According to the Economic Policy Institute; if every worker had the chance to vote in a union election today, union membership would rise by 60 million. That would push union density from 9.9% to nearly 46% of the U.S. workforce
Forbes
September 2, 2025
“There is a huge disconnect between Trump’s pro-worker rhetoric and the policies he’s putting in place. The gulf is enormous,” said Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive thinktank. “In his second term, he’s been absolutely, brazenly anti-worker.”
“I keep thinking about his taking away the Biden-era increase in the minimum wage for federal contractors. It’s unbelievably brazen,” Shierholz continued. (Trump ended the requirement that federal contractors pay their workers at least $17.75 an hour.) “The minimum wage is incredibly popular. He just took away the minimum wage from hundreds of thousands of workers. That blew my mind.” As a result, many full-time workers will see their pay drop by more than $9,200 a year.
The Guardian
September 2, 2025
Heidi Shierholz, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, said that the president’s move to fire Cook “radically undermines what Trump says his own goal is: lowering U.S. interest rates to spur faster economic growth.”
She then gave a detailed explanation for why Trump imposing his will on the Federal Reserve would likely bring economic pain.
“Presidential capture of the Fed would signal to decision-makers throughout the economy that interest rates will no longer be set on the basis of sound data or economic conditions—but instead on the whims of the president,” she argued. “Confidence that the Fed will respond wisely to future periods of macroeconomic stress—either excess inflation or unemployment—will evaporate.”
Common Dreams
September 2, 2025
Families spend between $24,000 and $147,000 in total for the first five years of daycare, with a median cost of $44,000, according to an August analysis from The Wall Street Journal. The Economic Policy Institute published research in March showing that infant care in New Mexico costs 86% more than in-state tuition at a public university.
WORLD Magazine
September 2, 2025
As Economic Policy Institute reported, Trump “rescinded an executive order that raised the minimum wage for federal contractors,” effectively slashing these workers’ wages by 25% to 60%. This means that millions of federally contracted workers, some of whom make poverty wages, no longer get minimum wage protections because of Trump.
AlterNet
September 2, 2025
The administration stated that criminals exploited the rule to send drugs and counterfeit products, but there are practical concerns regarding the implementation of these inspections.
“It requires a lot of manpower to be able to inspect these packages, about 1 billion packages a year that we’re entering under the de minimis rule. It’s not clear that we actually have the people to do that,” said Adam Hersh from the Economic Policy Institute.
Hearst TV
September 2, 2025
Resources
Economic Policy Institute: National survey of gig workers paints a picture of poor working conditions, low pay
The Republic Podcast
September 2, 2025
Economists insist that a better way to actually help tipped workers would be to raise their wages independent of tips. “Raising the wage is in contrast to No Tax on Tips, which is effectively a taxpayer-provided subsidy to employers disguised as a benefit to workers,” said Nina Mast, economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute. “Raising the wage provides the greatest benefit to those who need it the most without letting employers off the hook.”
Jacobin
September 2, 2025
According to the Economic Policy Institute’s 100 days, 100 ways report, the administration has taken steps to make most US workers and their families substantially poorer in coming years.
KALW San Francisco
September 2, 2025
According to the Economic Policy Institute, immigrant workers’ share of America’s output was 18.0% in 2023, about $1.9 trillion in 2024 dollars. But now, many immigrant workers face a constant risk of deportation. And many have already been deported. I think of my immigrant grandparents every time I hear ICE has been trawling nearby.
Time Magazine
September 2, 2025