Posts tagged cost of living
Second public defender union goes on strike
July 29, 2026 // The union said that during its most recent bargaining session, NDS management offered a one percent COLA and did not include no-cost healthcare over the term of the proposed three-year contract. NDS also has offices based in Texas and Michigan, where union members staged picket lines on Friday. The union was joined on their first day of striking by Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, who previously worked at NDS Harlem as an investigator before winning the Democratic primary for New York's 13th congressional district in June.
Minimum Wage Myths are Flooding the Internet
July 27, 2026 // Salaries are a function of supply and demand, not government planning. Employers hire workers up to the point where the value of their labor justifies the wage, while workers decide whether to supply their labor based on the pay offered. As the Texas example shows, the true minimum wage is whatever the market decides, and in 2026 that’s almost never as low as $7.25. Minimum wages can also hurt the workers that they’re meant to help. California’s minimum wage is among the highest in the nation, and California now has the highest unemployment rate of all 50 states.
Opinion: California’s public sector unions are trying to undo pension reform
July 22, 2026 // In 2012, Democratic then-Gov. Jerry Brown made real progress by championing and signing the Public Employees’ Pension Reform Act (PEPRA). It was a significant reform that adjusted benefits for new hires. By reducing abuses like “pension spiking” (by which some employees juiced payouts), raising the retirement age for many, and requiring the new hires to pay a larger share of their own pension costs, the reform sought to save taxpayers tens of billions of dollars.
Nurses, home care clinicians launch large-scale strike in Boston
July 9, 2026 // Nurses at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Mass General Brigham home care clinicians took to the streets Wednesday morning for a strike set to involve roughly 4,500 workers, according to the Massachusetts Nurses Association. The strike would be the largest nurse and healthcare professional strike in Massachusetts history, according to a Massachusetts Nurses Association press release.
Broadway Cleaners Vote to Authorize Strike: “What This Fight Boils Down to Is Respect”
July 7, 2026 // The strike vote marks the first time the more than 250 cleaners, who are a part of the 32BJ of Service Employees International Union, have voted to authorize a strike in 18 years. Talks with the Broadway League, which represents their employers, the theater owners ATG, Nederlander, Shubert and Circle in the Square, are ongoing, but the Broadway cleaners say the two parties are still far apart on several issues, and the current contract has expired.
Mount Nittany Hospital workers authorize strike if contract talks fail
July 4, 2026 // The union represents approximately 950 employees at the hospital, including registered nurses, certified nursing assistants, emergency department technicians, laboratory staff, maintenance workers, environmental services employees, radiology technologists, pharmacists and dietary aides. According to the union, workers are seeking higher wages, improved staffing and workplace safety measures.
Pennsylvania minimum wage bill stalls in state senate amid push for $15 an hour
July 1, 2026 // Citing the Pennsylvania Independent Fiscal Office, many GOP members say an increase in the minimum wage would result in layoffs, reduced hours, increased costs to customers, and the destruction of small businesses. At this point, House Bill 2189 remains in the Senate but off the table and unlikely to be debated or voted on—at least for now.
Voters reject effort to hike Oklahoma’s minimum wage
June 18, 2026 // Oklahoma's minimum wage has been $7.25 an hour since 2009. It is also the national minimum wage. "The State Chamber applauds Oklahoma voters for rejecting SQ 832," said Chad Warmington, president and CEO of the State Chamber. "Tonight, voters chose to protect Oklahoma's economic momentum and one of our greatest competitive advantages: affordability."
SQ 832 gets final push from socialists before election
June 17, 2026 // State Question 832 would more than double Oklahoma’s minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour by 2029 and then continue increasing it every year based on increases in the cost-of-living in the nation’s largest urban centers, as measured by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). That would effectively tie Oklahoma’s wage mandate to the cost of living in places like New York City or San Francisco, where it far exceeds Oklahoma norms, particularly in rural communities.
Boston Mayor Withdraws From Harvard Law Commencement Amid Grad Student Strike
May 28, 2026 // Boston mayor Michelle Wu withdrew from speaking at a Harvard Law School commencement event Wednesday after learning that striking graduate student workers had plans to picket the event. Wu, who graduated from Harvard Law in 2012, was scheduled to speak at the law school’s Class Day, held the day before commencement. According to a Harvard Law spokesperson, the Harvard Graduate Student Union reached out to Wu to discourage her from participating in the event.