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
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute takes as look at the old Wisconsin-Minnesota rivalry from an economics angle. Spoiler alert: Wisconsin is worse off by almost every measure, including wage growth, job growth and healthcare. We discuss the impact of public policy on the economy and compare the economic effects of Minnesota Governor Mark Brown’s policies to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s. (Interview with Dave)
Wisconsin Public Radio
May 10, 2018
Gov. Scott Walker likes to ding Illinois for its fiscal woes. But you don’t hear him saying much about Minnesota. A new report suggests a reason: Minnesota has been outperforming Wisconsin on nearly every economic front. The report from the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning pro-labor think tank, looked at the economies of the Badger and Gopher states since the 2010 elections of Walker and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, a progressive Democrat. It showed that Minnesota outpaced Wisconsin in jobs, wages, health insurance, poverty and other factors. (whole story)
The Cap Times
May 10, 2018
His plan was outright heresy to Chamber of Commerce types: raising the minimum wage and taxes on the wealthy, expanding sick leave, and hiking aid for education and health care. These were ideas thought to ensure that skies fell and commerce would take flight. Seven years later, the results are in. If this had been a baseball game between Wisconsin and Minnesota, Dayton would have won 12-0. And thrown a no-hitter. That’s the finding of the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan D.C. think tank that specializes in examining the economy’s impact on working people. (whole story)
City Pages
May 10, 2018
On the 10th anniversary of the first college graduation of the Great Recession, the economic fate— or at least the psyche—of many members of the class of 2008 remains tainted by that experience. A decade later, today’s college graduates are entering into a job market that looks and frankly feels different from the one their brothers and sisters graduated into. Looking at the fates of the two groups offers a glimpse into how much the economy has changed since 10 years ago—and what’s still the same. “Young graduates’ economic prospects were pretty poor in the Great Recession and the immediate aftermath,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. “We know that when you graduate into a recession or into a weak labor market, those effects can be long-lasting.” (Elise quoted throughout, includes EPI chart)
Market Watch
May 10, 2018
In 26 states, average teacher salaries, adjusted for inflation, were less in 2016 than they were at the end of the 20th century, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Two years ago, an Economic Policy Institute (EPI) report documented the dive in weekly wages for teachers compared to other workers with comparable education requirements. In 2015, an average teacher made 17 percent less than comparable workers in salary. Back in 1994, the salary gap was 1.8 percent. Traditionally, fringe benefits helped compensate for lower teacher salaries, and teacher benefits are still far richer than in the private sector. But reforms have dramatically eaten into the pension benefits for newer workers at the same time that both employee and employer contributions have risen. In fact, when taking pensions into account, EPI concluded that teachers were lagging in total compensation by 11 percent.
Governing
May 10, 2018
Governor Scott Walker in Wisconsin and Governor Mark Dayton in Minnesota, along with lawmakers, have enacted vastly different policy agendas with an outsized impact on working families. Today, independent, nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute (EPI)(link is external) released a study arguing that by virtually every metric, Minnesota’s economy has performed far better for working families than Wisconsin’s since governors Mark Dayton and Scott Walker were elected in 2010. (whole story)
Workday Minnesota
May 9, 2018