That wasn't my take from the article. If anything, it sounds like he's calling out employers for profiting (significantly) from the same kind of word-bending y

That wasn't my take from the article. If anything, it sounds like he's calling out employers for profiting (significantly) from the same kind of word-bending you're describing: by telling low-wage earners, when they show up for work the first day, "Oh BTW, you're not getting paid for setting up and tearing down your workspace each day. Because you know, that's not really work." BTW it may be more accurate to describe the authors as policy researchers, rather than journalists.