The city council in Los Angeles is considering a measure that would require Uber and Lyft to pay their drivers at least $30 per hour. Under the proposal, roughly 250,000 drivers would earn $15 in minimum hourly wage and $15 to cover expenses like gas and insurance. According to a study done last year by the Economic Policy Institute, driver’s make an average of $9.21 per hour after expenses. The new measure is being proposed by Council President Herb Wesson, who said that ride-share companies “may be creating safer mobility options for residents, but their business model is subverting city policies put in place to protect the most vulnerable members of our community and weakening our social safety net.” He is now asking for an independent study of average driver wages before the council votes, a move opposed by Uber. “[The study would be] based on potentially false assumptions that will fundamentally bias its conclusions, and ultimately will lead to higher costs for riders and fewer rides for drivers,” a company spokesperson said. But James Hicks, a member of Rideshare Drivers United, said that the study should proceed. “These companies are able to do basically whatever it is they want. They can make us accept fees of 60 cents per mile, and if we don’t accept that ultimatum, then we’re basically fired from the platform. There’s no regulation, and that needs to change,” he said. A spokesperson for Lyft said that a city-level policy would be difficult for the company to manage, and that “a statewide approach is most appropriate.” California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed into law a bill that requires companies like Uber and Lyft to reclassify their drivers as employees instead of independent contractors, which would allow gig workers protections such as a minimum wage. Lyft and Uber are now pushing for a ballot initiative to overturn the new law. Given the uncertainty of that law’s status in a few years, city councilmembers say that Los Angeles must take action now. “The city isn’t taking any chances when it comes to protecting our rideshare drivers,” said Michael Tonetti, a spokesperson for Wesson. [CBS Los Angeles; LAist; Los Angeles Daily News]
Route Fifty
October 30, 2019
A 2018 study by the Economic Policy Institute cited by the Times concluded that Uber drivers nationwide make $11.77 an hour after deducting vehicle expenses and Uber fees. That wage decreases to $9.21 after payroll taxes and benefits.
Fox News
October 30, 2019
Robert Scott with the Economic Policy Institute says farmers like Rutledge shouldn’t be so optimistic. He says the President’s preliminary trade deal with China won’t bring farmers more business in the long run.
Gray DC
October 30, 2019
- Lawrence Mishel and Josh Bivens, “The Zombie Robot Argument Lurches On,” Economic Policy Institute Report, May 24, 2017, at 9. Available at: https://www.epi.org/publication/the-zombie-robot-argument-lurches-on-there-is-no-evidence-that-automation-leads-to-joblessness-or-inequality/.
Public Citizen
October 30, 2019
An Economic Policy Institute study shows there is a shortage of 110,000 teachers around the country. In Southern Nevada, Clark County School District was short 750 teachers in the previous school year.
KTNV
October 30, 2019
The NEA also pointed to a recent Economic Policy Institute report that concludes teachers are paid more than 21 percent less than other professionals with similar education and experience.
The Center Square
October 30, 2019
In fact affordable child care is the biggest challenge for many parents. Massachusetts is the second most expensive state for child care, with an average cost of about $20,000 a year at a day care center, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
CBS Boston
October 30, 2019
An article from Market Watch reported last spring, “Child care costs in America have soared to nearly $10K per year … roughly double the price of a year’s tuition to an in-state public university.” This was based on data from the liberal Economic Policy Institute, which also shows that Washington DC has the highest average cost for infant care at $24,243 per year and Mississippi has the lowest at $5,436.
AEI
October 30, 2019
Massachusetts is the second-most expensive state for childcare in the country, with the average yearly cost at $20,913, according to the Economic Policy Institute. The report said families are forced to “make difficult choices or put together unstable child care arrangements that make it difficult to fulfill work or family obligations.”
NECN
October 30, 2019
After so many years of National Labor Relations Decisions coming down on the side of organized labor, the tide has now turned according to a liberal Washington DC think tank. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute released an analysis of NLRB decisions this week that they claim shows a bias in favor of business interests by the republican-dominated agency under the Trump administration. EPI specifically points to the Hy-Brand decision in 2017, the Board’s ruling in Johnson Controls and its January reversal in SuperShuttle DFW as the evidence of pro-business bias. Hy-Brand overturned the egregious Browning-Ferris decision of 2015 greatly expanding the definition of joint employer, while Johnson Controls allows for businesses to drop unions that no longer have majority employee support. SuperShuttle DFW, Inc. reversed an Obama-era decision that made it harder for employers to classify workers as independent contractors. The moral of this story is that “Elections do have consequences!”
Dunkin’ Donuts Indepdent Franchise Owners
October 30, 2019