Hirsch also recommends that rather than non-unionization, the default labor arrangement in a firm should be some form of worker association, but one without collective bargaining rights.

FORBES: How to Improve Working Conditions

Perhaps not so coincidentally, at that time Wal-Mart was struggling to reclaim its image as all-American corporate after several years of beat downs in the form of reports of worker mistreatment and unreasonable cost squeezes on its suppliers.

FORBES: Companies: If You are Going to Help Japan, Make It Count

They also argue that because there are cases in which companies paying above-market wages reap offsetting gains in the form of lower turnover and greater worker loyalty, raising minimum wages will lead to similar gains.

FORBES: Horrible Arguments In Favour Of A Minimum Wage Rise

If you believe that you have been misclassified as an independent contractor, you can report it to the IRS using a form SS-8, Determination of Worker Status for Purposes of Federal Employment Taxes and Income Tax Withholding (downloads as a pdf).

FORBES: Ask the taxgirl: Getting Paid Under the Table

You go to the table for your election district, sign in, and then wait while an election worker laboriously writes onto a paper form your voter identification information.

FORBES: New York's New Voting System Is a Disaster

This would make it easier for companies to increase worker voice, but, depending on the law, could also make it easier to form mutually beneficial organizations that are detached from the company.

FORBES: Yes, Unions Need Reinventing

President Bush has always actually been closer to Democrats than Republicans on this issue, favoring a guest worker program and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants that congressional conservatives object to as a form of amnesty.

FORBES: Labor Won't Embrace Immigrants