What Democrats can point out in defense is rising wages relative to inflation. According to the Economic Policy Institute, average wages have beat the rise of inflation for the past year. Senate President Pro Tempore Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) noted that in a recent post.
Washington Examiner
August 20, 2024
Though he has positioned himself as pro-union, Trump is no stranger to complaints about his labor policy and approach to worker rights. In 2020, the Economic Policy Institute released a report listing 50 ways the first Trump administration eroded worker rights and expanded corporate power.
Business Insider
August 20, 2024
The inflation-adjusted wage spike early in the pandemic was somewhat misleading, both because 20 million low-wage service workers left the workforce temporarily and because prices for some things such as gasoline temporarily plummeted, noted Josh Bivens, chief economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.
As the economic recovery has progressed, workers are doing slightly better, Bivens said.
“On the one hand, all else equal, you’d want better wage growth over four and a half years,” Bivens said. “On the other hand, we suffered a horrible economic shock in that period. Relative to other recessions and recoveries, this is superb wage performance, even with the inflation.”
Stateline
August 20, 2024
Zoom out. With this law, Illinois is joining more than a dozen states that are considering or have enacted laws allowing workers to opt out of workplace speech that’s considered to be coercive, according to tracking by the Economic Policy Institute. A similar law in Hawaii went into effect on July 2.
HR Brew
August 20, 2024
Regardless, new immigration laws will have a deep impact on labor availability in agriculture and will need corresponding prioritization of worker programs and securing a consistent and law-abiding workforce for farms. Trump may need to address the growing farmworker wage gap as well, as detailed by the Economic Policy Institute.
GO Banking Rates
August 20, 2024
- The idea of “school choice,” where proponents claimed for years that poor families can “escape failing public schools” has been proven false. Instead, the Economic Policy Institute determined that “vouchers benefit the wealthy at the expense of low-income and rural communities.” Moreover, the EPI study found that “… since vouchers typically do not cover the full cost of private school, low-income families are still unable to afford private school education — even with a voucher — and few rural students have access to private schools.”
Ohio Capital Journal
August 20, 2024
According to the Economic Policy Institute, “RTW laws — and the phrase “right to work” itself — are intended to deceive and confuse. The misleadingly named policy is designed to make it more difficult for workers to form and sustain unions and negotiate collectively for better wages, benefits, and working conditions.”
GO Banking Rates
August 20, 2024
Relying on customers to pay the bulk of tipped workers’ wages exposes workers to tremendous instability of income, as pay can vary dramatically day-to-day and week-to-week. Employers are legally required to ensure that on a weekly basis tips (the “tip credit”) cover the gap between the tipped minimum wage and the regular minimum wage.
If they do not, employers are responsible for making up the difference. In practice, this requirement is exceptionally difficult to enforce. As a result, tipped workers — who are already paid low wages — are particularly vulnerable to wage theft.
From low pay to high poverty rates, to wage theft, sexual harassment, and workplace discrimination, the injustices tipped workers face are not equally shared across demographic groups but are concentrated among workers of color and women.
Inequality.org
August 20, 2024
Mandatory arbitration is now the norm in corporate America, The Post has reported. Because a majority of nonunion jobs in the country require arbitration, 60 million workers can’t sue in court, according to a 2018 report from the left-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute.
The Washington Post
August 20, 2024
It’s an industry that’s seeing less and less action. According to the Economic Policy Institute, there were more than 192,000 bus drivers across the country in 2023. That’s down more than 15% from 2019 and nearly 100,000 from a decade before.
WVLT-TV
August 20, 2024