunately, that’s just what Senate Bill 528, now making its way through the West Virginia Legislature, does. Titled the “Creating Uniform Worker Classification Act,” the bill comes straight from the American Legislative Exchange Council, a corporate-funded group that cranks out model state legislation that benefits big donors.

SB 528 allows businesses to reclassify workers as “independent contractors.” And that makes all the difference.

While U.S. and West Virginia labor laws are pretty weak compared to other economically advanced nations, state and federal laws do provide some protection for employees, sometimes including legal remedies.

By allowing companies to classify workers as independent contractors, this bill would take those protections away.

For example, an employee injured on the job is generally eligible for workers’ compensation. Independent contractors are not.

When employees lose jobs through no fault of their own, they’re entitled to unemployment insurance. Independent contractors are not.

Employees are protected to a degree by anti-discrimination laws (although West Virginia has yet to enact state anti-discrimination legislation based on sexual orientation). Independent contractors are not.

It’s tough to do these days, but employees have the legal right to organize unions and bargain collectively. Contractors don’t.

In the case of programs like Social Security and Medicare, costs for retirement and post-retirement health care are jointly paid for by the employer and the employee. Independent contractors are totally on their own.

Supporters of such legislation claim this will help facilitate the so-called “gig economy,” (a term that makes me think, perhaps appropriately, of the practice of stabbing or “gigging” frogs with barbed, pitchfork-like spears to harvest their legs for food).

The non-frog version refers to those parts of a workforce based on temporary and often short-term engagements. While there are people, generally those with specialized skills in high demand, who fit this profile, being reclassified as an independent contractor is a losing proposition for most working people.

According to the National Employment Law Center, SB 528, if enacted, would “allow employers in any industry to easily convert virtually any worker into an independent business, simply by presenting the worker with a take-it-or-leave-it contract that may not reflect the actual relationship between the parties.” Examples might include people working in home health care, construction, transportation, retail, etc.

The measure doesn’t just undermine workers’ rights and labor standards. The law center also cites research showing this kind of reclassification actually would result in lost revenue while also putting responsible employers at a disadvantage.

So is it possible to legitimately distinguish between an employee and a real independent contractor? In a word, yes.

Fortunately, there’s such a thing as an “ABC test,” according to which people may be fairly classified as independent contractors if they are outside the control of the hiring entity, the work they perform is outside the hiring entity’s usual business and the contractors are customarily engaged in this kind of work. That’s a sensible approach and one that should be allowed to stand.

West Virginia’s working families are having a hard enough time getting by these days. They certainly don’t need to be “gigged” by this kind of trick.

It’s bad enough when it happens to frogs.

(This ran as an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.)

Warming up a (metaphorical) pen in hell

The late great American writer known as Mark Twain was said to have warmed up his pen in hell when he felt indignation about this or that social injustice.

Here's  free sneak preview: I'm no Mark Twain, and the extent of my pen or computer doesn't reach to hell (yet), but I'm getting ready to open a can on a right wing foundation that to me is about as morally disgusting and contemptible as can be, which is quite an accomplishment. The group is the Foundation for Government Accountability, a euphemistic name for a billionaire funded and ALEC supported group dedicated to taking  away food and health care from poor people.

WV's Republican-led legislature has brought someone (apparently well fed, by the way) from this group on more than one occasion and I'm sure they'll be back soon. Depending on how things go in a few days, they may even write legislation for the coming session.

Here's a little background on these charm school dropouts and here's a great editorial from the Gazette about them. You'll hear more from me soon, inshallah.

In case you get really bored...

...here's a link to a podcast of a new program WV Public Broadcasting is trying out. It's called "The Front Porch," and it involves people with different viewpoints discussing issues in a civil way. The different viewpoints this time are yours truly and conservative columnist Laurie Lin discussing the future of coal. There may be more to come.

TALKING SENSE ON TAXES. Here's an op-ed by a friend of mine about what's next on the agenda of WV Republicans.

WHILE WE'RE AT IT. Here's Gazette statehouse columnist Phil Kabler pointing out how ALEC is running the agenda here.

It just got more affordable

For all the problems associated with the rollout of the Affordable Care Act, it looks like its cost is going to be lower than anticipated.

WHO VOTED FOR WHOM? Here's an interesting graphic that looks at how voters broke down by income in the last presidential election.

OFF THE RAILS? An influential right wing policy lobbying group seems to have lost major funding since the Trayvon Martin tragedy. The group is ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and it was one of the big supporters of the Stand Your Ground law in Florida.

EXPECTATIONS IN GASLAND. A recent poll of Central Appalachian residents showed strong support for environmental safeguards when it comes to shale gas drilling.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

No crony capitalism here, boss!

Talk about a steaming load.

Lots of people are aware of Arizona's tough and controversial anti-immigration bill. NPR yesterday morning had an interesting feature about what REALLY went on behind the scenes.

It turns out a private, for profit corporation, Corrections Corporation of America, sees locking up immigrants as a potential growing new "market" for their business. CCA types and sympathetic politicians hooked up at a meeting of the conservative legislative group ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) and drew up a model bill. CCA and allied groups also provided campaign contributions to most of the sponsors.

The idea was that the immigrants to be locked up by the new law would be detained at a private prison run by CCA.

It's just business. And perfectly legal.

It does kind of make one wonder, however, what the next stunt to increase market share might be...

SPEAKING OF STEAMING LOADS, here's a piece on Wall Street's effort to shift the blame for the economic meltdown to poor people.

BALLOT INITIATIVES. Here's a look at a few that are on the menu around the country. I'm so glad WV doesn't do this stuff.

LOOKING AHEAD. Here's one gloomy prognostication.

HEALTH CARE REFORM. WV Senator Jay Rockefeller was a champion of health care reform and he's not running away from it now.

EARLY HUMANS may have hit the road earlier than had previously been thought.

NATURE RED IN TOOTH AND CLAW DEPARTMENT. Assassin bugs have a neat trick for making a meal of spiders.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED