Among private sector workers, union membership is now a dismal 6.4 percent. Big business’ assault on workers’ rights has had real consequences. Income inequality has widened, wages for working people have stagnated, the middle class has shrunk and American families are deeper in debt. Corporate profits have been climbing, but the share going to workers has not. A new report by the Economic Policy Institute found that from 1978 to 2018, CEO compensation grew by 940 percent, while workers’ wages increased by just 12 percent.
The National Memo
September 16, 2019
After years of declining power and stagnant wages, workers in the United States are awakening, striking and demanding more rights. A Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows the number of striking workers is the highest since 1986. In 2018, 485,000 people went on strike, a number not exceeded since the 533,000 people in 1986, and 2019 will be even larger. Workers should be in revolt, as the Economic Policy Institute found workers have had stagnant wages for three and a half decades even though productivity is increasing.
PopularResistance.org
September 16, 2019
A recent analysis has found that the pay ratio between a firm’s CEO and its median worker has drastically increased over the decades, according to MarketWatch. The study, conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, said that, in 2018, the CEO-to-median worker pay ratio was 278 to 1. The ratio in 1989, in contrast, was 58 to 1. Going even further back, the ratio in 1965 was 20 to 1. The report also said that CEO pay has increased by 1,008 percent between 1978 and 2018, compared to the 12 percent growth seen in the same time period by the typical worker.
New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants
September 16, 2019
African American workers are paid less than white ones at every level of education attainment If you’re looking to influence hiring practices at your firm, then here is a similar argument but with a slightly different approach. This report from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Economic Policy Institute, Black-white wage gaps expand with rising wage inequality, shows that while more education increases wages for everyone, it doesn’t change the persistent gap between black and white employees, even when controlled for a wide swath of variables. In fact, the gap between black and white employees with bachelor’s degrees and higher has been steadily increasing since 1979. Their recommendation: “Closing this part of the racial pay gap begins with consistent enforcement of anti-discrimination laws in the hiring, promotion, and pay of women and minority workers, as well as greater transparency around within-firm pay by race, ethnicity, and gender.” EPI
Fortune
September 16, 2019
But even before Trump lashed out at Trumka, labor unions have been under attack in the United States from conservative politicians and employers alike. “Working people have been thwarted” in their attempts to unionize and collectively bargain, says a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
Yahoo Finance
September 16, 2019
There are two problems with this story. One is that the role of technology displacing well-paying jobs is contested empirically. Second, why hasn’t this powerful technology growth also lifted wages? In fact, the link between productivity growth and wages is also contested (full disclosure: by a coterie of researchers in my former place of employment, the Economic Policy Institute).
The American Prospect
September 16, 2019
The Economic Policy Institute says more than 67% of all employers in California require that workers sign these arbitration agreements. Companies like these agreements because arbitration costs less than going to court and moves faster. Labor groups argue arbitration puts employees at a disadvantage because they don’t have an attorney and are subject to the ruling of an arbitrator who is often selected and paid for by the company.
U.S. News
September 16, 2019
The NBC corporate masters tell or signal to Todd who he can invite for his roundtable. He should never have corporatists from the American Enterprise Institute without having people from the Economic Policy Institute, Public Citizen, or Common Cause.
Common Dreams
September 16, 2019
The disparity in pay is even higher when broken down into hourly wages, according to recent data from the Economic Policy Institute.
Walden University
September 16, 2019