Media clips
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WUSA 9 February 27, 2018
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Convened to examine the causes of civil unrest in black communities, the presidential commission issued a 1968 report with a stark conclusion: America was moving towards two societies, “one black, one white — separate and unequal.” Fifty years after the historic Kerner Commission identified “white racism” as the key cause of “pervasive discrimination in employment, education and housing,” there has been no progress in how African Americans fare in comparison to whites when it comes to homeownership, unemployment and incarceration, according to a report by the Economic Policy Institute released on Monday. (whole story)
Washington Post February 27, 2018 -
Black unemployment is near an all-time low, but that only tells part of the story. One in every five working-age black men in the United States did not work at all in 2016, nor earn any income. “It’s staggering that this level of black men are disconnected from workforce,” says Janelle Jones, an analyst at the Economic Policy Institute who co-authored a recently published, wide-ranging report on hours worked by all workers ages 25 to 54. EPI is a left-leaning research group. (whole story)
CNN Money February 27, 2018 -
The Economic Policy Institute says today that “African Americans are better off in many ways” compared to 1968, but: With respect to homeownership, unemployment, and incarceration, America has failed to deliver any progress for African Americans over the last five decades. In these areas, their situation has either failed to improve relative to whites or has worsened. In 2017 the black unemployment rate was 7.5 percent, up from 6.7 percent in 1968, and is still roughly twice the white unemployment rate. In 2015, the black homeownership rate was just over 40 percent, virtually unchanged since 1968, and trailing a full 30 points behind the white homeownership rate, which saw modest gains over the same period. And the share of African Americans in prison or jail almost tripled between 1968 and 2016 and is currently more than six times the white incarceration rate.
Mother Jones February 27, 2018 -
BLACK UNEMPLOYMENT PERSISTS: Fifty years ago the Kerner Commission on Civil Disorders said “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white–separate and unequal.” The report noted “Pervasive discrimination and segregation in employment, education and housing, which have resulted in the continuing exclusion of great numbers of Negroes from the benefits of economic progress.” A half-century later, African Americans have made some progress in educational attainment and wages, but “black workers still make only 82.5 cents on every dollar earned by white workers” and “the median white family has almost 10 times as much wealth as the median black family,” according to a report released Monday by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. In the areas of homeownership, unemployment, and incarceration, things have either remained the same for African Americans or gotten worse. The Washington Post’s Tracy Jan pulls a key stat: “7.5 percent of African Americans were unemployed in 2017, compared to 6.7 percent in 1968 — still roughly twice the white unemployment rate.” But wait. In his State of the Union address last month, didn’t President Trump tout black unemployment as “the lowest rate ever recorded”? Trump was referring to December’s black unemployment figure of 6.8 percent , which was indeed low relative to previous unemployment figures for African Americans (though not relative to unemployment for white Americans). Trump called 6.8 percent “the lowest” because it was the lowest black unemployment rate in the current BLS data series, which goes back to 1972. But 6.8 percent black unemployment was still higher than 1968’s 6.7 percent black unemployment — which the Kerner Commission, 50 years ago, judged a disgrace. (Incidentally, you probably haven’t heard the president mention that in January unemployment for African Americans jumped back up to 7.7 percent.) Read more from the Post here, read the EPI report here, and read a 1968 summary of the Kerner Commission report here.
Politico February 27, 2018 -
“A weaker union is going to be less able to protect its workers, and the people who basically need the most protection are those who are usually discriminated against,” Janelle Jones, an analyst for the Economic Policy Institute, tells Marketplace. Unionizing particularly tends to benefit minority workers, especially women of color. Earlier this month, Jones and EPI labor counsel Celine McNicholas released a brief showing that black women could be especially harmed by the case, due to their high levels of participation in public-sector union jobs, including in the education system. Black women and men in public sector unions also experience a smaller gap in pay when compared to the same groups in nonunion jobs, according to data from the EPI. The National Women’s Law Center notes similar findings, adding that Hispanic women also see pay and health care benefits better than their nonunion peers.
VOX February 27, 2018 -
Research from the Economic Policy Institute (link is external)(EPI) echoes the perspective of “Public Sector Union Alliance.” To figure out who these wealthy individuals are EPI reviewed over 1,000 financial transactions. EPI’s research indicates that, “The fair share cases are being financed by a small group of foundations with ties to the largest and most powerful corporate lobbies. These organizations and the policymakers they support have succeeded in advancing a policy agenda that weakens the bargaining power of workers. In Janus, these interests have focused their attack on public-sector workers—the workforce with the highest union density.” EPI created this chart based on the financial transactions they scoured. (table included)
Workday Minnesota February 27, 2018 -
Labor unions and their supporters have also argued that the state workers are being used in a corporate scheme to undermine worker rights. The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a progressive research nonprofit, tackled the issue Feb. 21 in a paper that allegedly found the case is a coordinated effort financed by wealthy donors.
Inside Sources February 27, 2018 -
For example, a 2011 study by the Economic Policy Institute, which is partially funded by unions, found that right-to-work laws depress overall wages by 3.2% on average, and reduce employer-sponsored healthcare coverage by 2.6%. A 2017 study by University of Illinois professor Robert Bruno found that the passage of right-to-work laws in Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin lowered real hourly wages by 2.6% on average.
CNN Money February 27, 2018 -
The labor-oriented Economic Policy Institute and Mary Bottari of In These Times have documented that the anti-Abood coalition includes right-wing groups such as the American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, and the State Policy Network. They and other sponsors of these legal cases and related legislative initiatives are affiliated with the Koch brothers, the Sarah Scaife Foundation, the Mercer Family Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation.
Los Angeles Times February 26, 2018