The Stigma of Unemployment: Is “Current Employment” a Discriminatory Requirement?

Some ads for jobs state a preference or requirement of “current employment.” And, in fact, many employers shy away from someone who is unemployed. Once a person is unemployed, it takes an average 35 weeks to find a new job. Often, the next job pays less than the previous one. Older workers and African Americans are the most affected groups. Oregon prohibits “unemployment discrimination.” New Jersey lawmakers passed a similar law in 2014, but Gov. Christie vetoed it. For more, see: http://www.employmentmattersblog.com/2014/08/governor-christie-vetoes-new-jersey-unemployment-discrimination-bill/. A narrower version of the law is on the books, however. For a case imposing a $1,000 penalty for an unlawful ad, see: http://law.justia.com/cases/new-jersey/appellate-division-published/2014/a0417-12.html

USC Coach, Cosby & Menorah Vandal: Reconsidering Drinking Defenses

Recently, USC’s football coach made a public appearance while inebriated. Later, he tried to explain that he was also taking medication, implying that this may have enhanced his poor public image. Alcohol is a major theme in Bill Cosby’s apparent sexual assaults. The implication is that consent is more freely given when alcohol is involved. The menorah vandal, now identified and the subject of a criminal damage complaint, says that he was under the influence of alcohol. Of course, these are very different scenarios, but in all three cases, the wrongdoer deflects responsibility for his judgment or criminal intent. The three cases, while different, suggest that alcohol defenses should not be accepted at face value.

“If ya' wanna get rid of illegal immigrants, quit eatin'”

Take 63 seconds to see this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4gzps0lm1E But first, some background: In 2011, Alabama passed HB 56, a strict law designed to force unlawful aliens to “self deport.” For example, HB 56 prohibits landlords from renting property to unlawful immigrants, and forbids employers from knowingly hiring them for any job within Alabama. If a person wants to own a mobile home in Alabama, he or she must register with the state and prove his or her lawful status. If your parents are from, say, El Salvador, and brought you here unlawfully when you were a baby, you are barred from attending state colleges. Remarkably, this law is kinder and gentler than Mr. Trump’s proposal. Okay, you’re ready for the brief video.

Decreasing Strikes and the Vanishing Middle Class

In 2014, there were 11 strikes in the U.S. involving 1,000 or more employees. For historical perspective: In 2005, there were 22 strikes; in 1995, 31 strikes; in 1985, 54 strikes; in 1975, 235 strikes; in 1965, 268 strikes; and in 1955, 363 strikes. Strikes have numerous drawbacks, including spillover impacts on “upstream” and “downstream” businesses and the public. But a main benefit of strikes—in the aggregate— was improvement in the standard of living for union members. Was, not is, because today the economy is purring along with virtually no disruption from work stoppages due to unions' weak bargaining power. Beneath this placid surface, however, the middle class is quietly vanishing. Data are here: : http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/wkstp.pdf .

“Head Nurses” for Disabled Patients: Another Academic Freedom Controversy

Is oral sex good medicine for a paralyzed man in a hospital? Yes, according to a patient, Syracuse University professor William Peace, who was paralyzed in an accident several decades ago. Peace recounted in a positive manner his experience of receiving oral sex from a “head nurse” at the hospital, an experience he said “reaffirmed my manhood and masculinity in a way I will forever appreciate.” His story appeared in an academic bioethics journal called Atrium, which is published by Northwestern University. Following this, Atrium published an issue titled “Bad Girls” which focused on the intersection between disabilities and sexuality. At this point, Northwestern administrators stepped in to provide a new editorial process that conformed to traditional academic standards—and to make their journal sound less like a soft porn tabloid and more like a science journal. Now, Prof. Alice Dreger has resigned her faculty position at the elite school, citing concerns over institutional censorship. Her lengthy resignation letter is here: http://alicedreger.com/sites/default/files/Dreger%20resignation%20from%20Northwestern.pdf

“Be Your Own Boss”: A Nice Business Model for Cheating on Wages and Benefits … Oh, and Taxes

