Contracts ratified last year called for first-year wage raises averaging 5.7%, the review of 817 deals showed. That marks a significant jump over the 3.7% average first-year increase in agreements ratified in 2021, and the highest average rate in more than 30 years.
Features quote from Celine (paywall).
Bloomberg Law
March 24, 2023
Research from the Economic Policy Institute found that wages in right-to-work states were 3.1% lower than others after accounting for cost of living differences.
Axios
March 17, 2023
Economic Policy Institute: Two years later, American Rescue Plan funds are still a transformative resource: State and local governments—particularly in the South—should invest unspent funds in workers, families, and communities
“During ARPA’s second year, many governments used SLFRF dollars to tackle deep inequities in their communities, not just to deal with the immediate challenges of the pandemic but to make transformative investments whose benefits will last long into the future.
“The opportunity to make transformative investments remains, and policymakers should seize the moment to rebuild the public sector and improve the lives of working families.”
U.S. Department of the Treasury
March 17, 2023
It is highly unusual for a state to repeal such a law once it’s in effect. In fact, the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, says Michigan would be the first state to do so in 60 years if Whitmer signs the legislation. (In 2018, Missouri voters passed a referendum blocking a right-to-work law that had recently been passed by GOP lawmakers.)
Huffpost
March 17, 2023
Testifying supporters included the Michigan AFL-CIO, the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a University of Arkansas professor, a union steward for UFCW and numerous other union representatives.
The Michigan Chamber of Commerce testified in opposition to the bills.
Michigan Advance
March 17, 2023
Jennifer Sherer, senior state policy coordinator at the research group Economic Policy Institute, told the Labor Committee that Right-to-Work is an “attack” on workers rights that “especially benefited the rich.”
“An overwhelming body of research shows that states with anti-union laws restricting workers’ collective bargaining rights end up with lower wages, worse benefits, and higher workplace fatality rates,” she said in a later statement.
Bridge Michigan
March 17, 2023
“While the private sector experienced a strong bounce-back” from the crash “due to large policy interventions, the public sector—particularly state and local government jobs—continues to fall behind,” Economic Policy Institute Senior Analyst Elise Gould tweeted. “Private-sector employment is 2.6% above pre-pandemic levels while state and local is down 2%.”
People’s World
March 17, 2023
Although more jobs were unionized, the share of workers represented by a union declined from 11.6 percent to 11.3 percent because nonunion jobs were added at a faster rate, according to the Economic Policy Institute (EPI).
Labor Tribune
March 17, 2023
The reasons Black Americans have higher jobless rates than whites fall into several categories. The Economic Policy Institute reports that among the primary reasons are racism and single-adult households where one person tries to care for children and hold a full-time job simultaneously.
24/7 Wall Street
March 17, 2023