“The share of workers covered by a union contract is well less than half of what it was 40 years ago — caused in large part by fierce corporate opposition spending millions of dollars on anti-union campaigns and lobbying the government to weaken labor laws,” Heidi Shierholz, director of policy at the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute, said in a statement.
Employers spend about $340 million a year on consultants that help keep workers from unionizing, according to a recent study from EPI that also charged management with breaking the law in 41% of union elections.
CBS News
January 23, 2020
A recent report from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute noted that U.S. employers spend more than $300 million on “union avoidance” consultants who specialize in undermining union campaigns. The same report found that 4 in 10 union elections include charges that the employer broke the law, often by threatening or firing pro-union workers.
The Huffington Post
January 23, 2020
“I believe that the switch JHU announced is definitely necessary, and in the right direction,” said Emma García, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “However, it’s likely not sufficient.” Inequality of access is just one of the barriers faced by black, other minority, and relatively disadvantaged students hoping to attain a degree at a high-profile university. In many cases, there are other obstacles that intervene long before students have an opportunity to apply for a prestigious college.
Quartz
January 23, 2020
HARRISBURG PA – Investing in what is described as a “values-based” early child education system would serve 500,000 Pennsylvania children and employ 200,000 teachers, according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington DC-based non-profit think tank.
The institute’s new research says efforts to expand access to early education have focused on affordability for families, and have been substantially funded by keeping teacher pay and support low. Its claims are supported by Diana Polson, a Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center policy analyst in Harrisburg, who says early child education teachers with a bachelor’s degree are paid 22 percent less than colleagues in kindergarten through eighth grade.
The Sanatoga Post
January 23, 2020
Black college graduates ages 21 to 24 earn $3.34 less per hour than their white peers, reported Jillian Berman for MarketWatch, citing an analysis by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. That contributes to a $7,000 annual difference.
Business Insider
January 23, 2020
Between 2001 and 2018, the U.S. trade deficit in goods rose more than 500%, to over $400 billion. According to the Economic Policy Institute, trade with China during the same period eliminated 3.7 million U.S. jobs, including 2.8 million jobs in manufacturing.
The Detroit Bureau
January 23, 2020
There is certainly truth to the idea that there may be something wrong with the fact that 26 of the world’s richest men have more combined wealth than the poorest 3.8 billion people. Likewise, according to a report from the Economic Policy Institute, the average CEO pay is about 280 times the nearly $58,000 annual average pay of the typical American worker. In 1965, according to the same report, the income disparity ratio was 20.2 times.
Business Mirror
January 23, 2020
A March 2019 report from the Economic Policy Institute says that “evidence suggests that the presence of Airbnb raises local housing costs” in American cities. With more tourists staying there, the very essence of a neighborhood may be lost, says Justin Francis, chief executive of Responsible Travel, an activist travel company. Local services such as a dentist’s office or a small grocery store move out and are replaced by businesses serving tourists.
The Washington Post
January 23, 2020
“The lack of an increase in union membership points to the fact that there are still so many barriers to organizing,” said Heidi Shierholz, the director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute. “When people try to organize at their workplace there is just a relentless, fierce opposition on the part of employers.”
The Washington Post
January 23, 2020