Workers still being ripped off in improving economy

Workers around the country start the week not knowing which days they will, when they will start their shifts or end them and even in the highly paid software engineering section there are rip-offs.
The Justice Department sued Google, Apple, Intel and Adobe for cutting an intercompany deal that stops any one of them from recruiting the employees of another.
So much for the “don’t be evil” slogan.
High-tech workers use to change hats frequently, often getting higher wages and better conditions.
“When labor advocates and law enforcement officials talk about wage theft, they are usually referring to situations in which low-wage service-sector employees are forced to work off the clock, paid subminimum wages, cheated out of overtime pay or denied their tips. It is a huge and under policed problem. It is also, it turns out, not confined to low-wage workers,” a New York Times editorial said.
The high-tech workers may win billions, they claim they lost $3 billion while the antitrust scheme was in place from 2005-2009. Some Silicon Valley workers get free rides on luxury buses from San Francisco, driving up housing prices.
But the people at fast-food joints and call centers will gain nothing. Forget the eight-hour day.
Even choosing to live closer to their jobs is a win-lose proposition. As soon as their bosses find out, they can expect phone calls telling them come to worker earlier or later, or to come to work on their days off when other workers do not show up.
Obamacare still hasn’t come to most of these companies, thanks to the president’s decision to delay the program until the economy improves. Now that there are many more jobs to choose from some employers may find that they have cut costs so much few people will work for them. They may have to hire those folks who haven’t had a job for several or more years. Or paying for health care may become a cost of doing business, which will drive down government costs.