The strike began on Wednesday, and workers will be out picketing until February 2. It’s the latest group of workers to take to the picket line as thousands across the country fight for better conditions — a moment that the labor movement is hoping to build upon. Despite union approval ratings being at their highest since 1965, union membership has been declining for decades, which the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute attributes to increasingly weakened labor laws that allow employers to host mandatory anti-union meetings and replace striking workers.
Business Insider
January 14, 2022
The strike began on Wednesday, and workers will be out picketing until February 2. It’s the latest group of workers to take to the picket line as thousands across the country fight for better conditions — a moment that the labor movement is hoping to build upon. Despite union approval ratings being at their highest since 1965, union membership has been declining for decades, which the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute attributes to increasingly weakened labor laws that allow employers to host mandatory anti-union meetings and replace striking workers.
Business Insider
January 14, 2022
The strike began on Wednesday, and workers will be out picketing until February 2. It’s the latest group of workers to take to the picket line as thousands across the country fight for better conditions — a moment that the labor movement is hoping to build upon. Despite union approval ratings being at their highest since 1965, union membership has been declining for decades, which the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute attributes to increasingly weakened labor laws that allow employers to host mandatory anti-union meetings and replace striking workers.
Business Insider
January 14, 2022
The strike began on Wednesday, and workers will be out picketing until February 2. It’s the latest group of workers to take to the picket line as thousands across the country fight for better conditions — a moment that the labor movement is hoping to build upon. Despite union approval ratings being at their highest since 1965, union membership has been declining for decades, which the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute attributes to increasingly weakened labor laws that allow employers to host mandatory anti-union meetings and replace striking workers.
Business Insider
January 14, 2022
“Because of the extraordinary circumstances, we are seeing a transfer of power,” Heidi Shierholz, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, said. “We’re in a really abnormal situation.”
VOX
January 13, 2022
“Because of the extraordinary circumstances, we are seeing a transfer of power,” Heidi Shierholz, the president of the Economic Policy Institute, said. “We’re in a really abnormal situation.”
VOX
January 13, 2022
Farmworkers are some of the lowest-paid workers in the U.S, according to a 2021 report from The Economic Policy Institute. On average, farmworkers in 2020 earned about $14.62 per hour, “far less than even some of the lowest-paid workers in the U.S. labor force,” the report found. Farmworkers at that wage rate earned below 60% compared to what workers outside of agriculture made, according to the report.
Fresno Bee
January 13, 2022
Farmworkers are some of the lowest-paid workers in the U.S, according to a 2021 report from The Economic Policy Institute. On average, farmworkers in 2020 earned about $14.62 per hour, “far less than even some of the lowest-paid workers in the U.S. labor force,” the report found. Farmworkers at that wage rate earned below 60% compared to what workers outside of agriculture made, according to the report.
Fresno Bee
January 13, 2022
“The increase in Black unemployment appears to be borne by Black women, who experienced a huge jump in their unemployment rate from 4.9% to 6.2% in December, due in part to lower employment levels as well as an increase in labor force participation,” tweeted Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think-tank in Washington, DC.
Al Jazeera
January 7, 2022
Features Margaret discussing report, Unions are not only good for workers, they’re good for communities and for democracy.
Union City Radio
January 7, 2022
The continued prevalence of COVID-19 will drag the labor market. A similar effect took hold in the fall when the delta variant wiped out most of the employment gains of the first half of 2021, according to Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute.
Restaurant Dive
January 7, 2022
While farm wages have gradually risen over the past 30 years, farmworkers earned an average wage in 2020 of just $14.62 per hour — a rate roughly 60% that of the average wage earned by comparable workers in industries including construction and retail, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Capital and Main
January 7, 2022
The pandemic and strong economy have given Americans a rare measure of … an economist who is president of the Economic Policy Institute. (paywall).
