AN UPDATE FROM THE FRONT: If You Work, You Deserve Better. NOW!

The battle for employee and worker rights has accumulated significant momentum over the last several months. We have seen national escalation in organized action for better pay and workplace conditions. Last week fast food workers in more than 150 cities across the country walked off their jobs to protest unlivable, starvation wages.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would prohibit terminating employees for their sexual orientation or gender, passed the Senate in November 2013. (It was first introduced in 1994.) And while 33 states still allow terminating employees because of their gender or sexual orientation, John Boehner refuses to bring it up for a vote in the House. But a vast majority of Americans now support the measure. The act would empower employment lawyers to seek remedy for their clients who have suffered such discrimination.

The Workplace Bullying Institute has proposed the Healthy Workplace Bill. The legislation would prohibit workplace bullying of all employees, regardless of their identity. So far versions of the bill have been sponsored by more than 300 individuals, republican and democrat. Employment lawyers who represent employees have long called for this kind of legislation. You may learn more about the bill or lend your support for it here.

In courts across the country, employment lawyers continue to fight for individual employee rights. 2013 saw a total of 93,727 EEOC charges filed.  And employment lawyers have filed thousands of lawsuits for employees who have been treated unlawfully in state and federal courts across the country.

On all of these fronts, legislative, workplace and courtroom, the battle could not have greater stakes for workers and employees. We need to reverse the decline in union membership and collective bargaining, ensure that individual workers and employees have rights protecting them from abuse and discrimination, and provide individuals with redress in our courts when their rights are violated. And we all need to participate.

Start thinking about the conditions you would like to see change in your workplace. Talk with your coworkers about what you can do collectively to make those changes. Learn about and advocate for legislative efforts like ENDA and the Healthy Workplace Bill. Tell your representatives that you expect them to support these initiatives.

And stand up for yourself if you have to! Too often employees who suffer unfair treatment from their employers are overwhelmed by feelings of powerlessness and fear. Do not be. Seek every available remedy. Learn about your rights. Call an employment lawyer for help.