In early June, President Trump strolled up to a podium and announced his intention to expand the Labor Department’s apprenticeship program. Trump pontificated about the important role apprenticeships play in matching working people with job training opportunities. Giving credit where credit is due, Trump was right. However, Trump’s words do… Read More»
We typically can find a great deal or make smart choices when shopping for everyday goods and services. Sometimes we look to experts, like doctors, lawyers, and investment professionals, to aid us in making informed decisions about our health, our money, and our futures. Unfortunately, many actors in the financial… Read More»
Yesterday, Donald Trump’s second choice for Labor Secretary, R. Alexander Acosta, finally took his seat in the Senate HELP Committee hearing room for his confirmation hearing. After nearly three hours, in which Acosta often failed to articulate his position on numerous topics, Jobs With Justice remains concerned about where Acosta… Read More»
Updated March 2016 Existing labor and employment laws dictate fundamental baseline employment standards, but often fail to ensure that working people can secure a decent standard of living. Today, less than 13 percent of the U.S. workforce has the power to improve their wages and working conditions through collective bargaining.… Read More»
“How do we get women and people of color in the construction industry?” Tradespeople, community activists, government staff, union leaders and contractors shared their best answers to that question at a forum hosted by the Women’s Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor this past December. The group represented some… Read More»
After much anticipation and speculation, the Labor Department released an update today to the rules that govern who is protected by the overtime pay provisions in the Fair Labor Standards Act. This long overdue change will significantly increase the number of people who are able to earn a fair return… Read More»
Last Labor Day, the movement to ensure that everyone has the ability to take paid sick leave scored a major victory when President Obama signed an executive order to provide employees of federal contractors with paid time for personal or family health needs. The executive order itself will have a… Read More»
UPDATE (11/21/16): Unfortunately, on November 16, 2016, Texas federal Judge Samuel Cummings threw out Obama administration rules giving teeth to the legal requirement that companies must report whenever they hire unionbusting consultants. Judge Cummings order finalized an earlier preliminary ruling that temporarily blocked the rules this summer. His decision accepted the unionbusting… Read More»
The Changing Nature of Work: An Issue Brief on Contingent, Fissured and On-Demand Employment By the Jobs With Justice Education Fund Businesses aren’t just changing the way work is done; they’re increasingly altering the very foundation of work. More women and men are finding themselves in contingent and fissured work… Read More»
Vicente, Pedro and their co-workers at Teriyaki House in Providence, Rhode Island, worked grueling shifts, often spending more than 72 hours per week in the restaurant’s kitchen. They say their boss only permitted them to take a single 15-minute meal break each day. And when payday rolled around, forget overtime,… Read More»