Posts tagged income inequality
Op-ed: Can Zohran Make NYC a Union Town Again?
September 9, 2025 // The new mayor could host big online unionization trainings with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee, as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez have already done. If this led even a small fraction of Zohran’s 60,000-plus volunteers and over 6 million social media followers to start organizing their own workplaces—or to take a strategic job to unionize it—this could potentially generate thousands of new unionization campaigns. And were Mamdani to act upon our proposal to launch a broad Movement for an Affordable New York (MANY), then the pool of new potential workplace organizers would grow significantly.
Do More Powerful Unions Generate Better Pro-Worker Outcomes?
May 15, 2025 // Unionization is generally associated with higher wages for lower-skilled unionized workers.[37] However, when unionized sectors set higher wages, excess workers shift to nonunionized sectors, increasing the labor supply and lowering wages for lower-skilled nonunion workers.
Connecticut workers rally for unemployment insurance after 2 weeks on strike
April 20, 2025 // He added that those who are opposed to the bill are not against it because of how much it costs. “They are opposed because they don’t want things to be remotely fair,” Stanley said. “They want all the power on one side. All that has led to is growing inequality. We need a change across Connecticut and across this country.”
Sanders introduces bill to raise minimum wage to $17 by 2030, benefits nearly 22 million Americans
April 10, 2025 // Joining Sanders on this legislation are Sens. Angela Alsobrooks (D-Md.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). More than 85 organizations endorsed the Raise the Wage Act of 2025, including Service Employees International Union (SEIU), AFL-CIO, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), Business for a Fair Minimum Wage, Communications Workers of America (CWA), Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Equal Pay Today, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT), National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), National Education Association (NEA), National Employment Law Project (NELP), The National Partnership for Women & Families, National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), One Fair Wage, Oxfam America, Patriotic Millionaires, UNITE HERE, United Autoworkers (UAW), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), United for Respect, and United Steelworkers (USW).
Higher minimum wage levels help many workers, but there are tradeoffs
April 7, 2025 // At the same time, a lot of supporters of the increase at the time were hoping this would be really a dramatic, life-changing thing for a lot of workers that would really help reduce income inequality in Seattle. And we see that income inequality is still a big issue. Wages went up, but so did the cost of living. And it's still pretty hard to make ends meet out here for people, even with that increased paycheck.
EXCLUSIVE: Bill Cassidy To Introduce Bill To Stop Left-Wing Investing From Taking Over Retirement Funds
September 27, 2024 // “Asset managers should prioritize helping Americans achieve the best return for their retirement, not funneling their clients’ money to fund a left-wing political ideology,” Cassidy, who serves as the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, said. “This legislation protects 152 million Americans who depend on a strong retirement to live after their career is over.” Under current Department of Labor rules, administrators of employee retirement plans are allowed to consider ESG factors when choosing between investment opportunities they have determined to be of equivalent quality. If a retirement fund determines multiple investment options are of equal value under Cassidy’s bill, it must document how it made that determination and then choose at random between the options.
Why Indianapolis Airport police, fire can unionize but not baggage handlers, others
March 5, 2024 // Barbara Glass, the president of the Indianapolis Airport Authority, said firefighters and police employees told the board they want to unionize in 2019. But they have not heard from the other employees. The 11-member board includes six Hogsett appointees, an appointee from the president of the City-County Council, and officials from Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, and Morgan Counties. The dynamic is not unique to Indianapolis. Police and fire unions have been carved out of anti-union laws for decades. In 2013, a then Republican-controlled Michigan government exempted police and fire employees from a law that prohibited mandatory union membership. Wisconsin police and fire were also excluded from similar legislation in 2011.
US unions target the housing affordability crisis as their ‘biggest issue’
February 20, 2024 // Organized labor across the country is now setting its sights on housing costs as rents and mortgages continue to soar
‘Battle royale’: Tesla and anti-union Musk make enticing targets for UAW’s next push
November 5, 2023 // Some current UAW members are already fired up to take on Tesla. “Go out west to California? Absolutely, I would go,” said John Jake Kincaid, a Stellantis employee in Michigan. “Show them our strength.” Still, fighting for a contract at companies with established relationships with union workers is a far different effort than starting from scratch. Several workers who were key to Tesla’s earlier union effort are no longer at the company. The Fremont plant’s history with the UAW predates the electric vehicle maker. For about 25 years, Toyota and GM operated the facility together in an unusual joint venture. It was a union shop. In 2009, GM pulled out of the partnership as part of its bankruptcy proceedings and in 2010 Toyota shut the operation down, throwing 4,700 people out of work. A month later, Tesla bought the sprawling 5.3 million square foot factory; the union didn’t come with the purchase.
Opinion: Bernie Sanders to Big 3 CEOs: “It is time for you to end your greed.”
September 19, 2023 // Bernie Sanders: "the average American worker is worse off today than he or she was 50 years ago."