For decades, the decline of the American labor movement corresponded to a decline in major strike activity. But new data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, indicates a recent and significant increase in the number of Americans who are participating in strikes or work stoppages. As a report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute explained on Tuesday, strike activity “surged” in 2018 and 2019, “marking a 35-year high for the number of workers involved in a major work stoppage over a two-year period.” 2019 alone marked “the greatest number of work stoppages involving 20,000 or more workers since at least 1993, when the BLS started providing data that made it possible to track work stoppages by size.” Union membership is declining, but workers themselves are in fighting shape.
New York Magazine
February 20, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute, 2018 and 2019 accounted for the largest two-year average of striking workers in more than three decades.
Huffington Post
February 20, 2020
The group cited a survey by the Economic Policy Institute that determined that more than half of nonunion, private-sector employers have mandatory arbitration procedures.
Winston-Salem Journal
February 19, 2020
That divide, she said, has been worsened by companies that are hostile to organized labor pressing for better wages. Employers spend almost $340 million every year hiring “union avoidance advisers” according to Economic Policy Institute estimates.
MarketWatch
February 19, 2020
“It is worth noting,” said Heidi Shierholz of the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute, “that the erosion of union coverage is not because workers don’t want unions anymore – survey data show that in fact, a higher share of nonunion workers today say they would vote for a union in their workplace than was the case 40 years ago.
“One key contributor to the decline of unions is fierce corporate opposition to union organizing. It is now standard, when workers seek to organize, for employers to hire union avoidance consultants to coordinate intense anti-union campaigns. We estimate that employers spend nearly $340 million per year hiring union avoidance advisers to help them prevent employees from organizing.”
Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council
February 19, 2020
Surprisingly, the cost of care in New York isn’t even the highest in the nation. Washington, D.C., can claim that honor, with parents paying annual child care costs of $24,243 for one infant, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In New York City, it’s $15,394 for one infant and $27,752 for two kids annually. In the least expensive state for child care, Mississippi, parents still pay $5,436 a year for one infant.
The New York Times
February 19, 2020
A recent report from the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute found widespread evidence of what Petri is talking about. The average cost of infant care in Minnesota is more than $1,300 per month. That’s more than in-state tuition for a four-year public college. It’s also about 30 percent more than the average rent.
MPR News
February 19, 2020
According to a 2019 report from the Economic Policy Institute, CEO salaries have risen 940% since 1978, while pay for the average worker has grown only 12% over the same timeframe. The overall ratio of CEO pay (including stock options) to average worker compensation stands at about 278 to one. Report coauthor Lawrence Mishel also pointed out that the growth in CEO salaries has not corresponded to an increase in executive productivity. “CEO compensation has risen far faster than profits,” Mishel told Capital & Main.
Fast Company
February 19, 2020
It is worth noting this isn’t unique to Big Law. Business owners typically benefit from profit increases, and CEO compensation in the U.S. has vastly outgrown employee wages. CEOs of the 350 largest publicly traded companies made 278 times their average employees’ salary in 2018, up from 58 times in 1989, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Bloomberg Law
February 19, 2020