FedEx person just delivered your package from Amazon … was he a delivery driver or an entrepreneur? FedEx says the latter: They made him sign an Independent Contractor Agreement, lent him money to buy a truck, gave him a route with a piece rate formula, and shifted the burden for fueling and maintaining his investment to this poor schlub. They didn’t pay him a wage; nor overtime; nor health insurance; nor worker’s comp when he got hurt lifting a 70 pound box that you ordered. That’s all on him. And FedEx didn’t pay FICA taxes (Social Security and Medicare), or worker’s comp insurance, or unemployment insurance. Honest businesses (maybe you) paid their share, and then they paid more to make up for these business models built on a gross misunderstanding of the employment relationship, as it is legally defined. FedEx lost a key case in a federal district court, where a jury found “that FedEx had defrauded them, denying them each tens of thousands of dollars in benefits by treating them as independent contractors.” The case went to the appeals court, and is being remanded to the jury for more specific fact-finding. Here: http://cases.justia.com/federal/appellate-courts/ca8/14-3232/14-3232-2015-08-21.pdf?ts=1440171062

Bad Cartoon: Studios Conspire Not to Hire Each Other’s Animators

Many of us are part of a defined labor market (e.g., teachers, lawyers, fast food workers, etc.). Imagine if the main employers in your labor marker conspired not to hire you in exchange for a promise that your employer would not hire away their employees. You’d be stuck, and your wages would not rise with competition. That’s what animators at major Hollywood studios are alleging in a federal lawsuit. Recently, Judge Koh ruled that their case can proceed to trail. She cited emails and other evidence showing that studios agreed not to solicit each other's workers, shared information about pay practices, offered "misleading, pretextual" reasons to justify why wages were not higher, and took steps to keep their conspiracy a secret. "These allegations raise a plausible inference that defendants entered into an express agreement to suppress compensation," Koh wrote in a 55-page decision.

Suppose Your Employer Locks You Out … and Replaces You?

In my 1996 law review article on “replacement lockouts”— an employer practice of refusing work to employees because they did not agree to a contract proposal, and then hiring replacements for them— I concluded: “If the government allows employers to exploit this imbalance to the extent that labor markets permit, then the institution of collective bargaining is consigned to a bleak future…. [This]raises troubling questions about what institution will mediate the widening gulf between employers who seek to maximize profits, and employees who confront fiercely competitive labor markets that compel them to work harder and longer, but for less pay and less security.” And now, in 2015, steel companies are locking out workers and replacing them. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette story, and my interview, are here: http://www.post-gazette.com/business/pittsburgh-company-news/2015/08/23/Stroms-replacement-workers-often-displace-union-force-Allegheny-Technologies/stories/201508210104  My law review article on lockouts is here: http://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1629&context=law_lawreview  .

Meet Wong Kim Ark: “Anchor Baby” Who Won a Key Supreme Court Case (1898)

Wong Kim Ark was born in 1873 in California to parents who came to the U.S. When he was 17, he departed for a temporary visit to China with the intent of returning to his home. Customs allowed him back in, even though the Chinese Exclusion Act barred new immigrants from China. He repeated the trip to China in 1894. When his ship landed in San Francisco, he was denied entry.

He sued for re-entry. His argument was simple: he had birthright citizenship, and therefore could not be denied entry even though the Chinese Exclusion Act was amended to bar anyone of Chinese descent from entering the U.S.

He won his case. The Supreme Court said: “the fundamental rule of citizenship by birth within the dominion of the United States, notwithstanding alienage of parents, has been affirmed, in well considered opinions of the executive departments of the Government since the adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.”

The Court cited from congressional hearings on the 14^th Amendment, which created birthright citizenship: “[Sen.] Cowan objected upon the ground that the Mongolian race ought to be excluded, and said: “Is the child of the Chinese immigrant in California a citizen?” [Sen.] Conness, replied: “I voted for the proposition to declare that the children of all parentage whatever, born in California, should be regarded and treated as citizens of the United States, entitled to equal civil rights with other citizens of the United States. . . . We are entirely ready to accept the provision proposed in this Constitutional Amendment that the children born here of Mongolian parents shall be declared by the Constitution of the United States to be entitled to civil rights and to equal protection before the law with others.” And now, Donald Trump and his followers would undo 150 years of basic equality.

“N” Is for Nazarene

My blog focuses mainly on employment and labor issues, but also highlights other concerns. In the Wall Street Journal, Robert J. Reilly makes compelling comparisons between the world’s head-in-the-sand response to reports of the extermination of Jews and mass extermination today of Christians in the Middle East. Excerpt:  “As Jews were forced to wear the yellow Star of David, Christian homes are marked with the Arabic letter “N” for Nazarene. Iraqi Sister Diana Momeka testified to the House Foreign Affairs Committee in May that ‘ISIS’s plan is to evacuate the land of Christians and wipe the earth clean of any evidence that we ever existed.’” Please read more: http://www.wsj.com/articles/exterminating-christians-in-the-middle-east-1440112782.

