'Power to the powerless:' Maine workers ask for help in fighting back against unfair legal practices
Berndt Erikson and a co-worker quit their jobs at Dollar General in Eliot, Maine earlier this month because they were fed up with low pay and being overworked.
Erikson was also angry about the exploitation of their shift manager, who was forced to work 70-hour weeks because of a staffing shortage. The manager, classified as a salaried worker, said she was making less than minimum wage when the hours she was working were added up.
But what was perhaps most frustrating, Erikson said, was that the Dollar General workers had signed away a significant amount of their ability to fight back against wage theft and exploitation when they took the job.
“When I first started working at Dollar General, I signed a document that took away my right to pursue legal action if I experienced any discrimination, wage theft, or harassment,” Erikson said during a press conference with state lawmakers on Friday. “Instead, if I brought something up, it would have to be through private arbitration — typically in a location and through a format of my employer’s design.”
Read more: https://mainebeacon.com/power-to-the-powerless-maine-workers-ask-for-help-in-fighting-back-against-unfair-legal-practices/
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As one of the senators viewed as being more moderate she does a terrible job at bipartisanship.
Anything interesting in the lab lately? 