The USA Today
January 7, 2022
While restaurant and hospitality workers are two of the sectors hit the hardest, Americans are not leaving the workforce altogether, according to Chief Economist at the Economic Policy Institute. The institute notes that the labor market is gaining tons of jobs every month.
azfamily.com
January 7, 2022
Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, points out that at the same time, 6.7m people were hired. “People who quit are taking other jobs, not leaving the workforce,” she wrote in a tweet.
The Hustle
January 7, 2022
In an analysis published Thursday, David Cooper, Krista Faries, and Sebastian Martinez Hickey of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) observed that the January 1 wage hikes in 21 states “range from a $0.22 inflation adjustment in Michigan to a $1.50 per hour raise in Virginia, the equivalent of an annual increase ranging from $458 to $3,120 for a full-time, full-year minimum wage worker.”
Common Dreams
January 7, 2022
Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, said: “Things are looking pretty tight given the available supply of labor that we have right now. But there are millions on the sidelines who will come in, once the labor supply-suppressing effects of Covid are in the rearview mirror.”
The Guardian
January 7, 2022
In Georgia, the average cost of infant care is over $8,500 for the year, while child care for a 4-year-old costs about $7,300, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
CBS46
January 7, 2022
Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, says the term “low skill” is “offensive” and often inaccurately conflates low pay with low academic requirement.
CNBC
January 7, 2022
… signals an economy with healthy dynamism,” wrote Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank. (paywall).
The Houston Chronicle
January 7, 2022
.. according to a tally by the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (paywall).
Law360
January 7, 2022
Despite decades of declining membership, labor unions are currently seeing their highest approval ratings in the United States since 1965, according to a recent Gallup poll. Given that issues like pay, benefits, paid sick time, paid family leave, minimum staffing levels, schedule flexibility, mental health, and workplace safety have become increasingly urgent in the midst of the pandemic, women and femmes have emerged as union leaders across industries like never before, playing pivotal roles in some of the 45+ labor strikes since August tracked by Bloomberg Law. This should come as little surprise, as the Economic Policy Institute found that women in unions are paid more than their non-union counterparts, and that collective bargaining has also aided in lessening pay gaps for workers of color. Of course, women and femmes have also historically been leaders of, and active participants in, the country’s labor movement.
Harper's Bazaar
January 7, 2022
Dr. Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington D.C., took a slightly different tone on the Fed’s intentions for 2022. Gould said that she expects inflation to come down in 2022 and that the Fed may be “overthinking inflation” by acting too soon. Her worry is that the central bank may act too soon by raising rates before the economy reaches the Fed’s intended goal of full employment.
International Business Times
January 7, 2022
“No one wants to work!” Are we over that yet? Things are shifting, but there’s still a media mountain to move about the very idea that workers choosing their conditions is something more than a “month” or a “moment”—and might just be a fundamental question of human rights. We spoke with David Cooper, senior economic analyst at the Economic Policy Institute, and deputy director of EARN, the Economic Analysis and Research Network.
FAIR Counterspin
January 7, 2022
The bill passed both chambers of the Legislature unanimously but has drawn some criticism and created headaches for working families who were counting on their children entering kindergarten based on the previous eligibility requirements. For those parents, the change might result in them paying an additional year of private preschool or daycare costs, which for a 4-year-old in Nevada averages $9,050 annually, or $754 per month, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Nevada Current
January 7, 2022
Economic Policy Institute cited research saying that “modest increases in the minimum wage have not led to detectable job losses.”
MassLive.com
January 7, 2022
According to a tracker from the Economic Policy Institute, the 25 states include:
- $11: Arkansas
- $10.34: Alaska
- $10.10: Hawaii
- $9: Nebraska
- $8.75: West Virginia
- $7.25: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming
Newsweek
January 7, 2022
In total, 25 states will see boosts to their minimum hourly pay requirement in 2022, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute and the National Conference of State Legislatures. Four states—Oregon, Florida, Nevada, and Connecticut—will phase in their increases later in the year.
Bloomberg Law
January 7, 2022
23 with a 65.1% rise in six-figure jobs, according to data from the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington-based think tank. The bad news?
Charlotte Business Journal
January 7, 2022