Members of the One Percent, such as former restauranteur Andrew Puzder, have urged Congress to let the $600 a week unemployment supplement Congress enacted as part of the CARES Act expire on schedule on July 31. They argue, in Puzder’s words that “this $600 per week bonus is discouraging work” for low-wage earners. No one receiving unemployment benefits will make themselves rich on… Read More»
House Republicans will lose their majority in a little more than three weeks and have decided to hold a hearing on whether to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. It seems like a strange time for them to turn their attention to the federal minimum wage. After all,… Read More»
Ahead of a natural disaster like Hurricane Florence, politicians and safety officials tell the public to evacuate early and not wait until conditions get bad. We all know that you can lose your home and your belongings, but politicians never talk about the fact that during a disaster, many people… Read More»
Baseball season begins this week and fans across the country will see their favorite players and all-stars play in places like Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, and Wrigley Field. The season commencement will also be cause for celebration for the former farm team players who advanced to the majors for the… Read More»
Update (10/4/18): Working people at Disneyland and Disney World resorts won their campaigns and ratified three new union contracts over the course of the summer and fall! At Disney World resort in Florida, employees will see their minimum pay raise to $15 an hour by 2021, and both resort and… Read More»
Although the restaurant industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. economy, individuals who earn “tipped wages” remain particularly disenfranchised. The National Restaurant Association touts the false notion that “tip-earning employees can be among a restaurant’s highest earners.” In fact, industry wages are extremely low. People working… Read More»
People working for the city of Atlanta received welcome news as the City Council unanimously passed a budget raising their wages. Starting on July 1, 2017, base pay for city employees will rise from $10.10 to $13 an hour. Even better news? By mid-2019, all city employees will earn a… Read More»
Today, Senators Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Reps. Bobby Scott (D. Va.), and Keith Ellison (D. Minn.), along with their colleagues, introduced legislation to boost the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. The “Raise the Wage Act” would gradually increase the minimum wage from current floor of… Read More»
Working people, city officials, and supporters of a higher minimum wage in St. Louis recently won a major victory after the Missouri Supreme Court ruled the city could in fact raise the minimum wage to $10 an hour immediately and $11 an hour in 2018. Big business organizations ultimately lost their… 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»