An Economic Policy Institute report released in January showed an uptick in union organizing last year. The report, based on data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the National Labor Relations Board, found that 200,000 more workers in the U.S. were represented by a union in 2022 compared to 2021, for a total of more than 16 million union-represented workers.
The Hill
April 28, 2023
Pay for top executives has skyrocketed by 1460% since 1978 according to a study by the Economic Policy Institute, and more than 80% of their pay is typically stock-related.
“This escalation of CEO compensation and of executive compensation more generally has fueled the growth of top 1% and top 0.1% incomes, leaving fewer of the gains of economic growth for ordinary workers and widening the gap between very high earners and the bottom 90%,” wrote analysts at the institute. “The economy would suffer no harm if CEOs were paid less (or were taxed more).”
CNN Business
April 28, 2023
The average salary is roughly $4,000 more than the Economic Policy Institute considers Indiana’s minimum living wage, representing the amount needed for an adult and a child to lead “a modest yet adequate” lifestyle. The NEA also cited the institute saying Indiana teachers make 79 cents on the dollar compared to similarly educated professionals in the state.
The Center Square
April 28, 2023
In a blog post earlier this week, Josh Bivens and Samantha Sanders of the Economic Policy Institute dismissed as “laughable” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) claim that the Republican proposal “would put the United States on a path to ‘fiscal responsibility’ and lower inflation.
Common Dreams
April 28, 2023
Now some governments have been cashing in on that — while others are still sitting on billions. The left-leaning Economic Policy Institute found that as of October, states and Washington, DC, had spent just 38% of the funds and local governments had spent about 27% of their allocations. States have until 2024 to allocate their funds, then have to spend them by 2026. If they don’t, they’ll lose the money.
Business Insider
April 28, 2023
A 2019 study by the Economic Policy Institute found that roughly half of private-sector businesses make workers sign non-competes. That translates to tens of millions of workers who are contractually prohibited from going to work for a rival company once they leave their current company. Critics say these agreements have been overused–keeping lower wage workers in fields such as fast-food, hairdressing, and house cleaning from earning a living. Critics further argue non-competes keep all wages low.
Connecticut Public Radio
April 28, 2023
As Vox pointed out when the bill passed, AB 5 meant that millions of workers, including Uber drivers, janitors, and hotel housekeepers, would receive “basic labor rights” such as “overtime pay and unemployment benefits.” Misclassification is a big problem for workers and unions alike. In California alone, a 2017 audit of 8,000 businesses found that “nearly half a million employees had been misclassified or otherwise left off payrolls,” Vox added. That severely restricts the rights a worker can expect on the job. “Most federal and state labor and employment protections are granted to employees only, not independent contractors,” explained the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute in 2019.
New York Magazine
April 28, 2023
The Economic Policy Institute reports the average cost of infant care in Utah is $829 per month or $9,945 annually. In some cases, parents have changed their work schedules or even quit to make ends meet.
FOX 13
April 28, 2023
Pichai’s package is 808 times larger than the median Alphabet employee pay in 2022, which was $279,802. (The year prior, without the stock award, the ratio was 21-to-1.) CEOs’ annual compensation packages have dramatically outstripped the growth of employee pay over recent decades, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
SF Gate
April 28, 2023
Research from the Economic Policy Institute found approximately 217,000 minimum wage earners in Ohio are victims of wage theft each year, each missing out on an average of $2,800 in underpaid salaries. Misclassifying workers has an even greater economic impact, research showed, costing the state about $180 million in income taxes.
Governing
April 28, 2023