Category: Wages
Rathke: warehouse and distribution work, tough times at the choke points
New Orleans In the modern economy, warehouse, distribution, and logistical work has become critical for both big box stores, e-commerce, and transportation systems moving goods between all of these nodes and customers. Some 1.2 million…
Rathke: The predatory fight to keep workers temporary and “independent”
Little Rock Once upon a time we might have been able to look at the Department of Labor to lead the way in drawing the bright lines that establish whether a worker is an employee or…
May Day for workers and the vast army of the unemployed
Pearl River May Day traditionally has been marked around the world with workers marching under the banners of their unions and labor-friendly political parties. In the USA, Labor Day marks the end of the summer,…
Coronavirus put her out of work, then debt collectors Froze her savings account
Kim Boatswain’s tax refund could have helped her get through the coronavirus slowdown. But debt collectors seized it. There are few options for Texans like Boatswain whose money was taken just before the state temporarily banned…
Coronavirus: A simple way to keep workers – and the economy – from getting sick
Jay L. Zagorsky, Boston University The COVID-19 outbreak appears headed for the U.S., and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are urging Americans to prepare now, such as by stocking up on food and prescription…
In Flagstaff minimum wage increased to $13 per hour. If you can get it, and keep it.
Flagstaff The beginning of 2020 was historic for workers in 47 states, cities, and counties, including Arizona and Flagstaff, as minimum wage inched upward. Across Arizona the Minimum wage increased to $12.00 per hour from…
Raising the minimum wage in restaurants could be a win for everyone
Nicole Hallett, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York Critics would have you believe that upping the minimum wage in restaurants will lead to massive layoffs and closures. But since raising the minimum wage…
Over 60 green groups call on House Dems to pass sweeping worker rights-boosting PRO Act
“There is no way to build a greener, more inclusive economy without strong, thriving labor unions.” By Andrea Germanos, staff writer, CommonDreams.org Over 60 environmental groups on Wednesday urged Democratic lawmakers to support the sweeping pro-union…
New report offers blueprint for a ‘Clean Slate’ for workers to fight economic inequality and strengthen labor unions
“Democracy at work should be a right, not a fight.” To effectively combat economic inequality and even the playing field between corporations and the people they employ, a new report argues, the U.S. must entirely overhaul…
Getting poorer while working harder: The ‘cliff effect’
Susan R. Crandall, University of Massachusetts Boston Forty percent of all working-age Americans sometimes struggle to pay their monthly bills. There is no place in the country where a family supported by one minimum-wage worker with…
Fight for $15 is fight for 14 euros in Europe
Amsterdam In the second meeting of what we are now calling the “The Organizing Forum” or TOF, which I choose to pronounce as TOUGH, more than forty organizers from the Netherlands, France, Brussels, the United Kingdom,…
Government policies and inflation are making the poor even poorer
San Juan There was something to celebrate on the first day of a new decade. President Trump for only the second time in his term of office did NOT tweet. What a relief! The other time…
A top-ish down twist on a bottom-up campaign
New Orleans At the Year End – Year Begin meeting of our principal North American organizers with ACORN and Local 100 United Labor Unions at NO-MAC at the Rathke Residence in New Orleans, we continued…
