DEMOCRATS RALLY AGAINST TIP-POOLING: Democratic congressmen and worker advocates will protest the Trump administration’s plan to overturn a rule against tip-pooling today on Capitol Hill. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) will appear at a press briefing alongside representatives from the Restaurant Opportunities Center, the Economic Policy Institute, and NELP. Forty-six Democratic lawmakers signed a letter Monday calling on the DOL to extended the comment period on the tip rule change. Over 200 organizations also signed a separate letter asking for a 30-day extension.
Politico
December 13, 2017
“Under the administration’s proposed rule, as long as tipped workers earn minimum wage, employers could legally pocket those tips,” said analysts with the Economic Policy Institute. “We estimate that under this rule, employers would pocket $6.1 billion in tips earned by tipped workers each year.” (EPI cited throughout)
The Washington Examiner
December 13, 2017
The Obama administration change banned tip-pooling even for businesses that pay the federal minimum wage, and the Trump administrations now wants to eliminate the Obama administration rule and allow employers once again to pool tips only for workers who are paid the tipped minimum wage. According to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), employers could keep between $563 million and $14.2 billion in tips annually. The EPI’s best estimate is a loss to tipped workers of $6.1 billion. (EPI cited throughout)
Wall St. 24/7
December 13, 2017
Does rising income inequality reduce economic growth? EPI’s Josh Bivens takes another crack at this hypothesis today, starting with some (uncontroversial) evidence that the rich save more than the non-rich:
Mother Jones
December 13, 2017
Earlier this month, the Trump administration announced a proposed new rule that would allow bosses to legally steal their workers’ tips. A new analysis published Tuesday by the Economic Policy Institute found the rule would lead to employers pocketing $6.1 billion in workers’ tips—or 16.9% of the estimated $36.4 billion in tips earned annually by tipped workers—without any legal assurance that workers would see their money again.
Splinter News
December 13, 2017
This ingrained feeling is supported by the data: the Economic Policy Institute analyzed the wage gap between black women and white women, and found that black women are in fact working harder to get less. “Black women work more hours than white women, and have increased work hours by 18.4% since 1979, and continue to increase their annual hours and weeks worked per year,” the study showed. Despite the increase of hours work each year, black women are paid only 63% of what white men make, and 17% less than what their white women counterparts bring home.
Fast Company
December 8, 2017
About 56 percent of private-sector nonunion employees, or more than 60 million workers, are subject to forced-arbitration agreements, according to research from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.
The Washington Post
December 7, 2017
More than half of American workers — 56% — are subject to mandatory arbitration, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s survey of nonunion private-sector employers.
USA Today
December 7, 2017
The issue has broad relevance in the American workplace. More than 56 percent of American workers are subject to mandatory arbitration, according to a survey of nonunion private-sector employees by the Economic Policy Institute, meaning it affects about 60 million people.
The Post and Courier
December 7, 2017