Media clips
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The CEOs of America’s largest firms made an average of $15.6m in compensation last year, or 271 times the annual average pay of the typical worker, according to an analysis released Thursday. The study by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) looked at compensation, including share options and other benefits, for the top bosses of the largest 350 companies in the US in 2016. Lawrence Mishel, EPI president and co-author of the report, said he was surprised to see a small dip in pay this year. The 2016 CEO-to-worker compensation ratio of 271-to-1 is down from 299-to-1 in 2014 and 286-to-1 in 2015. But the report points out it is still “light years beyond the 20-to-1 ratio in 1965 and the 59-to-1 ratio in 1989”. (whole story)
The Guardian July 20, 2017 -
A study by the Economic Policy Institute says the chief executive officers of America’s largest firms were paid an average of $15.6 million each in 2016. In a report published Thursday, authors Lawrence Mischel and Jessica Schieder say that amount is 271 times as much as a “typical” worker’s earnings at those same corporations. That boss-to-worker pay ratio is slightly lower than it has been in the past few years, but is still “light years” higher than the 20-to-1 gap between workers and bosses in 1965, or the 59-to-1 difference that was measured in 1989. (whole story)
Voice of America July 20, 2017 -
“I think generally increasing the number of workers in a program that is this flawed doesn’t make a lot of sense,” says Daniel Costa of the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “I think that [the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Labor] should focus on fixing the program, and making sure there are more worker protections in place.” Some safeguards are in place now. Employers must run job ads in local papers before hiring guest workers, and they have to pay a government-set prevailing wage. But Costa thinks exploitation is still too easy with each worker tethered to the employee that procured their visa.
PRI July 20, 2017 -
Daniel Costa with the Economic Policy Institute said that the visa is ripe for abuse. “So many employers are claiming they have labor shortages,” Costa said, “but nationwide – we don’t see that evidence.” Costa is also concerned that H-2B workers aren’t paid what they should be and are open to exploitation, given that their status in the U.S. is tied to their employer. Costa said he’s not opposed to immigration but wants a level playing field. “It has to be fair to migrant workers,” Costa said, “but also the U.S. workers should have a fair shot at those jobs and not be discriminated against.”
Fox News July 19, 2017 -
Congressional leaders should consider a different tack: an infrastructure spending bill. For political reasons, an infrastructure bill would be an easy A for representatives to take home to their communities. Passing a bill on infrastructure could deliver the kind of win that has been elusive for the 117th Congress so far. And, according to a new report by the Economic Policy Institute, there are key macroeconomic reasons to invest in infrastructure, too. The report outlines two longstanding problems with the U.S. economy. One is a spending shortfall across households, business, and the government, which amounts to a dip in aggregate demand. The other is a slowdown in the growth of productivity. Capital investments in infrastructure could sort out both of these problems, according to Josh Bivens, director of research at the Economic Policy Institute and the report’s author. (EPI cited and Josh quoted throughout. EPI chart used. )
CityLab July 19, 2017 -
But Celine McNicholas, labor counsel at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said the changes, plus proposed deep cuts to the Labor Department’s budget, are alarming. While budget tightening and pro-business policies are to be expected with a Republican White House, the size and targets of the cuts and the number of rules being rolled back are “not business as usual,” she said. “If you consider all that, I would argue that the first six months of the Trump administration have been devastating for workers in this country — unprecedented even,” said McNicholas, who served as special counsel at the NLRB during the Obama administration.
Chicago Tribune July 19, 2017 -
Labor Advocates Lament Lack of Protections in New Foreign-Worker Visas
Public News Service/Suzanne Potter
Daniel Costa, director of Immigration Law and Policy Research at the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank, says the program ought to be reformed to protect workers from abuse, not expanded. “The way the program is set up, it ties workers to one employer,” he says. “So if they leave that job or if they get fired, they basically lose that visa status and become deportable. And so it gives employers a lot of power over workers.” The Trump administration says it simply is trying to accommodate requests from employers who are desperate for laborers. The current limit for H-2B visas is 66,000 – so this will bring that number up to 81,000. In a recent report, Costa found there is no nationwide shortage of workers in those fields. In fact, unemployment has been high and wages have been flat in these types of jobs for more than a decade. (Daniel quoted throughout)
Public News Service July 19, 2017 -
Even with these requirements, some fear that the new visas interrupt a trend in raising wages to attract American workers to seasonal and temporary jobs. And Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute, told Reuters, “Expanding the H-2B program without reforming it to improve protections and increase wages for migrant workers will essentially allow unscrupulous employers to carve out an even larger rights-free zone in the low-wage labor market.”
FindLaw July 19, 2017 -
Trump Administration Adds More Foreign Guest Worker Visas
The Huffington Post/Dave Jamieson
Daniel Costa, an immigration expert at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute, said there is no real evidence of a nationwide labor shortage in the industries that rely on H-2B visas, although employers could be strapped in certain geographic areas. In an analysis of 10 occupations, Acosta said he found that wages had remained stagnant or declined in nine of them ― an indication that employers aren’t raising wages the way they normally would if they had to attract workers. The available data “suggests that raising the H-2B cap is a bad idea,” Costa said in an email. Instead of adding more visas, the White House should focus “on program oversight, on rooting out bad-actor employers who violate H-2B rules, and on protecting the migrant workers who come to the United States in search of better opportunities.”
The Huffington Post July 18, 2017 -
U.S. allows more seasonal workers as Trump pushes ‘hire American’
Reuters/ Doina Chiacu and David Shepardson
A report on Monday by the Economic Policy Institute, a liberal think tank, found, however, there was little evidence of worker shortages in H-2B jobs at the national level.
“Expanding the H-2B program without reforming it to improve protections and increase wages for migrant workers will essentially allow unscrupulous employers to carve out an even larger rights-free zone in the low-wage labor market,” said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the institute.
Reuters July 18, 2017