Posts tagged just-in-time
Pro-Worker, Not Pro-Union
January 31, 2024 // What the Right has often overlooked in this debate is that the protection of independent-worker status can be coupled with a revamping of worker-benefit options. Lack of benefits is frequently cited as the main drawback of independent work. Republicans could burnish their pro-worker credentials, while protecting businesses from reclassification and other draconian left-wing policies, by proposing a flexible benefit setup for contractors and gig workers that has features similar to a SEP-IRA. It would use a system of employer contributions while giving workers the ability to make pre-tax contributions of their own. The funds could be used for benefits such as paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, or even health insurance, some of which could be purchased through newly created worker-benefit exchanges that act as brokerages for the benefits. Benefit-flexibility concepts can be applied as well to retirement savings, even those of noncontract workers. The current system largely relies on employer-based retirement plans, but many workers find it difficult to roll old retirement accounts over to new jobs. That has led to a proliferation of abandoned “orphan” accounts. Automatic portability for retirement accounts would make it possible for more workers to take their accounts with them to new jobs. Also due is a nuanced rethinking of noncompete agreements in labor contracts. While libertarian notions of the freedom of contract have long led right-leaning policy-makers to resist the imposition of restrictions on contractual arrangements, recent years have seen more free-market proponents question the efficacy of noncompetes with respect to their impact on worker freedom and earnings.
Michigan businesses urged to prepare for UPS strike by Teamsters
July 21, 2023 // So just how big is UPS to cause such concerns? It transports about 6 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. When it comes to total revenue from the nation’s domestic shipping, the U.S. Postal Service had the largest share at 32 percent in 2022 followed by UPS at 24 percent, Amazon Logistics at 23 percent, and FedEx with 19 percent, per the Pitney Bowes Parcel Shipping Index. UPS averaged 24.3 million parcels a day last year and 6.2 billion for 2022, which generated a company record $100.3 billion in revenue,