Workers' Rights
American workers are producing more than ever while their wages have stagnated for decades. Union membership has fallen from over 30% in the 1950s to under 11% today — not because workers don't want unions, but because corporations have spent billions on anti-union campaigns, lobbied for hostile labor laws, and exploited the gig economy to classify workers as independent contractors.
Gen Us covers workers' rights because labor conditions are a direct reflection of the power balance between workers and corporations — a balance that has shifted dramatically toward employers over the past 40 years with minimal media attention.
We trace anti-union spending by major employers, document wage theft (the largest form of theft in America), analyze gig economy classification schemes, and track how labor coverage in mainstream media is shaped by corporate ownership.
Key Questions We're Asking
- •How much do major employers spend on anti-union consultants and campaigns?
- •What is the scale of wage theft in the U.S., and how does enforcement compare to other forms of theft?
- •How do gig economy companies use worker classification to avoid employment obligations?
- •What is the relationship between declining union membership and widening income inequality?
- •How does corporate media ownership affect coverage of labor disputes and union organizing?
What Mainstream Media Misses
- •Wage theft — employers stealing from workers through unpaid overtime, minimum wage violations, and tip theft — exceeds all other forms of theft combined but receives a fraction of the coverage.
- •Anti-union campaigns by Amazon, Starbucks, and other major employers are covered as individual stories, not as a systematic corporate strategy.
- •The gig economy's labor model — treating employees as independent contractors — is covered as innovation rather than as labor law evasion.
- •Corporate media outlets owned by companies with their own labor disputes have inherent conflicts in covering workers' rights.
Follow the Money
- •Major employers spend hundreds of millions annually on anti-union consultants and legal firms.
- •Wage theft costs American workers an estimated $15-50 billion annually, compared to $14 billion for all property crimes combined.
- •Gig economy companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash spent over $200 million on California's Proposition 22 to prevent worker reclassification.
- •The National Restaurant Association and other trade groups lobby heavily against minimum wage increases.