College grads entering the job market in 2018 are facing a good news-bad news situation. The good news: “Things are certainly a lot better than they were for their older brothers and sisters who graduated” in the wake of the Great Recession, said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. But the economy isn’t back to where it was in 2000 — when wages were enjoying strong growth — or even to 2007, before the recession hit, she noted. Wages for some recent college grads, especially black graduates and women, haven’t kept up with those of their white male classmates, according to a new report from the EPI. And more than one in 10 college grads are “underemployed,” or working in jobs that don’t use their skills. Instead of getting work in an accounting firm with that finance degree, they may be slinging lattes at the local Starbucks.
CBS Moneywatch
May 11, 2018
Over the past four decades, America’s private-sector unionization rate has collapsed — along with labor’s share of productivity gains. A large and growing body of economic research has demonstrated that this is no coincidence: Unions don’t just grow paychecks for their members, but also put upward pressure on wages throughout their industries. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that weekly wages for private-sector male workers would be 5 percent higher today, were America’s unionization rate still as high as it was in 1979 (changes in the prevalence of gender wage discrimination and female participation in the workforce complicate the comparison for working women). Back then, 34 percent of private-sector workers belonged to a union; today, just 10.7 percent do.
New York Magazine
May 11, 2018
In fact, that mom earning the minimum wage needs an hourly raise. Enacting the Democrats’ proposal of raising the minimum wage to $15 by 2024 would lift the pay of 7.6 million working moms — a third of working mothers, the Economic Policy Institute’s David Cooper has found. These women’s earnings account for two-thirds of their families’ income. Ignoring the policy is, thus, a missed opportunity to help working moms.
The Washington Post
May 11, 2018
Minnesota and Wisconsin have a lot in common in terms of geography, size and culture. But over the past seven years, they’ve taken drastically different political paths. A new report by the pro-labor Economic Policy Institute says Minnesota’s economic growth has far outpaced Wisconsin’s. Report author and EPI senior economic analyst David Cooper says the two states were fairly similar in politics and economics, until the last recession. Since then, Minnesota’s state government has raised taxes on the wealthy to finance investments, raised the minimum wage and accepted the Medicaid expansion. Cooper describes Wisconsin’s more conservative approach as, “Cutting taxes, weakening labor standards, not accepting the Medicaid expansion, rejecting federal funding for public investment.” (whole story)
Public News Service
May 11, 2018
Overall, the class of 2018 has better job prospects than the classes of 2009 to 2017, according to analysts from the Economic Policy Institute, but women and black applicants still face challenges.
Biz Woman
May 10, 2018
A worker covered by a union earns 13.2 percent more on average than someone with similar education, experience and responsibilities in a non-unionized job, a recent study from the Economic Policy Institute found. Still, union membership has halved since the early 1980s: Last year, 10.7 percent of American workers belonged to a union, compared with 20.1 percent in 1983.
The Washington Post
May 10, 2018
A 2017 study done by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) showed that 54% of workers being threatened with loss of their job if they voted to unionize. Additionally, the Workplace Democracy Act, like EFCA, would force companies to submit to mandatory arbitration if the union and the employer are unable to reach a first union contract after 90 days of bargaining. An analysis done by EPI showed that 37% of all new unions are unable to achieve a first contract within the first two years of bargaining, effectively leaving many unions toothless in enforcing workplace standards.
The Guardian
May 10, 2018
On average, a unionized worker makes 13.2% more than a non-union peer, according to data from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. In industries where organized labor is strong, unions help narrow gender and racial income disparities and also help raise wages across the entire sector. The bill also comes at a time when unions are once again under siege, with the Supreme Court preparing to rule on a case that could permanently cripple organized labor.
Splinter News
May 10, 2018
State education officials in Arizona threatened last month to revoke teaching certifications should educators move forward with their planned strike—exactly the type of threat Sanders, as well as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) hope to outlaw with the Workplace Democracy Act. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 54 percent of workers in 2017 said they had been threatened with firing should they vote to unionize.
Common Dreams
May 10, 2018