Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/711111
56 CINEMONTAGE / Q3 2016 LABOR MAT TERS challenge their employer one-by-one outside of court. In its ruling, the three-judge panel said that Epic Systems, a Verona, Wisconsin healthcare software provider, violated federal labor law when it required its workers to bring any disputes individually to arbitration, a private system of justice where there is no judge or jury. "The increasing use of mandatory arbitration agreements and the prohibition on workers proceeding as a class has been one of the most major developments in employment [in] the last decade," said Harvard labor law professor Benjamin Sachs. "Most of the court decisions have facilitated this development. This is a major move in the opposite direction." HOLLYWOOD GUILDS BACK BILL LIMITING VISA ABUSE The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Directors Guild of America (DGA) praised the passage of a bill by the US House of Representatives that would help curb the number of unqualified foreign movie and TV crewmembers approved for US visas, writes Yvonne Villarreal in The Los Angeles Times. The Oversee Visa Integrity with Stakeholder Advisories bill approved in mid-June by a voice vote would require the Department of Homeland Security to notify Hollywood unions and producers of approvals or denials of the so-called "O visas" for foreign crew members and directors seeking to work on films and TV series shot in the US. The program, established in 1990, requires that the US Citizenship and Immigration Services consult with appropriate organizations — including IATSE, the DGA and the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers — regarding the validity of applicants in their areas. Yet for years, the guilds have complained that they are not adequately consulted and that applicants aren't properly evaluated. The new bill would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to provide copies of the Citizenship and Immigration Services' "O visa" application decisions. The bill, introduced by Representatives Mimi Walters (R-Irvine) and Jerrold Nadler (D-New York), moves to the Senate. COVERAGE OF FISHING SLAVERY WINS APME AWARD An investigation into widespread labor abuses in Southeast Asia's fishing industry won top honors for enterprise reporting in 2016's Associated Press Media Editors Awards for Journalism Excellence by AP staffers. The "Seafood from Slaves" series by Martha Mendoza, Robin McDowell, Esther Htusan and Margie Mason led to the release of more than 2,000 slaves and exposed how slave-caught seafood made its way to US grocers and pet food providers. "The journalists, often facing danger, told compelling stories through beautifully crafted words, stunning photos and powerful video of caged and enslaved workers — and ultimately their homecoming," judges said. "They brought the issue to America's dinner table to show how illegal labor practices touch us all." OVERTIME ELIGIBILITY EXPANDED FOR MILLIONS The Obama administration, in a far-reaching effort to improve the lot of workers, announced in mid-May that it was making millions more employees eligible for overtime pay, writes Noam Scheiber in The New York Times. Under the new regulations issued by the Labor Department, most salaried workers earning up to $47,476 a year must receive time-and-a- half overtime pay when they work more than 40 hours during a week. The previous ceiling for overtime pay, set in 2004, was $23,660. The Labor Department calculates that 4.2 million additional Courtesy of Economic Policy Institute.