A total of 30 states and the District of Columbia have set their own minimum wage higher than the federal rate. And 67 localities — including Denver; Flagstaff, Arizona; and Los Angeles — have raised their minimum wage above the state minimum, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank.
…
While a tight labor market forces many employers to pay above minimum wage to compete, von Glahn noted many workers still earn at or near the lowest legal rate. The Economic Policy Institute estimates that more than half a million Missouri workers will see raises as the state’s minimum wage increases.
States Newsroom
January 13, 2025
“Technically, the rule for H-1B is that the job requires the training that comes with at least a bachelor’s level education or its equivalent,” said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute. “So if it is a specialized masseuse job that requires that level of education, theoretically it could qualify. The burden would be on the employer to make the case to USCIS.”
Politifact
January 13, 2025
According to research cited by the Washington, D.C.-based Economic Policy Institute, nearly 90% of all employers have used captive-audience meetings — often run by consulting groups — in response to unionization efforts.
“It’s highly typical — part of most any anti-union employer’s playbook,” said Jennifer Sherer, co-author of a detailed study on the practice for the institute. “In some cases, employers are engaging anti-union consultants and really heavily inflicting fear and intimidation, and sometimes crossing the line and illegally disciplining or firing people for union organizing activity.”
The policy center estimates that U.S. employers spend more than $430 million a year on “union avoidance” consultants for such purposes.
Capital & Main
January 13, 2025
However, employers who lean heavily on the program aren’t interested in enhancing their workforce but are exploiting it. The Economic Policy Institute reported that H-1B workers are paid lower than the median wage and are more likely to experience mistreatment.
Afrotech
January 13, 2025
“The labor market doesn’t happen in a vacuum,” said Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. “Right now, things are pretty strong (by measures such as wage growth, high employment-to-population ratio and low unemployment), but I see no reason why those would change unless there are huge policy changes.”
“And it looks like the incoming administration is going to make some changes to policy, which could cause some weakness in the economy,” she added.
CNN Business
January 13, 2025
Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, said Wednesday that “by standing together, SEIU and the AFL-CIO are sending a powerful message to President-elect Trump and his allies who are trying to pit working people against one another: The labor movement will not be fractured or silenced.”
“Unions are a crucial part of a robust and fair economy—and SEIU’s affiliation with the AFL-CIO strengthens the collective power of millions of workers, enabling them to fight more effectively for better wages, benefits, and working conditions,” said Shierholz. “It also amplifies labor’s voice in advocating for progressive economic reforms that benefit all working families.”
Common Dreams
January 13, 2025
Liz Ford, assistant professor of law at Seattle University, who teaches the Workers’ Rights Clinic, said wage theft is a huge issue for workers, with a report from the Economic Policy Institute finding companies likely owed employees more than $3 billion nationwide between 2017 and 2020.
Public News Service
January 13, 2025
According to multiple sources, including the Economic Policy Institute, U.S.-based employers exploit the H-1B visa program to hire foreign workers who earn “significantly less” than their similarly-situated American counterparts.
The Hill
January 13, 2025
Writing in the Economic Policy Institute, Daniel Costa and Ron Hira concluded among the many flaws in the H-1B visa, none is more egregious than allowing employers to legally hire and underpay workers relative to U.S. workers in similar occupations in the same region. For those who advocate for ending illegal immigration but then add that they’re all-in on legal immigration, note that the H-1B visa is a legal vehicle to enter the U.S., take jobs even though Americans’ employment and wages are undercut.
Daily News
January 13, 2025
Jennifer Scherer from the Economic Policy Institute — an independent, nonprofit think tank that seeks to strengthen labor standards — highlighted a national increase in child labor violations. Since 2019, federal investigators have found an 88 percent increase in children being employed in violation of federal labor provisions.
She said state officials, however, have been reluctant to enforce state labor laws.
“So in some ways, the decrease in the penalty amounts is almost a moot question when we’ve got a state agency that, to our knowledge, since January of 2023, has not issued any penalties at all, including in some cases that have very clear violations that involve hazards or assignment of youth work outside of work guidelines,” Scherer said.
The Gazette
January 13, 2025