Posts tagged economy
California’s War on Autonomous Trucking
May 14, 2026 // As structural economic factors push costs for the freight industry and consumers higher, the American public has three options. It can accept higher prices for all transportation services; it can enlarge the labor pool through immigration; or it can embrace new technology that improves transportation productivity and resolves the Baumol dilemma. Becerra, Steyer, and Khanna have followed the path prescribed by FreightWaves’ Fuller, promising to force higher freight costs onto the public. While the Golden State’s coalition politics might require genuflecting to the Teamsters, Californians are bound to notice before long that they’re paying higher prices than people in other states while also lagging behind them technologically.
Modeling the Impact of Sectoral Bargaining for U.S. Workers
March 5, 2026 // New statistical modeling suggests that sectoral bargaining could more than double collective bargaining coverage in the United States and generate big gains in union density.
Unionizing Set to Fall Due to Economic, Political Headwinds
February 3, 2026 // The number of union elections fell to 1,372 last year, down from 1,938 in 2024. That’s the fewest elections since 2021, a review of National Labor Relations Board data found. Union wins also sank by nearly 27% in 2025 compared to 2024, the first downturn since 2020. That drop in election wins led to the number of new workers organized via NLRB elections to fall nearly 40% year-over-over to just 65,542 workers in 2025, according to the data. Organized labor saw a post-pandemic boom after decades of union membership decline. But new economic and political headwinds, including a more management-friendly NLRB and a cooling jobs market, look likely to reverse that trend.
Some Post-Gazette workers call for new union leadership
January 25, 2026 // The division comes roughly three weeks after the paper’s publisher, Block Communications Inc., announced the decision to shutter the paper in May. It followed failed attempts to convince the U.S. Supreme Court to halt a lower court order that required the company to make changes to its health insurance coverage for union workers.
REPORT: The Value of Franchising
January 7, 2026 // The benefits of being a franchise owner are substantial, particularly for those new to entrepreneurship. Franchising lowers traditional barriers to business ownership by providing access to a brand name, training, ongoing support, and peer networks – especially critical for underrepresented groups, such as veterans, women and people of color, who are represented as franchisees at a disproportionately higher rate.
Testimony by Rachel Greszler on the Positive Impact of Seniors in Today’s Economy
December 11, 2025 // Demographic Shifts Mean That Older Americans Are Increasingly Vital Contributors to the American Economy The combination of declining fertility rates, the aging of the baby boomer population, and increased life expectancies means that older Americans are a rapidly growing share of the population. Beginning in 2034, there will be more seniors than children in America for the first time in U.S. history
California’s Fast Food Minimum Wage Hike Cost the State 18,000 Jobs. That Shouldn’t Surprise Anyone.
October 23, 2025 // The trio looked at fast-food employment in California and found a decline of 2.64 percent between September 2023 and September 2024—six months before and after the law went into effect. During that same time period, fast-food employment in the rest of the United States slightly increased. Those different outcomes make it likely that the law caused fast-food businesses to hire fewer people, with a probable effect of lowering such employment 2.3 percent to 3.9 percent. At the middle of the range, that means about 18,000 fewer jobs in California.
Why a big bank and a big tech company are raising wages
September 18, 2025 // Everyone who works at Bank of America will soon make at least $25 an hour, the company announced Wednesday. Amazon is also raising pay for people who work in its fulfillment centers and in transportation to more than $23 an hour, on average, and paying for more of their health care costs. That adds up to around $50,000 a year for full-time employees.
Unions ‘Wait and See’ on Elections as Trump Upends Labor Arena
August 20, 2025 // That political uncertainty, coupled with a volatile economy and labor market, could have workers second-guessing whether they’re ready to stick their necks out for collective action, the data show. College athlete employment, protections for political protests, and higher penalties for labor law violations are just some of the issues that worker advocates may want to steer away from a Republican board. The average number of newly certified unions per month dropped 22.3% between January and July this year, compared to the last six months of the Biden administration, according to data from the NLRB’s monthly election reports.
Alltech Grows Operations in Right to Work Kentucky
August 20, 2025 //