Caroline Fredrickson

Under The Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over Caroline Fredrickson

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.; Most Americans think that our country has done quite a lot to protect women and ensure gender equity in the workplace. After all, we have banned discrimination against women, required equal pay for equal work, and adopted family-leave legislation. But the fact is that we have a two-tiered system, where some working women have a full panoply of rights while others have few or none at all. We allow blatant discrimination by small employers. Domestic workers are cut out of our wage and overtime laws. Part-time workers, disproportionately women, are denied basic benefits. Laws are written through a process of compromise and negotiation, and in each case vulnerable workers were the bargaining chip that was sacrificed to guarantee the policy's enactment. For these workers, the system that was supposed to act as a safety net has become a sieve-and they are still falling through. Caroline Fredrickson is a powerful advocate and D. C. insider who has witnessed the legislative compromises that leave out temps, farmworkers, employees of small businesses, immigrants, and other workers who fall outside an intentionally narrow definition of employees. The women in this fast-growing part of the workforce are denied minimum wage, maternity leave, health care, the right to unionize, and protection from harassment and discrimination-all within the bounds of the law. If current trends continue, their fate will be the future of all American workers. --; Provided by publisher. Biographical Note: Caroline Fredrickson is the president of the American Constitution Society. She has been widely published on a range of legal and constitutional issues and is a frequent guest on television and radio shows. Before joining ACS, Fredrickson served as the director of the ACLU's Washington legislative office and as general counsel and legal director of NARAL Pro-Choice America. She lives in Washington, D. C. Review Quotes: Praise for "Under the Bus" "Did you think you knew the facts about women and work? Think again. Caroline Fredrickson has written a terrific book that paints the whole picture, and it's not pretty. The history, the huge continuing gaps in the laws, the widespread employer exploitation, the statistics, and the wrenching stories--they're all there in this meticulously researched and utterly gripping volume."--Peter Edelman, author of "So Rich, So Poor" "Women workers are the backbone of America's service economy, yet, as Fredrickson so expertly describes in Under the Bus, millions have been abandoned by our nation's employment laws, which were established to protect all workers. The book provides clear ways forward to help empower and lift up the voices of women workers and to reverse the growing income inequality they face. Fredrickson's persuasive analysis explains why organizing and legislation must go hand in hand."--Mary Kay Henry, International President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) "Under the Bus vividly brings to life the hardest working women in our economy and shows that their systemic exclusion is no mistake but a calculated result of racism and narrow thinking. Fredrickson's indispensable work expands the conversation from the few women at the top of the corporate structure to the many millions who are working to survive. Brilliant, compelling, and important."--Saru Jayaraman, co-director, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United; director of the Food Labor Research Center, UC Berkeley; and author of "Behind the Kitchen Door" Publisher Marketing: Most Americans think that our country has done quite a lot to protect women and ensure gender equity in the workplace. After all, we have banned discrimination against women, required equal pay for equal work, and adopted family-leave legislation. But the fact is that we have a two-tiered system, where some working women have a full panoply of rights while others have few or none at all. We allow blatant discrimination by small employers. Domestic workers are cut out of our wage and overtime laws. Part-time workers, disproportionately women, are denied basic benefits. Laws are written through a process of compromise and negotiation, and in each case vulnerable workers were the bargaining chip that was sacrificed to guarantee the policy's enactment. For these workers, the system that was supposed to act as a safety net has become a sieve--and they are still falling through. Caroline Fredrickson is a powerful advocate and D. C. insider who has witnessed the legislative compromises that leave out temps, farmworkers, employees of small businesses, immigrants, and other workers who fall outside an intentionally narrow definition of "employees." The women in this fast-growing part of the workforce are denied minimum wage, maternity leave, health care, the right to unionize, and protection from harassment and discrimination--all within the bounds of the law. If current trends continue, their fate will be the future of all American workers. Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 02/15/2015 (EAN 9781620970102, Hardcover) Booklist 04/01/2015 pg. 8 (EAN 9781620970102, Hardcover) Library Journal 04/01/2015 pg. 106 (EAN 9781620970102, Hardcover)