Strikes and union bargaining power have been on the rise. The more-than 450,000 workers involved in stoppages last year were a 280% increase from 2022, according to the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based nonprofit that analyzes economic trends.
Bloomberg
March 1, 2024
“We have seen roll-back bills in states across the country, and 2024 is no exception to that,” said Nina Mas, state economic analyst for the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank and research organization, in an interview Tuesday. “There are bills to roll back child labor protections in 11 states alone, and five states have active bills to eliminate work permits or similar forms, so Alabama is really just one of those states.”
According to a report from EPI published in February, 28 states have introduced bills to weaken child labor laws since 2021. Most of them, according to the accompanying graphic in the report, are located throughout the Midwest and along the south.
Alabama Reflector
March 1, 2024
West Virginia’s 7 percent Black unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2023 far exceeded the state’s 4.2 percent clip across all racial groups, according to an analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data by the Economic Policy Institute, a nonprofit think tank.
That means Black West Virginians are more likely to be adversely affected by moves state lawmakers are making toward slashing state unemployment benefits.
Governing
March 1, 2024
The Economic Policy Institute found that states where abortion bans take hold have historically had “intentionally constructed” economic policies with weak labor laws in underfunded areas with dysfunctional public services.
Scripps TV
March 1, 2024
“Preemption overall in any state is harmful, but I think that Tennessee and Memphis, it’s been so blatant,” said Jasmine Payne-Patterson, senior state policy strategist at the Economic Policy Institute. “It’s so different than other states, between kicking people out or just having so many levels of preemption. … Tennessee is one of the states that preempts the most on our measures.”
MLK50
March 1, 2024
A study from the Economic Policy Institute, found the merger between Kroger and Albertsons would cause 746,000 grocery store workers across over 50 metropolitan areas to lose a staggering $334 million in wages annually.
Longmont Leader
March 1, 2024
The Washington-based nonprofit Economic Policy Institute recently compared the two states’ economies since the 2010 election of Republican Scott Walker in Wisconsin and Democrat Mark Dayton in Minnesota, two politicians with vastly different policy agendas. Walker and the Wisconsin GOP-led Legislature have pursued a highly conservative agenda centered on cutting taxes, shrinking government and weakening unions.
Capital Times
March 1, 2024
Around “50 percent of the labor market’s extraordinary recent growth came from foreign-born workers,” the paper said, citing an Economic Policy Institute analysis of federal data.” Moreover, far from stealing jobs from Americans as immigration foes have often claimed, the analysis said immigrant workers took on openings that employers had been struggling to fill otherwise.
Inc.
March 1, 2024
Schools across the country are facing bus driver shortages. A fall report from the Economic Policy Institute found that about 192,400 bus drivers were working in K–12 schools in September 2023, down 15.1% from five years before.
Kentucky Lantern
March 1, 2024
Dubose’s bill follows the trend of state’s loosening child labor protections in an attempt to combat the ongoing labor shortage. According to the Economic Policy Institute, 28 states have introduced or enacted laws weakening child labor protections since 2021.
Cullman Times
March 1, 2024