Hooking Up at Work … with “.edu” Email?

There are times when private email at work should be used in place of your employer’s email system. Case in point: Hook-up sites such as Ashleigh Madison. Thankfully, UIUC did not make the Top Ten list of e-mails with Ashley Madison registrations. The list is here (Big Ten is well represented):

Apology Given: Matisyahu Reinvited to Rototom Sunsplash

Here is Rototom Sunsplash’s declaration regarding the cancellation of Matisyahu:

 1. Rototom Sunsplash rejects anti-Semitism and any form of discrimination towards the Jewish community; we respect both their culture as religious beliefs and we sincerely apologize for what has occurred, thereby rectifying point in the previous release regarding this controversy.
 2. Rototom Sunsplash would like to publicly apologize to Matisyahu for having cancelled his concert and invite him to perform at the festival next Saturday 22 August, as was initially programmed in the lineup.
 3. Rototom Sunplash admits that it made a mistake, due to the boycott and the campaign of pressure, coercion and threats employed by the BDS País Valencià because it was perceived that the normal functioning of the festival could be threatened. All of which prevented the organization from reasoning clearly as to how to deal with the situation properly.
 4. After 22 years of history, Rototom Sunsplash reaffirms its commitment to a Culture of Peace and respect between cultures, including the freedom of belief as recognized in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Spanish Constitution.

Deception and Immigration: What to Think?

The most common deception in U.S. immigration is not sneaking across a border, but visiting lawfully, overstaying one’s visa or permit, and getting lost in the background. What should we think about these immigrants? Do they have character flaws that make them unfit for our society? Would we do the same if in their circumstances? As we struggle to answer these questions, Susan Weissman has published “Mark ‘Etienne’ Zborowski: Portrait of Deception,” in Critique.  The good Zborowski arrived in Philadelphia in late 1941, having fled the Nazis. His multi-lingual abilities were put to use by military intelligence. After WWII, he settled into a successful academic career. Zborowski authored an ethnographic study of Central and Eastern European Jewish culture, based on interviews with refugees. The resulting book, Life Is With People: The Culture of the Shtetl, is credited with influencing the writing of Fiddler on the Roof. Prof. Weissman exposes a dark past of Zborowski—life under a different name, Etienne, and his infiltration of anti-Stalinist plotters (often revealing them, which led to their deaths). One implication? When people immigrate to the U.S., they try to find a new life with success defined by the conditions they find here. For more: https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2015/08/20/article-mark-zborowski-scholar-and-spy

The Banality of Hate: Caught on Local Video

As the school starts at UIUC, our Jewish house of worship is shown being vandalized here. These photos show how hate manifests itself as "normal."  When I teach grade school children about my Dad’s Holocaust experience, I minimize details about his concentration camps. I emphasize, instead, the precursor steps that led to isolation and destruction of a people—for example, the day his best friend, a Catholic boy, tearfully said he could not play soccer anymore with my Dad because the police threatened to arrest his family for conspiring with Jews. Hatred ends in horror … but it begins with quiet forms of vandalism and boycotts. To our local teachers who teach the Holocaust: Thank you. It’s the best antidote for this.

 

Why HR Is a Junior Business Partner: 10 Reasons

The uproar over Amazon’s work culture is another example of how businesses undervalue the HR function. My 10 reasons for this recurring phenomenon:
10. Grad degrees in business administration are common (MBA); Master’s degrees in HR Management are rare (but see LER, at https://ler.illinois.edu/ ). 9. HR function populated by females, and businesses discount female work. 8. HR acts as the internal rules enforcer for companies, and is therefore not trusted. 7. HR is seen too often as just an administrative function. 6. HR “deliverables” are hard to quantify, and therefore less visible. 5. Firms are ruled by their P&L statements—but gains and losses in human capital never show up here. 4. Companies de-couple firm strategy and HR strategy. 3. Change management should be a core HR function, but often is driven by finance people who are ignorant about work culture. 2. Shareholders are never told a story about human talent--- exception: major league sports teams, where human capital is an obsession for stakeholders (fans). 1. HR is perceived as a cost to be minimized, not an asset to accumulate.

