Labor & Economic News Blog

Monday, November 24, 2014

Behind the scenes at Best Buy’s Black Friday dress rehearsal

Behind the scenes at Best Buy’s Black Friday dress rehearsal


Rob Delissio, general manager of the Best Buy in Alexandria, goes over Black Friday sales strategy with employees.
An inside look at the excruciating detail that goes into keeping shoppers moving and keeping them happy on one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

 

Falling Wages at Factories Squeeze the Middle Class

Falling Wages at Factories Squeeze the Middle Class

Darrell Eberhardt, 49, an assembly line worker in Ohio, has seen his wages drop from $18.50 an hour to $10.50 an hour.
Darrell Eberhardt, 49, an assembly line worker in Ohio, has seen his wages drop from $18.50 an hour to $10.50 an hour.
A new study from the National Employment Law Project shows that real wages for manufacturing workers declined three times as much as for workers as a whole.

 

Getting more realistic on L.A. pension returns

Getting more realistic on L.A. pension returns
In the last year, all three of Los Angeles' public employee pension funds have recalculated their too-rosy estimates of how much they will earn in the years ahead. Those lowered earning forecasts may cost the city in the short term — if it has to deposit more money into the funds now rather than counting on the market to earn the money later. But over the long term, the more conservative assumptions will help ensure that there is enough money to cover the city's pension promises.

 

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Restaurants are feeling the heat in crackdown on wage theft

Restaurants are feeling the heat in crackdown on wage theft
Precise data on the extent of wage theft are hard to come by. But an often-cited 2009 report by the National Employment Law Project estimated that 1 in 4 low-wage workers surveyed in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York were not receiving the minimum wage, and 75% were not getting overtime pay that they were owed.

 

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

As UC regents debate tuition hike, Brown may hold sway

As UC regents debate tuition hike, Brown may hold sway
The UC regents begin deliberations next week on a proposal to raise tuition by as much as 5% over each of the next five years. And although each member ostensibly has an equal vote, one may well have the strongest sway on public opinion and UC finances: Gov. Jerry Brown.

 

Pension crisis looms

Pension crisis looms
Now get ready for the pension cliff. The lame-duck session will determine the fate of so-called multi-employer pensions. With many of these ...

 

California Nurses Say They'll Strike, Without Talking Wages

California Nurses Say They'll Strike, Without Talking Wages
As many as 18,000 nurses in Northern California are preparing for a two-day strike that will...

 

Labor Dispute Criticized For Slowing West Coast Port Traffic

Labor Dispute Criticized For Slowing West Coast Port Traffic
At odds are Pacific dockworkers and shipping companies. For months they've been trying to work out a new labor agreement. And now ...

 

Four states vote in support of minimum wage hikes

Four states vote in support of minimum wage hikes

Voters in four states on Election Day expressed a desire for a higher minimum wage — and simultaneously put more Republicans in office. All but two congressional and gubernatorial races in Alaska, Nebraska, Arkansas and South Dakota were won by .

 

For low-wage federal workers, Obama's minimum wage order was nice

For low-wage federal workers, Obama's minimum wage order was nice — but ...

“The President's recent executive orders to boost the minimum wage and prevent labor law violations on federal contracts start to address the problem,” reads the short report that makes the case for two new executive orders. “But America's workers need ...

 

Inside the Fast-Food Labor Protests

Inside the Fast-Food Labor Protests
Most of the workers here make minimum wage, which is eight dollars an hour in New York City, and receive no benefits. Rosa Rivera, a grandmother of four who has worked at ...

 

Everything but the Wages: One Major Step Short of a Robustly Healthy Labor

Everything but the Wages: One Major Step Short of a Robustly Healthy Labor ...


The employment situation report, released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or BLS, tells the same story we have seen for much of 2014; the recovery has gathered steam, and job growth has accelerated, but not nearly fast enough to produce wage ...

 

Friday, November 07, 2014

The economy’s Achilles heel: Despite faster growth, wages are still going nowhere

The economy’s Achilles heel: Despite faster growth, wages are still going nowhere
The economy’s Achilles heel: Despite faster growth, wages are still going nowhere

Unemployment ticked down to 5.8 percent as the economy added a solid 214,000 jobs, but wages still aren’t picking up.

 

Jobs Data Show Steady Gains Even as Voters Signal Anxiety

Jobs Data Show Steady Gains Even as Voters Signal Anxiety
While the report was upbeat, with a survey finding a big increase in the number of people who found a job last month, wage growth continued to drag.

 

Thursday, November 06, 2014

Even in some red states, voters overwhelmingly approve paid sick days ...

Even in some red states, voters overwhelmingly approve paid sick days ...


Oakland also voted to increase the minimum wage to $12.25 an hour. San Francisco, one of the first cities to pass a paid sick days law, also voted to boost its minimum wage to $15 an hour, putting it at the top of the pay scale in the nation, along with Seattle.

 

Low-wage workers applaud sick-time victory

Low-wage workers applaud sick-time victory


The approval of sick pay measures was part of a wider show of support for low-wage workers in the midterm elections. Voters in four states and three cities passed minimum wage raises for more than 600,000 workers. In two states, voters approved initiatives ...

 

Tuesday, November 04, 2014

S.F. has substitute teacher problem

S.F. has substitute teacher problem

In September alone, there were 550 instances when classrooms couldn't find a replacement.

 

Monday, November 03, 2014

State Pension Gaps Shrink for First Time Since 2007

State Pension Gaps Shrink for First Time Since 2007
U.S. state pension plans are strengthening for the first time in six years as rising contributions and rallying stocks ease a fiscal strain that's ...

 

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