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More than half of private sector, nonunion workers are required to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment, making them far less likely to file legal claims against their employers, according to a report released by a left-leaning think tank on Wednesday. The Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute and Cornell University Professor Alexander Colvin found that 54 percent of those workers, or about 60 million people, are bound by the agreements, up from 2 percent in 1992. The report comes ahead of arguments scheduled for Monday at the U.S. Supreme Court on whether class-action waivers in arbitration agreements violate workers’ rights under federal labor law. To read the full story on WestlawNext Practitioner Insights, click here: bit.ly/2yH1mGp
Reuters September 28, 2017 -
The Trump administration’s Justice Department’s decision to side with employers in saying mandatory arbitration overrides federal labor law hurts millions of workers, the top employment lawyer at the labor-backed Economic Policy Institute says. And if the employers, and Trump’s government, win, employers will be freer than ever to use “private contracts to eviscerate the public rights Congress protected in the National Labor Relations Act,” EPI counsel Celine McNicholas adds. McNicholas published a long analysis of the case, Murphy Oil v NLRB, even before the Justice Department revised its prior brief sent to the U.S. Supreme Court on mandatory arbitration. DOJ now sides with the employers. The justices will hear Murphy Oil on October 3. (whole story)
Press Associates Union News Service September 28, 2017 -
Household income, wealth rise but rich gain most
USA Today/Paul Davidson
Those with less education and minorities realized proportionally bigger gains than college graduates and whites. Yet high-income households outpaced their lower-earning counterparts, the Federal Reserve said in its triennial Survey of Consumer Finances.n “While there was a sizable rebound in median income,” it “remains below its 2007 level,” says Elise Gould, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. She also cited “growth in income inequality.”
USA Today September 28, 2017 -
The priorities outlined send a strong signal that the bill will do little for the middle class, Hunter Blair, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, said. “They could have just doubled the standard deduction, but that’s not what they did. They doubled it and got rid of the personal exemption,” Blair said. “Trump’s campaign plan did something similar and ended up raising taxes for a lot of lower-income families” once more details were assessed.
Mic September 28, 2017 -
But Robert Scott, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, called the current deal a failure, its positive aspects outweighed by the costs. KORUS was supposed to add about 100,000 jobs and instead it has cost nearly that many – despite companies like Kia, he said. Even though Georgia added Kia, the state lost Ford and GM plants and some of their suppliers. “You have to be careful not to lose sight of the forest when you look at the trees,” he said. “There’s been growth in autos and auto parts, and there’s been job losses in the U.S. auto industry.”
The Atlanta Journal Constitution September 28, 2017 -
Together these maneuvers and others like them mark a startling rise in the use of preemption laws—laws that state authorities employ to usurp or erase the power of cities and other local communities. The Economic Policy Institute, in an August publication, found that 15 states have passed more than two dozen laws preempting local labor standards in the last year and a half alone. And the National League of Cities recently reported that 25 states currently limit or prohibit local regulation of minimum-wage standards; 19 states stymie local input on paid-leave policies; 17 states prevent or discourage cities from creating municipal broadband; and three have sought to quash local LGBTQ anti-discrimination ordinances. Despite claims to the contrary, the Republicans who dominate state government in this country care little for local self-determination.
The Nation September 27, 2017 -
AFL-CIO veteran Thea Lee today was named the next president of the Economic Policy Institute. Lee worked for the AFL-CIO for two decades, most recently as President Richard Trumka’s chief of staff, before stepping down in May. She previously worked for EPI as an international economist from 1991 to 1997. “While we interviewed extremely qualified candidates, we unanimously selected Thea Lee, who will continue the EPI tradition of quality research focused on improving economic prosperity for everyone,” EPI board member Julianne Malveaux said in a statement. “She is well-suited to take EPI to another level, by expanding possibilities for our engagement with the states and using EPI’s work to help progressive organizers focus on important economic issues.” Lee will take over for current president Lawrence Mishel on Jan. 1, 2018. An EPI spokesman said Mishel will keep conducting research for the organization.
Politico Pro September 27, 2017 -
SIGN HERE: An Economic Policy Institute study out this morning illustrates the exponential growth of mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts. In 1992, the study says, about 2 percent of employment contracts required workers to submit disputes with the boss to arbitration rather than seek redress in the courts. Today, 55 percent include mandatory arbitration clauses, a trend that the study’s author, Alexander Colvin of Cornell, attributes to a series of favorable court rulings. “This trend has weakened the position of workers whose rights are violated, barring access to the courts for all types of legal claims,” Colvin writes, “including those based on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act.” The EPI report comes as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear oral arguments Monday in NLRB v. Murphy Oil, which addresses apparent discrepancies between the Federal Arbitration Act and the National Labor Relations Act regarding the legality of mandatory arbitration clauses. (SCOTUSblog has a good breakdown here.) Read the EPI report here.
Politico Pro September 27, 2017 -
The pay hike for Target employees follows Walmart’s decision last year to increase wages to at least $10 an hour. It also comes as the nation’s unemployment rate tightens and job vacancies continue to climb, making it harder for businesses to hang on to trained staffers. “The biggest piece of leverage an employee has is to say, ‘Look, I can quit and go to this other place,’ ” said Heidi Shierholz, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank in the District. “When that starts happening, employers have to raise wages.” (Heidi quoted throughout)
The Washington Post September 26, 2017 -
Using data from the Census Bureau’s report on income, poverty, and health coverage, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that although the median household income for Native Americans increased 1.8% from 2015 to 2016, the “rate of poverty among Native Americans was nearly double the national average for all people and 1.7 times higher for children.” At $39,719, the median household income for Native Americans was just 69% of the national average. (EPI charts used)
Refinery29 September 26, 2017