Why Do Unions Seek Exemptions BELOW New Minimum Wages? To Grow Membership

Protests for $15 minimum wages have been organized by labor unions, especially the Service Employees (SEIU). Now comes word that these unions are seeking statutory exemptions from the $15 (or similar) mandates they legislated. Why? The strategy is to make collective bargaining more attractive to employers. How odd is that? Similarly odd is the reaction by employers. Randy Gordon, president of the Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, said that unions pushed the higher wage law to gain leverage over management at local hotels. Unions defend the statutory exemptions, saying the carve-outs keep more money on the bargaining table for health insurance and other benefits. Fascinating story, and rather unusual: http://www.wsj.com/articles/minimum-wage-waivers-for-union-members-stir-standoff-1439857915

Jewish Reggae Star, Christopher Columbus: Booted from Spain

In 2012, Spanish scholars assembled evidence that Christopher Columbus, who “sailed the ocean blue in 1492,” was a Jewish “Marrano” ["pig," for refusing forced conversion to Christianity] escaping the Inquisition. This edict from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella expelled 800,000 Jews from Spain. The explorer’s last will tithed one-tenth of his income to the poor, and provided an anonymous dowry for poor girls—then unique customs for Jews. He also gave money to a Jew who lived at the entrance of the Lisbon Jewish Quarter…. Background here: http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Matisyahu-Appalling-and-offense-that-festival-tried-to-coerce-me-into-political-statements-412413. Yesterday, a Spanish reggae festival cancelled the appearance of Matisyahu, a Jewish reggae star. He refused to support the BDS movement (Boycott-Divest-Sanction Israel). So far, the Spanish monarchy has been silent. See here: http://www.jpost.com/Diaspora/Matisyahu-Appalling-and-offense-that-festival-tried-to-coerce-me-into-political-statements-412413.

Stress for Success? The Amazon Way

Saturday’s New York Times features Amazon’s recipe for success: stress your employees. Quote: “They are told to forget the ‘poor habits’ they learned at previous jobs, one employee recalled. When they ‘hit the wall’ from the unrelenting pace, there is only one solution: ‘Climb the wall,’ others reported.” Another quote: “The internal phone directory instructs colleagues on how to send secret feedback to one another’s bosses. Employees say it is frequently used to sabotage others. (The tool offers sample texts, including this: ‘I felt concerned about his inflexibility and openly complaining about minor tasks.’)” Thanks to a family member for this great employment news tip. Article is here: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html?referrer=&_r=0

The Know Nothing Party (1850s) and Donald Trump (Today)

 

The “Know Nothings” was a U.S. political party, popular in the 1850s. Specifically, the party was dedicated to ending the influence of Irish Catholics, but its adherents were broadly against immigrants. The party believed that German and Irish immigrants were more loyal to the Pope than American political leaders. In terms of policy, they advocated for severe restrictions on immigration and naturalization. The group was composed of Protestant men…. Today, Donald Trump announces his intention to send 11 million undocumented immigrants back to their “homes.” The employment implications for agriculture, service sector, and construction are huge. See: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/08/16/donald-trump-undocumented-immigrants-have-to-go/

Too Much Brown (University): New School Grad Students Are Ruled Not Employees

Are graduate students who teach and grade assignments employees or students?  In 2000, the National Labor Relations Board reversed their previous rulings on unionization at private universities by ruling that graduate assistants at New York University (NYU) were employees. Reason: They performed work. Therefore, they were eligible to unionize. In a 2004 case involving Brown University, the NLRB overruled the NYU policy. Reason: Ph.D. students must learn to teach as part of their professional training. Thus, they are not employees (though they are paid a TA stipend). My friend, Alan, passes along the latest chapter in this saga. At the New School, an NLRB Regional Director has dismissed a petition filed by grad students, citing Brown University. Quote from the ruling: “Because the [Union] seeks to represent individuals employed in classifications which fall within the term ‘graduate assistants,’ Brown is controlling, and therefore I am dismissing the petition."  News article here: http://www.thenation.com/article/are-graduate-students-workers/ .

