Much as I'd like to, I can't stop thinking about the dumb controversy over the Minneapolis Labor Standards Board.
Here we have the mildest proposal for an advisory board that will gather facts and make recommendations to City Council, yet business interests are acting like they're going to be lorded over by all-controlling soviets. And Jacob Frey, as ever capital's good little foot soldier, smarmily tut-tuts anyone who would dare question their bosses' good intentions.
Since concerns about wage theft provided the original impetus for the LSB, I thought it would be timely for us to complain about how our bosses ripped us off in the past.
Like every freelance writer, I've been stiffed on a payment or two over the years. (Though I think I fared better than most.)
Most of my complaints are about forms of mistreatment that weren't techinically illegal. There was the summer I worked packaging potpourri until one day the boss said he needed us to replace the factory roof instead. (I quit.)
And there wer lots of what we'd now call microaggressions: The Six Flags factory manager who'd insult us if we didn't stick around for overtime, the dumbass convenience store manager who came up with demeaning nicknames.
That's not to mention the business costs passed on to me as an employee, like when I had to use my own car for deliveries when I worked at Pizza Hut.
The most egregious slight, though? The local newspaper with the passive-aggressive publisher who said I was laid off until I tried to collect unemployment—and then claimed I'd been fired for cause.
I'm sure you've all got some stories of your own, so let's hear 'em.
As always, feel free to ignore this prompt and talk about whatever you want. This is your Open Thread after all.
