“There’s just no valid argument, I think, for excluding agriculture,” said Daniel Costa, Director of Immigration Law and Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute based in Washington, D.C.
Costa has worked at EPI for 11 years, looking specifically at the intersection of immigration and labor policy issues. The nonprofit, nonpartisan institute was established in 1986 to include the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions.
Statesman Journal
February 11, 2022
According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which first presented its research last week to a task force of the American Federation of Teachers, employment in public elementary and secondary schools decreased by nearly 5% overall from fall 2019 to fall 2021. The number of people employed as teachers fell by 6.8%, bus drivers by 14.6%, and custodians by 6%.
Common Dreams
February 11, 2022
According to a report by the Economic Policy Institute, teachers in the public high school sector made around 19.2 percent less than other types of workers who also went to college as of 2019. Teachers in the country have made less money on a consistent basis when compared to their counterparts in other fields, an exception being the 1960s.
Newsweek
February 11, 2022
As of January 30, federal contract workers must be paid at least $15 an hour under an executive order Biden signed in April that was finalized by the Labor Department in November. The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning nonprofit, estimated that the number of workers who got a raise when it took effect last month may have been as high as 390,000. That’s a substantial accomplishment.
New Republic
February 11, 2022
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) did not collect wage data specifically for school bus drivers in 2019 and 2020, but BLS economist Elka Torpey told Jacobin that their median hourly wage in 2018 was $15.58. According to David Cooper, who directs the Economic Policy Institute’s Economic Analysis and Research Network, the number appears to be similar for 2020. At full-time, year-round hours, it’s not enough for a single adult to sustain an acceptable standard of living in many states — let alone raise kids or plan for retirement.
Jacobin
February 11, 2022
A 2020 report from the Economic Policy Institute found that nearly 40 percent of the animal slaughtering and processing workforce in the U.S. was foreign born and 70 percent of those workers were non-citizens. Meatpackers have increasingly relied on a limited number of immigrant worker visas over the last decade to staff their plants.
Politico
February 11, 2022
The Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act will amend the Federal Arbitration Act, a 100-year-old law that was initially designed to be a cost-effective way for business entities to resolve disputes. A series of Supreme Court decisions have expanded its scope. In 1992, just 2 percent of U.S. workers were subject to mandatory arbitration clauses. By 2018, it was more than 56 percent, or roughly 60 million workers, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
The 19th
February 11, 2022
Features Elise discussing the latest jobs report.
Hearst TV
February 11, 2022
Well one group, the Economic Policy Institute, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that was created in 1986 “to include the needs of low- and middle-income workers in economic policy discussions,” believes that removing barriers to union organizing,would create a more equitable economy.
Industry Week
February 11, 2022
A recent study published by the Economic Policy Institute shows the cost of childcare for an infant is only 12.7% less than the cost of in-state tuition at a four-year public college.
Fox 17
February 11, 2022