When Does a Threatening Gesture Get You Fired? NLRB and Court Disagree on This

 
In a strike at an aluminum plant, a striker made a threatening gesture to a co-worker by drawing his thumb across his throat and staring at the non-striking worker. The NLRB ruled that this conduct did not rise to a level to warrant termination, but the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed. "Employers retain the right to discharge workers for any number of other reasons unrelated to the employee's union activity," Circuit Judge William Riley wrote, joined by Circuit Judge Michael Melloy…. I get that, completely— but if you take out the union part of the story, it seems like the employer would not have been so harsh. If this is true, then firing the not-so-smart striker was “pretextual” and not for a legitimate business reason. See here: http://www.law360.com/articles/568807/nlrb-faults-aluminum-co-for-firing-cut-throat-worker .

… Bake Me a Cake as Fast as You Can! For a Gay Wedding

A Colorado appeals court ruled that a Denver-area baker cannot refuse to make a wedding cake for a gay couple based on the baker’s religious belief. The Colorado Court of Appeals rejected the cake-shop owner’s First Amendment argument that he could refuse to create and sell a cake to a gay couple planning a wedding celebration. For more, see the Wall Street Journal report here: http://www.wsj.com/articles/court-rules-baker-cant-refuse-to-make-wedding-cake-for-gay-couple-1439506296

Labor Shortage for Harvest: Americans Still Won’t Stoop to Pick Produce

In the 1950s, the U.S. had a guest-worker policy that was more liberal in allowing temporary workers from Mexico to pick U.S. crops. Today, we have an H-2A visa that allows a foreign national entry into the U.S. for temporary or seasonal agricultural work. It has lots of red tape, aimed at protecting vulnerable migrants from exploitation. Well-meaning farms have problems getting workers under the USCIS program. Now, this story in today’s Wall Street Journal. An HR manager for a 35-acre produce farm in Arlington, Washington offered 20% raises to the most productive workers from the last harvest. She posted help-wanted ads on Craigslist, beside highways and on the bathroom-stall door at a church. She also successfully lobbied local high schools to broadcast her call for workers during morning announcements. She needs 100 workers … and found 60.  The article says: "More broadly, growers say they are bearing the brunt of the federal government’s crackdown on illegal immigration, as they lack a suitable alternative workforce. U.S.-born workers unaccustomed to farm labor abandon the job after just days during harvest, farm owners say, and the supply of mostly Mexican laborers that made up for them has shrunk in recent years." See here: http://www.wsj.com/articles/on-u-s-farms-fewer-hands-for-the-harvest-1439371802

Updates on No-Compete Clauses

A large number of employers are making it hard for former employees to find work after they quit. No-competes used to be restricted to occupations such as lawyers, physicians and the like. If you quit, you couldn’t take your employer’s clients and open shop a mile away. But now, even fast food chains prohibit sandwich makers from working in town after they quit. The remedy? New legislation. Summary: A new Oregon law will limit noncompetition agreements to a maximum of 18 months from the date of the employee’s termination. Hawaii has a new law that voids any noncompetition clause or a non-solicitation clause in employment contracts of employees of a technology business. Alabama has a new law that limits no-competes to “reasonable restrictions.”

Doubts About a Union for College Football: Part III

Earlier, we discussed how the fragmentation of labor laws poses a large obstacle to having real collective bargaining in college football. However, CAPA’s lead attorney has an intriguing solution: Add the NCAA as a “joint employer” under NLRA case law, and then every D-I school comes under the NLRB’s jurisdiction (because the NCAA is a private organization). This idea has serious shortcomings, even if the NLRB rules that student-athletes are “employees,” and even if a federal appeals court upholds this ruling. 1. The NLRB is already pushing the joint employer doctrine in a new area, the franchisor-franchisee relationship (McDonalds). They’ll need to hit a home run in federal court to make that idea stick. Apply it also to college football? It’s very doubtful the federal courts will let the NLRB run wild with its joint employer concept. 2. Reinforcing Point 1, federal courts deny enforcement to more than 30% of NLRB orders, especially those that seem political or controversial. 3. Even if the NLRB manages to run the table before the NLRB and federal courts—long shot there— the biggest football conferences and programs already are looking into breaking from the NCAA and forming their own league. If they do this, the NLRB and CAPA will have lots of court rulings that apply to the NCAA, but not a newly minted organization. The litigation cycle, which is notoriously slow, will need to start all over.

