Media clips
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Labor Day in the U.S. is a way to honor workers and to celebrate the American labor movement. Unions played a huge role in many of the gains American workers got from the labor movement, including five-day workweeks and minimuim wage. We look at a new reporter from the Economic Policy Institute on today’s unions and how they fit into the economy.
Wisconsin Public Radio September 6, 2017 -
Romney didn’t try to make every dollar he could, or anywhere close to it. The same was true among many of his corporate peers. In the early 1960s, the typical chief executive at a large American company made only 20 times as much as the average worker, rather than the current 271-to-1 ratio. Today, some C.E.O.s make $2 million in a single month.
The New York Times September 6, 2017 -
Josh Bivens, the director of research at the Economic Policy Institute, whose board includes presidents of several labor groups, including the AFL-CIO, said in an interview Tuesday that even if public pension funds reap market gains because of a corporate tax cut, workers might not see more money in their paychecks because the plans have defined benefits, which provide recipients with a set monthly payment in retirement based on a formula. … Some state pension funds faced severe losses in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. Bivens said he was skeptical that a corporate tax cut could help “really move the dial” on underfunded pensions. Long-term rates of return for funds “could be nudged up, but not enough to salvage terrible underfunding,” Bivens said.
Morning Consult September 6, 2017 -
“Caring about workers seems to be much more prevalent,” said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank in the District. But Trump’s attention on union workers alone probably hasn’t kicked up labor’s popularity, he said. Back in 2008, when the auto industry took a tumble, unionized workers took a reputation hit from which they’ve seemingly just recovered. (Approval for unions dropped to an all-time low in 2009 at 48 percent, the Gallup data show.) “People demonized unions, especially in the south, as though they were the Communist Party,” Mishel said. Unions, at the time, took blame for not being able to save jobs or demanding too much from employers.
The Washington Post September 5, 2017 -
The rollback of labor rights and protections since Trump took office is staggering. It puts worker safety at risk and guarantees that many workers will earn less, but that’s not all. Measures to help victims of discrimination receive redress are on the scrap heap. Unions are running scared. “It’s a death by a thousand cuts,” explains Heidi Shierholz, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
The Nation September 5, 2017 -
New research from the Economic Policy Institute finds that workers covered by a union contract earn 13.2% more in wages on average than nonunion workers who have similar levels of education and experience. But importantly, the report concludes that black and Hispanic workers get even more of a boost from unionization than their white counterparts, suggesting that stronger unions could help to close longstanding pay disparities. While 42% of U.S. workers overall are barely scraping by at jobs that pay less than $15 an hour, that figure is much more pronounced for black workers (54%) and Latino workers (60%). Closing those gaps—and raising pay for all low-wage workers—is crucial.
Fortune September 5, 2017 -
So why the naysaying? Because people who say the labor movement is dying are looking in the wrong place – the past. They’re looking at their grandfathers’ unions, at a movement that was anchored in just a few industries. A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute shows today’s unions represent workers from a broader range of sectors, with nearly 40 percent working in educational and health services, and unions are flourishing in “new economy” industries, such as digital journalism. This changed workforce is increasingly joining together in areas where our economy is growing and adapting to these realities by exploring new forms of worker organization. Demographics have changed too: According to the EPI, approximately 65 percent of union workers in 2016 were women and/or people of color. Massachusetts is one of four states in the country where women now outnumber men in unions. And nationally the gap is closing fast: The total number of women in unions in 2016 was only a percentage point behind men, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (EPI cited throughout)
Common Wealth Magazine September 5, 2017 -
Take a number: 42 percent If you need even more facts and figures for Labor Day, here are a few, courtesy of the Economic Policy Institute. While the stereotypical union member may be a white man in a construction hard hat, 42 percent of union members are women, 36 percent are nonwhite and 40 percent work in education or health services. In other words, they look like America and reflect our changing economy.
Sacramento Bee September 5, 2017 -
This is not, incidentally, because an increase in the labor supply has no adverse effects for anyone. Rather, as Heidi Shierholz of the liberal Economic Policy Institute emphasizes in her overview of the literature, it’s that “earlier immigrants are the group that’s most adversely affected by immigration” because they are the people whose skill sets are most likely to put them in direct competition with new immigrants. Across a range of estimates, the effects on wages “tend to be very small, and on average, modestly positive.”
VOX September 5, 2017 -
“When the Federal Reserve meets in September, they should take a hard look at the data, which right now shows it’s too soon to raise interest rates,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
CBS Moneywatch September 5, 2017