Posts tagged hourly wage

    Orange County legislator pushes to restore independent contractor status for manicurists

    March 13, 2025 // Ta, R-Westminster, has taken up an effort that he says would restore independence to California manicurists by challenging a state law he believes unfairly limits their ability to work on their own terms. AB 5, passed in 2019, aimed to tighten rules for independent contractors across various industries, including beauty. The law aimed to protect workers by ensuring they receive benefits like minimum wage, workers’ compensation and other labor rights — protections they could lose if classified as independent contractors. Its goal was to reduce exploitation and hold employers accountable for their responsibilities.

    UAW and Ford reach tentative deal to end strike

    October 26, 2023 // The Ford deal includes the biggest contract wins the UAW has secured in years, including a 25 percent hike in base wages through April 2028, the union said. The agreement provides cost-of-living adjustments to wages that will help raise the top hourly wage by over 30 percent to more than $40 by the end of the contract, union officials said. The starting hourly wage will grow to more than $28. The deal also shortens the time it takes new workers to reach the top wage, and eliminates wage tiers that left newer workers on a lower pay scale, the UAW said. It also boosts Ford’s contribution to retirement accounts.

    Commentary: It’s Time to Retire the Labor Law

    June 14, 2023 // Under a neutral public policy, an employer would be able to make a contribution to a pension plan or give access to a health plan to an independent contractor just as easily as to an employee. Finally, we need to treat labor contracts the same way we treat all commercial contracts, unless there is some compelling reason not to. We don’t tell people selling their house or a used car that they cannot sell below a minimum price. We don’t tell people selling their home that if doing so takes more than 40 hours a week, the sales price has to be 50 percent higher. People selling their labor services should enjoy just as much freedom of contract as they have in the sale of any other good or service.