“We know from the experiences of 27 states, including many of Missouri’s neighbors, that ‘right to work’ laws don’t spur investment or create jobs,” the Economic Policy Institute said in a statement. “They do, however, undercut unions, lower wages, and weaken workers’ bargaining power. In fact, that is the whole reason for the enormous corporate interest in ‘right to work’…. By letting people get the benefits of union representation at no cost, ‘right to work’ undercuts unions’ ability to negotiate for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.”
Labor Press
August 9, 2018
Black women have to work an extra eight months to make the same wages as white male counterparts made in 2017, meaning that Aug. 7 was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day. Black women made an average of 66 cents on the dollar paid to white men in 2017, regardless of education, experience and location, according to a recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute. (Valerie quoted throughout, chart embedded)
CNBC
August 9, 2018
Janelle Jones, an economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) who conducts research for EPI’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy, shared insights with The Women’s Foundation of Colorado to help our supporters understand this disparity; how it affects black women, their families, and Colorado’s economy; and what we can do to pay black women fairly. (Interview with Janelle)
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado
August 9, 2018
Yesterday was Black Women’s Equal Pay Day, the day that signifies how long it would take for an African American woman to work in 2018 to equal the *2017* pay of a white male counterpart. I noted this day a year ago in Episode 41—and come back to it today in conversation with Valerie Wilson of the Economic Policy Institute. And it isn’t just black workers facing racism: Hispanic workers face similar bias, which is what I discuss with Marie Mora, also of EPI.
The Working Life Podcast
August 9, 2018
To be among the wealthiest 1 percent of the residents of New York, New York, you have to earn an annual income of at least $1.55 million. The average resident in this area brings home $8.98 million. That’s according to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), which analyzed how the top 1 percent and the bottom 99 percent across various U.S. states, metro areas and counties fared between 1917 and 2015.
CNBC
August 9, 2018
The rising gap of income disparity between the top 1 percent of wage earners and the remaining 99 percent is continuing. And, a new study by the Economic Policy Institute shows it is not just an issue in New York City, Silicon Valley, or Hollywood, but almost every community in the country. (whole story)
LocalNews8.com
August 9, 2018
Labor groups characterized right-to-work laws as an attack on workers’ livelihoods, because, they said, they undermine unions’ ability to negotiate wages and benefits. A 2015 report by the liberal Economic Policy Institute found that the typical full-time worker, not just the typical union member, earned about $1,500 per year more in states where mandatory union fees are allowed than in right-to-work states.
The New York Times
August 8, 2018
“We are seeing an attack on unions being sustained all over the place — the courts, private employers, the administration,” Janelle Jones, an analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, said in an interview before Tuesday’s vote. “This vote could represent the pendulum swinging back to workers and away from corporate interests.”
The Washington Post
August 8, 2018
In July, the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank that opposes right-to-work policies, estimated that if the Missouri bill went into effect, 60,000 fewer of the state’s workers would be covered by union contracts. Union members made up nearly 9 percent of Missouri’s workforce last year. Opponents of the state’s right-to-work bill, including the labor-backed campaign We Are Missouri, spent at least $15 million on the Proposition A campaign—five times more money than was raised by the bill’s supporters, including the National Right to Work Committee. The Missouri chapter of the Koch-backed Americans for Prosperity sent mailers to try to sway voters to support the bill. Ahead of the vote, Heidi Shierholz, policy director at Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist in President Barack Obama’s Labor Department, told Mother Jones that if right-to-work went into effect in Missouri, private sector unions would be weakened and see a reduction of membership and that the law could lower workers’ wages, particularly for women and people of color. “It hurts workers and helps corporate managers,” Shierholz said.
Mother Jones
August 8, 2018
The Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, attributes right-to-work laws to a 3.1 percent decline in wages for union and nonunion workers after accounting for differences in cost of living, demographics, and labor market characteristics.
VOX
August 8, 2018