Media clips

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• Some 7-Eleven stores are using surveillance cameras to prevent workers from stealing, months after some franchisees paid back $173 million over wage-theft accusations

  The NRF’s survey found retail chains fired an average of 559 employees for stealing in 2019, and prosecuted an average of 156, while research by the Economic Policy Institute found employers are rarely prosecuted and underfunded labor regulators often lack the ability to enforce wage laws.

  Business Insider June 25, 2021
• The big job exodus might not be all it’s cracked up to be

  But that doesn’t necessarily mean they were moving on to better jobs — wages across industries haven’t meaningfully risen, meaning workers who quit aren’t, as a whole, making more money, Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute, told Vox: “Really key wage measures are just not showing strong growth.”

  Money isn’t the only factor, either. Some retail workers are leaving their jobs for roles that may have better conditions — for example, jobs in construction or warehouses where they may not have to deal with difficult customers. But some say it will take more than the fluctuations of a post-pandemic job market to really give workers meaningful power, in retail or elsewhere. Unless the surge in quitting leads to greater unionization and policy shifts like a higher minimum wage, Shierholz said, “it’s not going to be a lasting change.”

  VOX June 25, 2021
• US jobless claims tick down to 411,000 as economy heals

  In their report, the Economic Policy Institute, NELP, the Center for Popular Democracy, and the Washington Center for Equitable Growth recommended a range of reforms, such as permanently expanding eligibility to include gig workers and contractors; automatically extending benefits during recessions beyond the 26 weeks provided by most states; and increasing minimum benefit levels.

  The Associated Press June 25, 2021
• Scholars: Let’s Focus on Women and Caregiving in the Economy

  Despite expected strong job growth and recovery as society opens back up and vaccine availability is more widespread, there needs to be an active effort to make jobs in the care industry equitable, said Dr. Heidi Shierholz, senior economist and director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute. She noted that good job growth does not necessarily mean an equitable economic recovery.

  “We know that more than 90% of care jobs are held by women, over half of care jobs are held by women of color,” Shierholz said. “On an hourly basis, care workers are paid about three quarters of what other workers with similar demographic characteristics – who do other jobs – are paid. Care workers are much more likely to be poor or near-poor. It’s difficult to think of a better strategy for an equitable recovery than making sure these care jobs are good jobs.”

  Diverse: Issues in Higher Education June 25, 2021
• Signing bonuses a sign of the times in Colorado’s tightening labor market

  Left-of-center economists counter the problem isn’t about labor supply. Low-wage sectors are seeing stronger job growth than high-wage sectors, which shouldn’t be the case if unemployment benefits were holding back hiring, argues Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist with the Economic Policy Institute, in a recent editorial.

  She said the states that have ended enhanced federal unemployment benefits early in response to complaints from employers stand to lose $22 billion in aid and slow their economic recovery. Colorado instead has tried a carrot approach, offering workers who find a new job a payment of up to $1,600.

  Denver Post June 25, 2021
• VERIFY: Here’s why Americans aren’t going back to work

  “There are very large amounts of job openings and there are a very large number of people who are unemployed, and the pace of filling those jobs somehow feels slower than it might be,” Federal Chairman Powell said in a press conference.

  In June, Powell pointed out the mismatch of unemployed workers and openings has several factors behind it. Number one, the largest group of unemployed workers are back to work.

  “There were people just getting temporarily laid off and their businesses said, ‘When we can come back online, we’ll bring you right back,’” Heidi Shierholz explained, “That is what many businesses did.”

  WUSA 9 June 25, 2021
• American Airlines cancels hundreds of flights, latest company to claim labor shortages

  The Economic Policy Institute did find signs of short-term labor shortages in the hospitality and leisure sectors. According to the institute’s own analysis though, these shortages are unlikely to spill into the larger economy. A recent report by the economic think tank suggests a continuation of unemployment insurance and other forms of direct assistance.

  Instead of cutting benefits, the Economic Policy Institute found increasing wages in the restaurant and leisure industries was a natural way to bring workers back. The government’s April jobs report showed employers are doing just that: wages are rising as employers try to attract more workers.

  “The rapid wage growth of the past three months is exactly what is supposed to happen when there is a sectoral imbalance between supply and demand,” according to a post on the institute’s Working Economics Blog.

  KNX News Radio June 25, 2021
• Wage Gains at Factories Fall Behind Growth in Fast Food

  “Workers in some of these low-wage industries are demanding and getting better pay,” said Lawrence Mishel, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.

  Mr. Mishel said the premium that manufacturers pay has fallen since the 1980s and 1990s. Mr. Mishel attributed the decline to global competition, outsourcing, lower unionization rates and wider use of contractors. Mr. Mishel said jobs in manufacturing in many cases still offer better healthcare and retirement benefits than some other industries.

  The Wall Street Journal June 25, 2021
• Factory work used to pay far better that fast-food jobs — but thanks to the labor shortage, the gap is quickly closing, and manufacturers are losing staff

  Manufacturing executives told The Journal that as well as struggling to find workers, they’re also being hit by higher prices of raw materials including fuel, lumber, and packaging amid the current shipping crisis, making it harder for them to afford new staff perks.

  Some restaurants have been hiking up prices to offset the higher wages. But Paul Isely, a business professor at Michigan’s Grand Valley State University, told The Journal that it’s harder for manufacturers to raise prices because they have to compete with factories around the world, not just nearby restaurants.

  Lawrence Mishel, an economist at left-leaning think tank the Economic Policy Institute, told the publication that global competition, outsourcing and contractors, and lower unionization rates were also causing manufacturing jobs to lose their wage premium.

  As a result of all these changes, the proportion of US workers employed in the manufacturing industries was shrinking. Less than 9% of US workers are currently employed by manufacturers, The Journal reported. In the early 1980s this was more than 20%.

  Business Insider June 25, 2021
• MSNBC Politics Nation

  The missing Black father trope is largely due to deliberate and racist policy decisions. According to a 2016 Economic Policy Institute study, up to 1 in 10 Black children has an incarcerated parent. The ugly reality of mass incarceration in the US is that a huge proportion of those behind bars are convicted of nonviolent drug offenses. and while Black and white people use drugs roughly at the same rates, Black folks are almost six times as likely to be imprisoned for it. 

  MSNBC June 25, 2021