Still, even in states with higher union membership rates, it’s not uncommon for employers that oppose their workers’ unionization efforts, like SeaWorld, to play hard-ball in response and dig their heels in.
“Currently, it is a common tactic for employers to slow-walk the bargaining process because there are no penalties for doing so, and delay frustrates workers and undermines their union,” the Economic Policy Institute explains.
Orlando Weekly
August 3, 2026
As the researchers note, workers are more split when it comes to their opinion of unions. Even with the uptick in organizing activity, unionized workers account for only a fraction of the overall workforce, with just 11.2% of workers represented by a union. But surveys show that unions have become more and more appealing to American workers; in 2025, more than 50 million people expressed a desire for a union at their company but were unable to get one.
It’s not hard to imagine why: A recent report from the Economic Policy Institute found that tripling union membership could significantly raise wages across the workforce, giving the median worker a 14.5% raise, or the equivalent of more than $7,700 per year. Over the course of a year, workers could stand to gain $1.2 trillion. For decades, worker productivity has far outpaced wage growth—a clear sign that workers don’t benefit from individual bargaining nearly as much as they might assume.
Fast Company
August 3, 2026
In August 2019, there were more than 223,000 US school bus drivers, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning research group; in August 2025, there were only 202,000, a 9.5% decrease.
The Guardian
August 3, 2026
“I worry a great deal that when you have a government and policymakers basically out to destroy huge portions of the public sector, wholesale implementation of AI will provide them a social veneer just to do that rather than using technology in more positive ways to improve the quality and breadth of public services,” said Ben Zipperer, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
There are higher stakes for federal agencies compared with private companies when it comes to AI implementation, Zipperer contended, because improper usage could lead to individuals losing their benefits or shaky legal justifications for government actions. Unlike in the private sector, however, the economist emphasized that there isn’t a market factor in government to push back on poor AI implementation.
“A private sector company could replace all their workers with AI, but then their product quality would probably suffer, and they’ll lose sales. But there’s no profitability check on the public sector,” he said. “So if the public sector uses AI as a way or an excuse to make public servants’ jobs worse or to cut public services, there’s not a non-political check on that, and public services just suffer.”
Government Executive
July 28, 2026
Buying books in prison isn’t easy. Incarcerated people are paid very little, if at all, for their labor. Last year, the Economic Policy Institute reported that when incarcerated workers are paid, they earn between 13 and 52 cents an hour on average. Especially for prisoners who don’t have some form of financial support on the outside, buying a book often means foregoing deodorant, food, shoes, and other items from commissary.
The Progressive Magazine
July 28, 2026
You surely know that CEOs get paid a lot more than average workers. You might not appreciate just how much more, though. Per the Economic Policy Institute, “In 2024, CEOs were paid 281 times as much as a typical worker – in contrast to 1965, when they were paid 21 times as much as a typical worker.” The EPI also notes: “From 1978 (to) 2024, top CEO compensation shot up 1,094%, compared with a 26% increase in a typical worker’s compensation.”
The Motley Fool
July 28, 2026
Meanwhile, the CEOs of Wal-Mart and McDonald’s make $20 million a year. According to the Economic Policy Institute, CEO pay rose roughly 1000% from 1978 to 2024, while worker pay rose about 26%. In 1965, CEOs made 21 times what workers did—now they make 281 times more.
Paul Crenshaw Substack
July 28, 2026
Summer break is when college students can finally exhale after a long school year. But if they just wrapped up their final year in school, they might still be holding their breath. Graduates in the class of 2026 are navigating an unusually weak labor market, where unemployment for young workers, age 22 to 27, has risen at nearly double the rate of the rise in overall unemployment. That’s according to an analysis from the Economic Policy Institute over the last three years. The National Association of Colleges and Employers found that less than half of the class of 2026 graduated with a job.
NPR Weekend Edition
July 28, 2026
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute finds that rebuilding union power would significantly reduce racial wage gaps while strengthening our economy and our democracy. Communities with higher union membership invest more in public education, are more likely to expand access to health care and provide stronger unemployment protections when people lose their jobs.
Black Press USA
July 28, 2026