Supremely Illegal
by Trude DiamondLink to article
Bush’s Supreme Court (and I use that possessive advisedly; it’s sure not “our” Supreme Court any more) has ruled the Holy Corporation supreme over mere employees. This story is widely reported, and Jeffrey Toobin’s comment on it in The New Yorker is particularly eloquent. In sum: you must bring suit within 180 days of any form of discrimination against you, even if you can’t possibly know about it until much longer after the fact. This, despite the common practice of corporate culture that raises and bonuses are not to be discussed among employees. Some companies, when executing a broad layoff, make you sign a statement that you will not discuss the amount of your severance package with other employees (still employed or laid off) as a condition of receiving your severance pay.
The cloak of corporate secrecy regarding employee compensation is on a par with Vice-president Cheney’s claims of privilege for his own office (whichever branch of government he finally decides he’s in). Forcing sunshine into that dark, dark corporate realm can take years, not a meager 180 days.
Maybe the narrow (and narrow-minded) majority of the Supremes believe that corporations are part of Bush’s faith-based initiatives whose support with federal funds it also favored by ruling against tax payers’ rights to challenge such funding. For now, I have zero faith in our highest court. How about we bring a reason-based initiative against them?
This just in, June 26, 2007:
Today, the New York Times reports that the Senate Republicans blocked the Employee Free Choice Act, which would have given workers “majority sign-up” rights, easing the way for unionizing. Given Bush’s ownership of the Supreme Court majority and the Court’s recent decision on employee rights in the face of discriminatory corporate practices, that’s not surprising.
Tags: Employee-Free-Choice-Act, Supreme-Court-ruling-on-discrimination, Vice-President-Cheney