60 million private sector, non-union employees literally can't take their boss to court. If their boss is being abusive, violating workplace standards, engaging in wage theft or forcing them to work overtime without pay - then they have to go through a process called mandatory arbitration. It happens in the boss's building, the boss gets to pick the judge, and the boss is actually paying the judge. There's solid evidence that arbitrators have a bias towards employers - for obvious reasons, they're workers themselves.

Jacobin writer Meagan Day explores the rise of mandatory arbitration in the workplace - where employees sign away rights to sue employers in court, instead relying on private hearings on the company's terms, bypassing the enforcement of wage and safety laws, and splitting the labor force into a series of individual claimants.

Meagan wrote the articles The Conference Room Is Replacing the Courtroom and The Democrats and the Deficit Con for Jacobin.