The gig-app workforce has arrived at our doorstep. But Silicon Valley’s innovations in hiring are only the latest round of this long-running battle over what “employment” means in the American economy.
After Jimmy Nicks’ job was subcontracted, he took both companies to court — the subcontractor he worked for, the “little boss,” and its client, the “big boss,” Koch Foods.
When chicken catcher Jimmy Nicks’ job was subcontracted, he started doing the same job for a new boss — only without the pay, protections and benefits he’d come to rely on.
We’ll finally tell you what happened to Jerry Vazquez and how it relates to the story of a 1930s hotel chambermaid. Plus, how we got the federal minimum wage and a new version of “The ABCs.”
Jerry Vazquez was running his own cleaning franchise, but he was barely getting by. He started feeling like he had little control over a business he owned — so Jerry decided it was time to fight back.
Jerry Vazquez always dreamed of owning his own business. But becoming a franchisee of a janitorial services company left him in debt and earning less than minimum wage.
