Trump Under Fire Over Labor Disputes Resolved by Arbitration

The Washington Post and The New York Times harshly criticize Donald Trump, accusing him of abandoning workers as he steers labor policy towards greater powers and rights for employers. Trump, who won the election by defending workers’ rights and promising new jobs, is now under attack from American media as his administration supports labor contracts that resolve disputes outside of courts.

These claims are supported by three cases before the Supreme Court that assess the rights and powers of employers on one side, workers on the other, and the state on the third side.

The essence of the issue in all three court proceedings boils down to evaluating whether employers can require workers to voluntarily waive certain rights, thereby preventing them from seeking protection through the courts.

Such contracts force workers to give up the possibility of seeking their rights through the courts, instead signing a consent that means they can only seek compensation for their work in out-of-court arbitration proceedings. Recently, an American court allowed Uber to sign such contracts with its workers and users. This issue is now before the U.S. Supreme Court.

>>>Big Win for Uber in the U.S.: Dissatisfied Users ‘Condemned to Arbitration’

Minimum wage, protection against workplace discrimination, and the right to return to work after serving in the military are not covered by this type of contract.

– If the Trump administration convinces the Supreme Court to support employers’ rights through contracts with arbitration clauses, it will be the end of labor lawsuits driven by class action, writes the Washington Post.

In addition to Uber, a whole range of American companies has begun to implement such contracts. United Health Care, AT&T Mobility, Ernst & Young, and Hooters already have signed ‘consents’.

This type of contract particularly pertains to business owners in Silicon Valley, whose products rely on ‘consents’. Now it is just a matter of how the White House will approach ‘consent’, whose president believes that entrepreneurship is the pinnacle of responsibility to the country, family, and especially to oneself. However, although The New York Times announces that the state is turning towards the entrepreneur, particularly on this issue, and that Trump is betraying the workers to whom he promised better wages and jobs, the message from the Oval Office is:

– President Trump is committed to fostering economic growth and creating new jobs through the entrepreneurial successes of American small and medium-sized businesses, said White House spokesman Ninio Fetalvo to The New York Times.