Millennials have comprised a lot of recent gains in union representation across the workforce, according to a February 2018 report from The Nation. The millennial union workforce grew by 198,000 in 2017, which offset a drop in older workers in the same period (workers age 45 to 54 dropped by some 75,000 in 2017). Moreover, according to a 2017 report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), the value of unionization can be critical to workers’ rights — especially for women and people of color. As of 2016, the report states, roughly 10.6 million of the 16.3 million workers covered by a union contract are women and/or people of color. That’s a massive chunk of the working population to be affected by this new fundraising quandary. As the EPI report simply states, unions exist to provide “working people who are not executives or company owners with an opportunity to get their voices heard in policy debates that shape their lives.” Just the same as managers, business owners, and CEOs organize to advocate for their economic interests. (EPI cited throughout)
Elite Daily
June 28, 2018
Analysts and labor experts said the decision will have a disproportionate impact on black workers, particularly female. “While the outcome of the case will affect about 17 million public-sector workers across the country, black women in particular could be hurt by Janus, as they are disproportionately represented in public sector jobs,” said the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) before the ruling. “They make up 17.7 percent of public-sector workers, or about 1.5 million workers.”
Chicago Crusader
June 28, 2018
For more information about Janus and “fair share” fees, check out the Economic Policy Institute’s explainer.
ColorLines
June 28, 2018
A lot is at stake for labor unions nationwide if AFSCME loses, said Celine McNicholas, director of labor law and policy at the progressive Economic Policy Institute. “Unions will still be required to represent everyone in the collective bargaining unit, regardless of whether a worker is paying that “fair share” fee or not,” said McNicholas. “This is going to make effective collective bargaining very difficult for unions that are going to be asked to do the same with fewer resources — potentially dramatically fewer resources.”
Marketplace
June 27, 2018
Receipts are up too. But more broadly, the economic impact is limited. The Economic Policy Institute notes that receipts at nonemployer establishments account for a scant 3.1% of all business revenue in the U.S. “This indicates that the growth of nonemployer establishments seems to reflect the growth of self-employed individuals…operating unincorporated businesses that generate very little revenue,” the EPI’s Lawrence Mishel and Julia Wolfe write.
The Wall Street Journal
June 22, 2018
This has impacts across generations. A recent report by the Economic Policy Institute found that by the age of 14, approximately 25 percent of African American children have experienced a parent — in most cases a father — being imprisoned for some period of time. The “evidence is overwhelming that the unjustified incarceration of African American fathers (and, increasingly, mothers as well) is an important cause of the lowered performance of their children,“ the report concludes. For example, children of incarcerated parents are more likely to misbehave at or even drop out of school, develop learning disabilities, and to suffer from migraines, asthma, high cholesterol, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and homelessness.
Common Dreams
June 21, 2018
Harrison said she expects that the negative effects of the proposal will be more “severe” in the District because residents of the city pay more on average for basic necessities than most other Americans. A 2015 study by the Economic Policy Institute found that the District is the most expensive place to raise a family in the United States.
The Washington Post
June 20, 2018
“Average childcare costs are astronomical,” says Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute (EPI). “The majority of families with kids have both parents working. In states that lack infant and child care, the cost of childcare has a massive impact. According to a recent EPI study, a two-parent, two-child family in many major cities pays more to child and day care centers—who are struggling with rent and staff costs—than to the landlord. In 500 out of 618 communities nationwide, child care costs more than rent for a two-child family, and there isn’t a single community where a full-time, full-year minimum-wage worker with one child can afford a “modest yet adequate standard of living” while also paying for child care. Take San Francisco. In 2016, it became the first city in the nation to require six weeks of paid maternity leave. But while that’s a useful head start, it doesn’t address the mounting costs of child care between birth and starting school. According to EPI’s analysis, California is one of 33 states where infant care is more expensive than college. Child care for two children, an infant and a 4-year-old, costs $20,047 annually on average, 25.6 percent more than rent. A typical California family would have to spend 31.5 percent of their income on child care.
Curbed
June 20, 2018
“The trade policies have been so erratic and inconsistently messaged that they are not a part of a broader strategic plan for the economy,” said Thea Lee, president of the liberal Economic Policy Institute and a trade specialist. “Even to the extent that there is some playing favorites, singling out workers in different sectors, that’s problematic, because it’s dividing. What workers need are policies that will be empowering, that will lift them up across sectors and not divide them.”
The New York Times
June 19, 2018