Arbitration is death for the little guy’s negotiating power. It costs about $150 to pursue a claim in small claims court, and about $1500 to pursue a claim in arbitration.
For most individual earners in a pay dispute, that arbitration fee is insurmountable and essentially means they’re powerless.
I ran into this problem when I discovered the contract I’d hired a lawyer to draw up for my freelancing business had an arbitration clause. First time I had a client who wouldn’t pay, I was broke and therefore had no recourse.