A Thanksgiving Victory for Workers

It is within living memory, children, that federal law required - and was enforced against - employers to pay time-and-a-half for every minute an employee worked past eight hours in one work day or 40 hours in one work week.  Every minute worked on a national holiday earned double time - twice your regular pay.

I my very own self earned time-and-a-half for hours worked on Sunday back when Lexington abolished its blue laws in the 1970s.

That one employer is observing those laws after breaking them should not be considered a victory, but it is.

Erik Loomis at LGM:

Last year, Whole Foods was one of many companies to force employees to work on Thanksgiving. The employees were very angry about this and seven went on strike at a store in Chicago. In response to the negative publicity, Whole Foods stores in the Midwest are now allowing workers to sign up if they want to work on Thanksgiving and will pay them double wages to do so. That’s a victory.