Make 3 calls to Congress on International Workers’ Day to end forced arbitration
Googlers for Ending Forced Arbitration & Pipeline Parity Project organize nationwide phone banks to drive thousands of calls to Congress on May 1st in support of the FAIR Act.
NEW YORK, NY (April 29, 2019) — Six months ago, Google employees walked out on the job in protest of company policy around harassment and discrimination. For many of us, the most damning policy started with forcing arbitration as a means to resolve disputes with our employer. In denying access to the courts, Google denied its employees access to their rights. While we’ve seen some significant strides by our employer, we refuse to rest until all workers have their full rights.
The students of Harvard Law School similarly used their privilege to demand top recruiting law firms end the use of forced arbitration. Molly Coleman, lead organizer of the Pipeline Parity Project, explains, “Forced arbitration is a way to silence victims of sexual harassment and discrimination. And as a group of mostly women who intend to make careers within the law, we felt that this was absolutely unacceptable.” In the last year, the Pipeline Parity Project pressured major law firms such as Kirkland & Ellis and Sidley Austin to stop forcing arbitration.
At the end of the day, however, we are both simply moonlighting as organizers while we try to keep up with our studies and day jobs. This is why we need members of Congress to do their job and pass the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal Act (FAIR Act). This bill codifies the formal end of forced arbitration for workers and consumers. On May 1st, we will mobilize a series of phone banks across the country to inundate Congress with calls in support of the FAIR Act. And this is where we need your help.
Set aside 3 minutes on May 1st to make 3 phone calls to your Congressional leaders. We’ve provided each Congressperson’s phone number, bill sponsorship position, call scripts and more at bit.ly/FAIRPhoneBankCalls. Then be sure to log the calls at bit.ly/FAIRPhoneBank-Tracker so we can demonstrate our strength in numbers. Share your experiences with us on Twitter (@endforcedarb, #FAIRPhoneBank). If you’re nervous about calling a Senator, use our Senator Fact Sheets for more background information. Tell your friends, colleagues and family members to do the same. And remember, it’s not too late to organize your own phone bank with the materials we’ve prepared at bit.ly/FAIRPhoneBankToolkit.
We ask for your help during a particularly dark time for Google Walkout organizers. Two of our own recently shared their experiences with retaliation when speaking for workers’ rights. And if it comes to it, they will be able to tell their stories publicly in court since Google ended forced arbitration last month. But all workers deserve this right to hold their employers accountable. And right now, sixty million workers don’t have that right.
On May 1st, 1886, Chicago workers went on strike to fight for the eight-hour work day we now assume as given. One hundred thirty three years later, we are fighting for workers rights to the courts — rights that will not be given unless we demand them. Call your Congressperson on Wednesday May 1st and make your demand known.
