Labor & Economic News Blog

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Fast food: Would a higher minimum wage mean pricier burgers?

Fast food: Would a higher minimum wage mean pricier burgers?
Sylvia Allegretto, a labor economist and co-chair of the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics at UC Berkeley, said it's unclear whether a ...

 

Fast Food Worker Strike

 

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Civil and economic rights

Civil and economic rights
Civil and economic rights
 The 1963 march and the 2013 fast-food movement. The link between civil and economic rights.

 

Monday, August 26, 2013

Demand for a Decent Wage Remains Unmet

Demand for a Decent Wage Remains Unmet 
Immediately after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Bayard Rustin, deputy director of the march, read off the marchers’ demands,
"We demand that there be an increase in the national minimum wage so that men may live in dignity." At the time of the march, the federal minimum wage was $1.15 and the demand called for an increase to $2.00. Had this increase been instituted, today it would be worth $13.39.

 

Friday, August 23, 2013

Annual Survey of Public Pensions: State- and Locally-Administered Defined Benefit Data

Annual Survey of Public Pensions: State- and Locally-Administered Defined Benefit Data Summary Report: 2011
This report provides statistics on revenues, expenditures, financial assets and membership information for public employ

 

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The Jockey: story of Russell Baze who rides out of Golden Gate Fields in Albany.

The Jockey
Article and narration by BARRY BEARAK
Images by CHANG W. LEE
Russell Baze is the winningest jockey in American history. Yet his name is familiar only to avid fans.

 

Tech wealth drives wedge between San Franciscans

Tech wealth drives wedge between San Franciscans
The city is increasingly divided between young, wealthy tech workers and those who say they are being pushed out of a city they can no longer afford.

 

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Here is a tip–tips aren’t always tips

Here is a tip–tips aren’t always tips

Sylvia Allegretto
Sylvia Allegretto, labor economist, Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics | 8/13/13
Workers from Wal-Mart to Macy’s to McDonald’s have taken to the streets across the country to demand better wages and working conditions. The actions have brought to light the plight of low-wage workers and how difficult it is to makes ends meet on such low pay

 

Wednesday, August 07, 2013

4 Reasons Why Millions Of Americans Are Leaving The Workforce

4 Reasons Why Millions Of Americans Are Leaving The Workforce 
  Labor Force  
The share of adults who are working or looking for a job is lower than it's been in decades. Here's why.

 

Jobless Rate Falls For Blacks, But It's Not Good News Yet

Jobless Rate Falls For Blacks, But It's Not Good News Yet 
  Employment Specialist Louis Holliday, right, helps an applicant file for unemployment at a Georgia Department of Labor career center last month in Atlanta. The jobless rate for African-Americans fell from 13.7 to 12.6 percent in July, but that's still twice the rate for whites.  The labor market continues its recovery, and after a string of bad news, things would seem to be to turning around for African-American workers, too. They're finding more jobs, but at the lower end of the pay scale.

 

For Ethiopian Women, Construction Jobs Offer A Better Life

For Ethiopian Women, Construction Jobs Offer A Better Life
Earlier this summer in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, I heard a complaint from many professionals that they could no longer find cheap house cleaners and nannies. The apparently endless supply of girls and young women from the countryside who would work for peanuts just for a chance to move to the capital was drying up. It turns out more and more of them are finding work on one of the city's many construction sites.

 

AC Transit Buses Running as Strike Avoided

AC Transit Buses Running as Strike Avoided
Drivers, dispatchers and other workers for a San Francisco Bay Area bus system reached a tentative agreement with their employer late Tuesday, avoiding a strike that threatened to affect hundreds of thousands of commuters. 

 

Should Transit Unions Be Allowed to Strike?

Should Transit Unions Be Allowed to Strike?
The head of the California state Senate's transportation committee, Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), said this week that he is considering introducing legislation that would permanently take away BART workers' right to strike. Public transit strikes are already illegal in many major cities, including New York, Washington, D.C. and San Francisco. But there is no state law banning such walkouts in California. Should the state legislature act to prohibit strikes in transit disputes? Or would such a law be unfair to workers?

 

Friday, August 02, 2013

BART Talks to Resume As Strike Deadline Nears

BART Talks to Resume As Strike Deadline Nears
BART's two biggest unions have served notice they could go on strike Sunday night, shutting down the rapid transit system for the second time in five weeks. Contract negotiations are resuming today, but there is little evidence that either the transit agency's management or the unions are ready to compromise on the key issues: pay, pension and benefits.

 

The 'Boomerang Generation': More Adults Living at Home with Mom and Dad

The 'Boomerang Generation': More Adults Living at Home with Mom and Dad
A new Pew Research study found that 36 percent of the nation's Millennial generation, adults aged 18 to 31, were living in their parents' home. Known as the "boomerang generation," and no longer considered slackers or failures, this generation is waiting for their lives to start in today's dismal economy, and in the meantime, eating their parents' food and sleeping in their childhood beds. We discuss the Pew study and the new boomerang generation.

 

Thursday, August 01, 2013

Teens Lose Out on Important Summer Jobs as Older Workers Fill Their Spots

Teens Lose Out on Important Summer Jobs as Older Workers Fill Their Spots 
The geography of the job market has changed in the past decade. Jobs typically held by teens are now being filled by older workers. In Boston, some organizations are trying to mobilize America's unemployed youth and bring them into the professional labor market. Economics correspondent Paul Solman reports.

 

Unraveling Widespread Child Labor Abuses in India

Unraveling Widespread Child Labor Abuses in India
There are laws against child labor in India, yet millions of underage children are still trafficked or forced by poverty to toil away in factories. Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro profiles an entrepreneur who developed a labeling system for rugs made without child labor and helps get underage workers back in school.

 

How to Guarantee a Job for Every American

How to Guarantee a Job for Every American
Black male teen drop-outs experience a joblessness rate of 95 percent. But they're not the only ones struggling with insurmountable unemployment. What if there were a way to employ these people and simultaneously improve American infrastructure and slash the anti-poverty budget?

 

In Preparation for Obamacare, Businesses Look at Their Bottom Lines

In Preparation for Obamacare, Businesses Look at Their Bottom Lines
Obamacare leaves some California business owners with a tough decision: whether to offer their employees health insurance, or pay a federal penalty. That's led some employers to slow hiring or make plans to lay off staff. In a surprise announcement earlier this month, the Obama administration said it would delay the penalty for a year. But having extra time doesn't stop some business owners from worrying that health reform will affect their bottom line.

 

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