Sec. 2. Findings
376 words·~2 min read·
/bill/118/s/4502/is/section-2·A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: Millions of workers are currently forced to accept, as a condition of employment or work, contractual provisions that block their access to the courts or prohibit them from joining together with other workers to seek joint, class, or collective relief for violations of their rights. This has led to widespread nonenforcement of workers’ rights and has permitted significant violations of those rights to continue unabated. Most workers have little or no meaningful choice regarding whether to accept these provisions.
Often, workers are not even aware that they have given up the right to seek recourse in court or have waived their right to join other workers in joint, class, or collective actions. Chapter 1 of title 9, United States Code (commonly known as the Federal Arbitration Act ), was intended to clarify the ability of commercial entities of generally similar sophistication and bargaining power to voluntarily agree to use arbitration to resolve disputes between them. Despite this congressional intent, the Supreme Court of the United States has interpreted that law so that it now extends to work disputes.
The National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq. ) protects employees’ right to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid or protection. This was intended and long understood to encompass employees’ right to collectively seek relief for violations of their workplace rights. However, contrary to the plain text of the law and congressional intent, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, 138 S. Ct. 1612 (2018), decided that employees may be forced, as a condition of employment, to waive their right to act collectively with regard to employment actions.
Forced individual dispute resolution undermines workers’ rights and exacerbates the inequality of bargaining power between workers and employers because joining a joint, class, or collective action is often the only way workers can afford to seek relief for violations of their rights. Workers who are forced to submit to individual dispute resolution often seek no redress at all due to well-founded fear of retaliation. Protecting the rights of workers to individually or concertedly seek relief for violations of their labor rights through appropriate forums protects the public interest and safeguards commerce from injury.
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