“Employers spend millions of dollars a year to hire union avoidance advisers to see how susceptible they are to their workers organizing,” Celine McNicholas, the director of government affairs and labor counsel for the Economic Policy Institute, said.
Overall, US companies spent at least $100 million on consulting services for anti-union campaigns between 2014 and 2017, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute based on disclosure forms filed with the US Department of Labor.
Business Insider
April 21, 2020
However, the nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute (EPI) has pointed out that only about 40% of workers are typically returning workers, and that halting the processing of new H-2A applications for an extended period of time could lead to a shortage of as many as 60,000 workers at a time when we’re facing peak summer demand.
Food Dive
April 21, 2020
Julia Wolfe, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, says to save truly small businesses, future legislation must be more clear.
“It’s not only a problem that folks are applying for it who might not be the target group. An even bigger problem is small businesses thinking that they don’t qualify or being worried about the strings attached and not understanding it. And they don’t end up applying for this loan that would actually benefit them and benefit their employees,” she said.
Spectrum News 1
April 21, 2020
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a rule making it harder for workers to win and keep a union. At the same time, the Trump NLRB has suspended all union elections, including mail ballot elections.
St. Louis/Southern Illinois Labor Tribune
April 21, 2020
But just as nurses and other workers are seeking to organize new shops, the Trump administration has thrown a formidable obstacle in their path. On March 31st, the NLRB—currently comprised of three Republicans—issued new rules for union elections. These changes will make it “nearly impossible” for workers to organize a new union, according to Celine McNichols, government affairs director at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). One rule change stipulates that NLRB-organized union elections will proceed even if workers have accused their employer of an “unfair labor practice”—such as making false statements to workers about the consequences of unionization—making it easier for employers to illegally interfere with elections. Another rule allows a minority of members to file for an election to decertify a union just 45 days after an employer has voluntarily recognized it, incentivizing employers to put off bargaining in the hope of seeing the union dissolved.
Jewish Current
April 21, 2020
In the U.S., growth in output per hour has not translated into similar growth in income per hour. Workers have been creating more goods and services per unit of time, but they have not been earning much more in compensation. The Economic Policy Institute analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed that while net productivity rose 69.6% from 1979 to 2018, wages only grew 11.6% (after adjusting for inflation).4
Investopedia
April 21, 2020
“Policymakers have a lot of influence over how much people follow these measures that will not only save lives but will help our economic situation,” said Heidi Shierholz, policy director of the Economic Policy Institute and former Labor Department economist.
Shierholz warned that President Trump was “undermining” his administration’s efforts to encourage social distancing. “I don’t see how that won’t mean more lives will be lost and our economic situation will end up worse,” she noted.
KOMO News
April 21, 2020
The closures also threw 22 million people out of jobs so far, shooting the U.S. jobless rate up over 10 percent, the Economic Policy Institute calculates. That hit led to the $1,200 electronic payments from the Treasury to most – but not all – adults in the U.S. and $500 per child. It also led to expansion of jobless benefits by $600 for each person who gets them, but state jobless benefit systems have crashed under the workload.
Common Dreams
April 21, 2020
According to the Economic Policy Institute, 90 percent of the highest-earning private-sector workers are more likely to work from home and have access to paid sick leave, but seven in ten low-wage workers do not get paid sick leave. Nearly one-quarter of all workers-including two of three food service and one in three retail workers-receive no paid sick leave whatsoever. Only 25 percent of private-sector workers receive at least ten paid sick days annually after twenty years’ service.
Public
April 21, 2020