Media clips

---

• What Is Hispanic Heritage Month, and How Is It Celebrated?

  Others also question the authenticity of some companies and organizations who “celebrate” this month for optics, but don’t focus on the issues facing the community—like the fact that Latina women make less than anyone else at 55¢ to the dollar a White man makes, or that Hispanic men made 14.9 percent less in hourly wages than comparable White men, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  Reader's Digest September 14, 2023
• The Enemies of America’s Children

  Record inflation was a major reason but perhaps not the largest. When Congress allowed the expanded Child Tax Credit to expire, that was “particularly damaging to child poverty,” according to the Economic Policy Institute.

  New York Magazine September 14, 2023
• Child poverty in the U.S. more than doubled as pandemic help expired

  Economists from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute released a statement that pointed out the effects of U.S. policy choices: “If policymakers were willing to maintain the pandemic-era CTC expansions, a much smaller share of children would be living in poverty.”

  MarketWatch September 14, 2023
• Black Texas High School Student Suspended For Locs Despite New Law Banning Hair Discrimination

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, 24 states have passed versions of the CROWN Act. California was the first state to enact the legislation in 2019. Legislation for a national CROWN Act has not been successful. 

  Essence September 14, 2023
• 5 million kids fell into poverty last year after Congress cut off Biden’s monthly checks to parents

  “The sharp reductions in child poverty in 2020 and 2021 that were engineered even in the face of a pandemic-damaged economy show the importance of policy decisions,” a statement from Economic Policy Institute’s Elise Gould and Ismael Cid-Martinez said. “If policymakers were willing to maintain the pandemic-era CTC expansions, a much smaller share of children would be living in poverty.”

  Business Insider September 14, 2023
• DOL Issues Proposed Rule to Bolster Farm Worker Protections

  Foreign guest workers who use the H-2A and H-2B temporary visa programs need better labor protections, according to experts who testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections on July 20, 2022.

  Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., said that the U.S. government is failing to meet basic labor standards and provide basic rights to workers in the growing H-2A and H-2B visa programs.

  SHRM September 14, 2023
• Northern Wisconsin sawmill fined nearly $200K following death of a teen this summer

  The investigation into Florence Hardwoods came during a push over the last two years to loosen regulations governing what jobs minors can perform in the workplace. Lawmakers in 14 states — including Wisconsin — have proposed rolling back child labor laws, according to the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute. 

  Wisconsin Public Radio September 8, 2023
• Report: CT Economic, Job Growth Lags Behind U.S.

  The Economic Policy Institute reported the average annual cost for infant care in Connecticut tops $15,000. Child care for a four-year-old is almost $13,000 per year.

  Public News Service September 8, 2023
• Workers at one Colorado opera company push to unionize as another is accused of union busting

  But according to a data analysis from the Economic Policy Institute, 2022 saw an increase in workers represented by unions and, between October 2021 and September 2022, the NLRB had a 53% increase in petitions for union elections. Additionally, a study from Cornell University reported that strikes were up by 52% last year, and a Gallup poll showed that Americans’ approval of unions is the highest it’s been in 1965.

  Colorado Sun September 8, 2023
• Bonuses are a little bit bogus

  However, as discussed, those bonuses didn’t amount to much, nor were they a lasting change. That’s the rub with a bonus.

  “It’s not as good as a permanent raise, that’s the core, and I think workers know that, they’re not fooled,” said Heidi Shierholz, former chief economist at the Department of Labor and the president of the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank. “It makes a massive difference in your expected earnings over a longer period than just the current year.”

  VOX September 8, 2023
• These 19 Executives Pay Themselves Over $150 Million a Year

  A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute revealed that CEOs of the top 350 publicly traded companies earned in 2021 an average of $27.8 million in realized annual income, a figure which includes stock options. This staggering figure is nearly 400 times higher than the earnings of a typical worker, marking a significant increase from the 366-to-1 ratio observed in 2020 and a massive jump from the 59-to-1 ratio seen in 1989.

  24/7 Wall St. September 8, 2023
• No US State Meets Child Rights Standards

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, at least 14 states introduced legislation in the last two years to roll back child labor protections. While an essential national conversation unfolds about the realities of exploitative and hazardous child labor in a variety of industries in the US, hazardous child labor in the agriculture industry remains legal in all 50 states.

  Human Rights Watch September 8, 2023
• As dollar stores spread across the nation, crime and safety concerns follow

  About 84% of Dollar General workers earn $14 or less per hour, according to an analysis from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Workers and labor advocates have been pushing for better pay and security, with one Family Dollar employee, Neil Orgeron, noting that he’s started carrying a pocket knife because of his safety concerns. 

  CBS Moneywatch September 8, 2023
• As Auto Workers Contract Talks Heat Up, Stellantis Threatens to Move South

  This led to concessions, while failing to prevent offshoring to Mexico. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) eliminated 700,000 U.S. jobs, according to a 2013 estimate by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

  American Prospect September 8, 2023
• Chipping Away at the Right to Strike

  Though the United States has tragically seen a large-scale decline in labor power since the 1980s, workers today are more militant and mobilized than they have been in some time. According to the Economic Policy Institute, U.S. strike activity increased by nearly 50 percent last year—even as the percentage of workers represented by a union dropped one-third of a percentage point. 

  Dissent Magazine September 8, 2023
• Northern Wisconsin sawmill fined nearly $200K following death of a teen this summer

  The investigation into Florence Hardwoods came during a push over the last two years to loosen regulations governing what jobs minors can perform in the workplace. Lawmakers in 14 states — including Wisconsin — have proposed rolling back child labor laws, according to the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute. 