The Chicago Teachers Union and the Intriguing Alliance of Gov. Rauner and Mayor Emanuel

Many people fund their own retirements. In the private sector, under Social Security, employers are required to pay 7.65% of individual-worker earnings, and employees must contribute an equal percentage. Many public sector pension plans reflect this model of shared responsibility. (At the University of Illinois, faculty and staff pay everything toward their underfunded pensions, with no employer match … but that’s another story.) Chicago Public Schools pay its 7% share PLUS the employee’s share of 7%. In an intriguing alliance between Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, legislation is now advancing to shift the employee contribution to … employees (CPS would continue to pay its 7%). Details here: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20150805/BLOGS02/150809927/rauner-suggests-he-and-emanuel-both-favor-curbs-on-unions

Little Person Versus Big Corporation: A Small Victory

If you have a credit card or cell phone, you agreed to a contract clause that requires you to arbitrate your disputes with the corporation. You cannot go to court. Until 2011, some states had laws that disallowed mandatory arbitration when employees and consumers (the most affected groups) sued in a class action. Concrete problem: Your cell provider promised you a free phone, when it wasn’t; or your employer classified you as “exempt,” when you’re not, thereby disallowing overtime pay. Some states had laws that barred these arbitration agreements. The laws allowed class actions on the theory that they were necessary way to police against minor frauds. The Supreme Court invalidated these class-action laws in 2011 (AT&T Mobility LLC v. Conception, 563 U.S. 312). Thus, you are forced to arbitrate your $30 complaint with your cellular company, or your overtime claim for several hundred dollars. If there was a class action lawsuit, nickel-and-diming "shortcuts" would be deterred more effectively. Yesterday, the National Labor Relations Board pushed back on Concepcion when it ruled that Neiman-Marcus cannot force its employees to sign waivers of their right to sue in class actions. https://www.law360.com/employment/articles/687650/nlrb-says-neiman-marcus-mandatory-arbitration-unlawful

Doubts About a Union for College Football: Part II

The primary doubt about unionizing college football is that D-I schools fall under three different legal regimes—the National Labor Relations Act (private sector only), state labor laws (some states allow collective bargaining for higher education, e.g., Illinois), and no labor law (states in which all SEC schools are located). How can you have uniform rules of competition? The lead attorney for players suggests the NLRB’s new joint employer model is a solution. He means that the NCAA is a joint employer with Northwestern. He reasons: The NCAA is a private entity, therefore, schools such as Alabama fall under the NLRA because this private entity sets much of the regulations for compensating players. Well, this solves the labor law fragmentation problem. This approach is aided by the NLRB’s recent announcement that it is considering returning to its 1970s definition of a joint employer (broad concept of joint agency). See here: http://www.natlawreview.com/article/nlrb-advice-memo-provides-additional-guidance-joint-employer-standard. The matter also involves McDonalds in a high-stakes enforcement action. https://www.nlrb.gov/news-outreach/fact-sheets/mcdonalds-fact-sheet. In Part III, I’ll share my doubts about this ingenious approach.
  

CEO Pay Ratio Rule: Stunning New Regulation from Securities and Exchange Commission

Quoting from the main federal agency that regulates publically traded corporations and their shareholders: “Today, the Commission takes another step to fulfill its Congressional mandate to provide better disclosure for investors regarding executive compensation at public companies.  As required by Section 953(b) of the Dodd-Frank Act,[1] today’s rules would require a public company to disclose the ratio of the total compensation of its chief executive officer (“CEO”) to the median total compensation received by the rest of its employees.[2]  The hope, quite simply, is that this information will better equip shareholders to promote accountability for the executive compensation practices of the companies that they own.”  See here: http://www.sec.gov/news/statement/statement-on-open-meeting-on-pay-ratio-aguilar.html .

Doubts About a Union for College Football: Part I

The NLRB should rule by month’s end that Northwestern’s football players are “employees” under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). They will point to 60 hour work weeks for players and other conditions that look like employment. This will clear the way to open the ballots that were cast last year. But more generally, a union for college players is impractical. Reason 1: The federal labor law (NLRA) applies only to private-sector employers. In the Big Ten, only one school—Northwestern—is under the NLRA. The University of Illinois is under a state labor law, so players here could form a union, too. But Wisconsin repealed its state labor laws (Scott Walker), and Nebraska and Indiana have no laws that allow students to form a union. So, problem #1: No sports league can operate when eligibility and compensation rules differ across teams. Fragmentation of labor laws means that there can be no uniformity for the rules of competition. In Part 2, we’ll explore an idea from the lead union attorney to fix this problem. It’s ingenious … but in Part 3, I’ll discuss my doubts.