In America, the Economic Policy Institute has documented that “erosion of worker bargaining power” has led to lower wages and a “deterioration of labor’s share of income.” Only seven percent of American private sector workers are union members; in contrast, around half of German workers are covered by collective bargaining agreements.
Forbes
November 18, 2022
That brings me to the city’s 20,000-unit housing shortage. As landlords chase those higher returns, “the Airbnb effect” on the local market — as studied by the non-partisan U.S. think tank Economic Policy Institute — creates more costs than benefits.
“The costs to local renters and local jurisdictions likely exceed the benefits to travelers and property owners,” the 2019 report found.
Dallas Morning News
November 18, 2022
In this year’s midterm elections, voters showed a strong level of support for progressive ballot measures across the country. These victories were tempered by the defeat of worthwhile ballot measures in some states and the uncertainty of progress under a divided Congress. Nonetheless, voters across the country approved minimum wage increases, protected access to abortion, supported cannabis legalization, and approved measures to increase housing affordability and promote good union jobs.
Though much work remains to be done to enact a progressive economic agenda, this midterm election showed clear signs of support for a policy agenda that prioritizes economic, racial, and gender justice for working families.
Common Dreams
November 18, 2022
Features Elise discussing women in the work force.
WBUR On Point
November 18, 2022
The Wall Street Journal hosted a panel discussion that featured two advocates who favor expanding the H-1B program and one critic who urges major reforms. The advocates, David Bier, the Cato Institute’s immigration studies associate director, and Theresa Cardinal Brown, the Bipartisan Policy Center’s managing director of immigration and cross-border policy, argued that the H-1B visa cap should be increased and that their labor market presence makes America a more prosperous place.
The critic, Dr. Ron Hira, Howard University, political science associate professor and Economic Policy Institute research associate, countered that the rigged H-1B system is a transfer-of-wealth scam that makes the employers wealthy winners, and the workers, low-wage losers. Dr. Hira added that employers aren’t required to prove that a U.S. worker shortage exists before hiring an H-1B, that H-1B workers’ wages are set too low, and that the compliance system doesn’t hold employers accountable. “Guest-worker programs are supposed to fill domestic labor shortages. The H-1B program does not fill shortages,” Dr. Hira said.
Highland County Press
November 18, 2022
“Employers maybe have to search a little harder when the labor market gets tighter in the expansionary times,” said Elise Gould, a senior economist at the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute, “and then exercise less discretion — perhaps less discrimination — in who they’re hiring.”
The Washington Post
November 18, 2022
“The 2022 midterms prove that Democrats can beat Republican extremism by fighting for working people and making our democratic values clear,” Warren (D-Mass.) said at EconCon Presents, a meeting co-hosted by Demos Action, Economic Policy Institute Action, Economic Security Project Action, Groundwork Action, Omidyar Network, and Roosevelt Forward.
Common Dreams
November 18, 2022
Features Elise discussing women in the work force.
WBUR On Point
November 17, 2022
There is evidence that gig workers are more likely than other service-sector workers to experience hunger firsthand. In spring 2020, nearly one in five (19%) gig workers went hungry, compared to 14% of other service-sector workers, according to a national study by the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. Twice the rate of gig workers (30%) as W-2 employees in the service sector (15%) relied on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — the public benefit once known as food stamps — within a month of the survey, according to the study. (W-2 refers to the tax form employees use to report their income.)
MarketWatch
November 10, 2022