  Wisconsin Public Radio September 8, 2023
• Alaska unions urge Biden administration to block Albertsons-Kroger merger

  Cites EPI study on merger. [Paywall]. 

  Anchorage Daily News September 8, 2023
• Report: CT Economic, Job Growth Lags Behind U.S.

  The Economic Policy Institute reported the average annual cost for infant care in Connecticut tops $15,000. Child care for a four-year-old is almost $13,000 per year.

  Public News Service September 8, 2023
• Unions seek gains in hostile territory: ‘If you change the South, you change America’

  The challenges in organizing retail workers are compounded in the South by the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow laws, said Jennifer Sherer, a senior state policy coordinator at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. Southern industry interests’ successful push to exclude agricultural and domestic workers from federal labor relations law had an outsized impact on Black people in the South, Sherer said.

  That meant those workers were excluded from minimum wage and overtime protections. While domestic workers now must be paid at least minimum wage, live-in home workers still don’t have overtime protections.

  Politico September 8, 2023
• Workers Rights Won by Unions, From the 8-Hour Workday to Overtime Pay

  Join a union, though, and your chances of getting paid vacation increase profoundly. A 2009 book from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found that, after 25 years, unionized employees get nearly 27% more vacation weeks than their non-unionized counterparts.

  Teen Vogue September 8, 2023
• ‘I only pay $30 a month in groceries’: McDonald’s worker responds to viewers clowning on her job

  According to the Economic Policy Institute, the federal minimum wage currently stands at the lowest it has been since 1956. A worker earning $7.25 today essentially earns $5000 less than a person working the same job in 2009.

  The Daily Dot September 8, 2023
• Domestic Worker Bills of Rights Have Passed Across the Country. What Has Changed?

  According to a 2022 report from the Economic Policy Institute, a third of all domestic workers were born outside the United States and many are undocumented.

  The Nation September 8, 2023
• In Our View: Grocery chain merger wouldn’t help consumers

  “We believe that this merger may have significant adverse effects on the financial well-being of the people of our states,” the treasurers wrote. They noted that a study by the Economic Policy Institute suggests the merger could result in a loss of $334 million in wages for 746,000 grocery store workers in more than 50 metropolitan areas.

  The Columbian September 8, 2023
• How to End Wage Theft—and Advance Immigrant Justice

  Nine years ago, the Economic Policy Institute reported that over $50 billion a year is stolen from workers nationally—that’s more than the cost of all robberies, burglaries, and motor vehicle thefts combined. This theft occurs daily and disproportionately affects immigrant workers.

  Nonprofit Quarterly September 8, 2023
• L&I: Reports of child labor law violations surge in Pa.

  Research by the Economic Policy Institute found legislation, pending or enacted, in at least 10 states proposing to relax child labor standards over the past two years.

  The Tribune-Democrat September 8, 2023
• Can Joe Biden Ride “Boring” to Reelection?

  “I’ve never seen this big of a disconnect between how the economy is actually doing and key polling results about what people think is going on,” Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, told The New York Times. The question is not only why does Biden not get more credit for this economic recovery, but also why does the media seem so deeply disinterested in the impact of Biden’s presidency? I think these two phenomena are linked. Bidenworld’s biggest problem is likely also its superpower: its boringness.

  Vanity Fair September 8, 2023
• At last, a Labor Day when workers can celebrate their power

  All this adds up to a large cultural shift, said Heidi Shierholz, president of the pro-labor Economic Policy Institute. The fact that unions are in the news again means it’s more likely that those who feel they are being treated unfairly “see a possible path to help remedy what’s going on in their own job.” This contrasts with recent decades when “unions were not being talked about at all.”

  On this Labor Day, from the president on down, that’s no longer a problem.

  The Washington Post September 8, 2023
• Jobs Friday: More jobs and more unemployment

  WOODS: Even economists who work for organizations championing lower-income workers have been happier with this kind of moderate wage growth, economists like Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute.

  HEIDI SHIERHOLZ: I am definitely cheering it on. It is so odd. Like, I have devoted my career to caring about the living standards of low- and middle-income workers, and yet, I’m very happy to see nominal wage growth come down over this recent period. So it is – that takes, like, a ton of explanation.

  WOODS: Right. Yeah, that sounds like a paradox.

  SHIERHOLZ: It sounds like a paradox. And on the surface of it, it sounds like a paradox. When you look in further, it’s absolutely not.

  WOODS: Heidi says, first, let’s clean up our camera lens. We can see that workers are actually getting a better deal now. And that’s because last year, while wages were growing, inflation was growing even more. So the average worker was falling further behind. And in contrast, today, the situation is brighter for workers.

  SHIERHOLZ: Their living standards are growing much faster because inflation isn’t eating away at their wages like it was before. So now we’re seeing workers seeing real wage growth.

  NPR Planet Money September 8, 2023
• Minimum wage map: As the Fight for $15 keeps evolving, these states still pay $7.25 an hour

  “I’ve been extremely impressed with the Fight for 15 movement,” says Ben Zipperer, a senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute. “Not many people correctly predicted that that would be a successful political movement—in terms of awareness of low pay, and actual policy changes,” he says.

  Fast Company September 8, 2023
• Labor Day Study Reveals Ongoing Economic Challenges for Black Workers in America

  Furthermore, the Black unemployment rate, at 5.8% in August 2023, nearly doubles the national rate of 3.8%. These disparities are reminiscent of a recession, as highlighted by the Economic Policy Institute’s research spanning 1963 to 2012.

  Michigan Chronicle September 8, 2023