Media clips

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• Where Affirmative Action Succeeded—and Where It Fell Short

  Quotes Valerie Wilson. [Paywall].

  The Wall Street Journal July 14, 2023
• Starbucks union proposal arises as state’s rate of organized labor hits historic low

  George said more union interest is emerging among workers. A 2023 report by the Economic Policy Institute found an uptick in union-organizing activity nationally in 2022. The report says there is evidence many more workers would like to form a union but face barriers doing so.

  Dakota News Now July 14, 2023
• There is no America without Black Folk

  For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Economic Policy Institute found that 17% of people considered to be frontline workers were black. They were the transit, healthcare, delivery and grocery store workers who kept our country going at great risk for themselves and their families, all while struggling with more pre-existing conditions that made them especially vulnerable to the virus.

  MSNBC July 14, 2023
• Revealed: Healthcare jobs are the best-paid careers in more than 40 states – so what should YOU be doing to earn more than your neighbors?

  The Economic Policy Institute found that 65.1 percent of workers do not have a college degree.

  The Daily Mail July 14, 2023
• H1-B visa program still popular among tech employers even as they cut back

  Large tech companies remain the biggest beneficiaries of the H1-B foreign worker visa program. Here’s why. [Paywall].

  The Business Journals July 14, 2023
• No Summer Vacation? You’re Not Alone

  According to Elise Gould, an economist at the Washington-based non-profit the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), workers on lower incomes generally take fewer vacations.

  “Vacation time in this country is incredibly skewed towards people with higher incomes, so that it is much less likely that somebody who makes lower wages gets it,” she told Newsweek. “About 95 percent of the highest-wage workers actually do get paid vacation days and only 44 percent—less than half—of lower-wage workers get any paid vacation days.”

  Newsweek July 14, 2023
• Black women are finding better jobs than ever. A recession could reverse that.

  In Pennsylvania, Black workers have seen some of the largest gains in employment, with the Black unemployment rate falling by nearly 17 percent since the second quarter of 2020, an Economic Policy Institute analysis found. 

  The Washington Post July 14, 2023
• We’re older than we used to be — especially in these states

  Others work because they can’t afford retirement. According to the Economic Policy Institute, roughly one-third of workers aged 55 to 64 don’t have access to a retirement savings plan. Those who rely solely on Social Security benefits may find they don’t cover all of their living expenses. Major unplanned expenses like medical bills can also keep people in the workforce.

  Stateline July 14, 2023
• What’s keeping rental car prices so high?

  Indeed, a report from the Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, suggests that corporate profits contributed more to overall inflation in 2020 and 2021 than labor or material costs. Higher rental car prices and corporate profits may be part of this trend.

  NerdWallet July 14, 2023
• An Iowa law rolling back child labor protections has come into effect

  It’s not just Iowa. At least fourteen states have sought to weaken regulations against the employment of children over the past two years, the Economic Policy Institute recently noted, even as violations of those laws have been on the rise. The Department of Labor (DOL) identified over 3,800 cases of child labor violations in the 2022 fiscal year after investigating some 835 businesses, the highest level of incidents since 2008. Among the violators were McDonald’s franchisees, slaughterhouse cleaning company Packers Sanitation Services, and a Hyundai and Kia plant in Alabama.

  Quartz July 14, 2023