Media clips

• Why Economists are Talking About ‘Labor Hoarding’ and What You Need To Know About ItData suggests companies are holding on to employees as part of longer-term strategic thinking than we’re used to seeing in uncertain economic times

  Indeed, Labor hoarding was relatively popular in the economic literature at a few points in the 20th century, but mentions of the term dipped sharply after the late 1990s. Economist Heidi Shierholz of the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute said that when labor hoarding was popular, one would find that companies “didn’t want to just let [employees] go and then have to do the expensive retraining, rehiring on the other end when things got better.” What we’re seeing now could be viewed as a bit of a revival, she noted, calling labor hoarding a return to the way American companies used to behave during recessions.

  Inc. September 9, 2022
• The Surprisingly Disappointing Reign of Marty Walsh, Biden’s Labor Secretary

  Am I knocking Biden? Only insofar as he hasn’t given Walsh the kick in the pants he clearly needs to step up his game. Biden has been a solidly pro-labor president, especially given his narrow Senate majority. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill will create, according to the Economic Policy Institute, nearly 800,000 jobs, including nearly 200,000 construction jobs, more than 80,00 jobs to expand the power grid, and nearly 73,000 jobs to expand public transit. 

  The New Republic September 9, 2022
• Companies Are Required to Report Their Union Busting, but Many Don’t

  Employers who hire these third-party consultants are just as bad. LaborLab’s analysis of LM-10s filed in 2021 found that $26 million was reportedly spent by companies to hire consultants. But nearly 90 employers have still not filed the LM-10 for that year, even though it should have been done by March of this year. The total amount spent on union busting, then, could end up being much higher—a 2019 Economic Policy Institute report found that an estimated $340 million a year was spent on union avoidance companies between 2014 and 2018.

  American Prospect September 9, 2022
• This chart shows how union membership has declined over the years

  According to a 2021 post from The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), unions can have different positive impacts on workers and others. For instance, the 17 states with the highest union densities “have state minimum wages that are on average 19% higher than the national average and 40% higher than those in low-union-density states.” But it’s not just pay.

  For instance, EPI says that union workers are also more likely to have paid sick days than their peers.
  Business Insider September 9, 2022
• The lasting impact of “right to work” laws
  • When wages are lowered for union workers, it also means that competing non-union employers are able to pay lower wages,” she said. She pointed to research from the Economic Policy Institute that found wages in right-to-work states were 3.1% lower than non-right-to-work states after accounting for differences in the cost of living.
  • Another study found that states with these laws see lower political participation than states without them, as well as reduced support for the Democratic Party specifically.

  Missouri voters overwhelmingly voted against a state version of the law in 2018, and no law has passed since. “It’s become an increasingly unpopular policy,” said Elise Gould, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

  Axios September 9, 2022
• Inflation may raise your minimum wage—but will it help?

  In total, 27 states and Washington, D.C., will raise their minimum wages next year, either because of inflation or previously scheduled increases, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning Washington, D.C., think tank. A lower minimum wage for workers who earn tips also will increase in many of those states.

  “Employers are having to compete to attract staff, and this is particularly true in low-wage industries such as leisure and hospitality,” said David Cooper, director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network at the Economic Policy Institute.

  The minimum wage isn’t going up everywhere next year. Twenty-three states have no minimum wage increases scheduled. Twenty of those states set their minimums at or below the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The federal minimum wage, which amounts to an income of about $15,000 a year for somebody who works 40 hours a week, hasn’t changed in more than a decade.

  Cooper, of the Economic Policy Institute, said that $18 an hour in 2028 could be worth $15.50 an hour in today’s dollars.

  “It seems high, but when you consider what inflation might look like over the next few years, it’s probably not as high as it seems,” he said.

  Fast Company September 9, 2022
• September 9, 2022
  September 9, 2022
• How Scientology Exploits Foreign Workers The church has used an obscure visa to bring in thousands of laborers — and benefit from their toil.

  “That’s just insane,” says Kent Williams, a litigator known for successfully representing hundreds of workers in a wage-theft lawsuit against Chipotle. “Prisoners make more than that.” How much value Scientology derived from immigrant workers is a matter of conjecture, relying on a significant number of variables: how many hours per week they worked, for how many years, at what nominal pay, and so on. But labor lawyers specializing in wage-theft cases do attempt to make such calculations. Four of these experts (Nicole Hallett, the director of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at the University of Chicago Law School; Daniel Costa, the director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute; David Cooper, the director of the Economic Analysis and Research Network at EPI; and Williams) agreed that based on estimates provided by former Scientologists, CIS data, and tax documents obtained by sources, over the past 30 years Scientology’s use of foreign workers has probably saved the church hundreds of millions of dollars and potentially more than $1 billion.

   
  New York Magazine September 8, 2022
• While Campaigning on “Parental Control,” Top State Officials Champion School Vouchers

  Fifteen other states and the District of Columbia have voucher programs (six have educational savings accounts and nineteen have tax-credit scholarships), the oldest being one in Milwaukee. The program there began in 1990 and has expanded around the state, with less than 5 percent of Wisconsin students participating. In 2007, the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, found that “it is still not possible to measure whether voucher students in Milwaukee perform better or worse than their counterparts who remain in public schools.”

  Texas Monthly September 8, 2022
• California school district asks parents to house teachers as costs surge

  Teacher salaries have remained stagnant across the country since 1996, and a report from the Economic Policy Institute shows California teachers were paid 17% less than comparable college-educated workers last year.

  The Hill September 8, 2022