Posts tagged Minimum wage
TCGPlayer Announces Plans to Relocate Authentication Operations from Syracuse to Kentucky
May 30, 2025 // According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, in 2024 New York State had 1.7M union members, representing 20.6% of the state’s 8M+ employees. Kentucky only has 156,000 union members out of 1.7M employees, representing just under 9% of their labor force. The minimum wage in New York is $16.50 per hour and will go up to $17 an hour in 2026. In 2027 it will continue to grow in accordance with the Consumer Price Index. The minimum wage in Kentucky is $7.25 per hour, the same as the Federal minimum wage, and has not changed since 2009.
LA Passes $30 Minimum Wage for Hotel, Airport Workers
May 15, 2025 // "Hotel employees in Los Angeles are paid the highest wages in the country, but right now their jobs are at risk,'' said Rosanna Maietta, CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, at a press conference last month. "City leaders are considering a damaging proposal that will jeopardize these jobs; it would devastate much needed tourism related tax revenue and lead to the closure of hotels that are desperately needed to successfully host the 2026 World Cup, the 2027 Super Bowl and the 2028 Olympics."
California lost 11,600 net jobs in March, nearly half of new jobs from welfare
May 7, 2025 // California lost a net 11,600 jobs in March as private sector job losses exceeded taxpayer-funded job gains, the plurality of which came from a single welfare program in which Californians are paid minimum wage to care for family members. The California Center for Jobs and the Economy’s analysis for state and employment for March 2025 found the state lost a net 26,800 private sector jobs, while government and taxpayer-funded employment grew by 15,200 jobs.
Workers complain that MGM is refusing to negotiate with union; Springfield City Council might add voice to outcry
May 1, 2025 // But every time the union tried to open negotiations, MGM has delayed or rejected overtures, which is surprising since the same union also represents about 500 other employees, such as porters, bartenders, wait staff and slot machine attendants, he said. Members of the new union, Local 301 of New England Joint Board UNITE HERE, filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, saying casino officials have refused to negotiate. MGM has denied the charges, Snow said. The labor board followed with a complaint against the casino, which MGM is appealing. A hearing is scheduled for August, Snow said.
Toledo Art Museum Workers Move to Unionize
April 18, 2025 // Organizing under the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), some 100 workers will form the new union, which emerged after TMA’s glass technicians came together under Teamsters in 2007. The new unit will include staff from the visitor services, glass studio, research, education, curatorial, and library departments, among other eligible sectors, and is expected to grow upon selecting a representative.
Truckers tell Ninth Circuit that California law unfairly bans independent contractor drivers
April 10, 2025 // Though a business-to-business exemption is available under the law, the association says members can't apply because they have to follow contradictory federal law that says trucking companies need to have exclusive control over trucks involved in interstate commerce. “One of the requirements of the business-to-business exemption is that the worker be free from the control of the business. Leased owner-operators in inter-state commerce must comply with federal regulations called the Truth In Leasing regulations which require the motor carrier to have exclusive possession and control of the vehicle and the operation of that vehicle in inter-state commerce. Whatever the scope of that control is it can’t be squared with the B2B requirement that the worker be free from control. It’s irreconcilable,” Cullen said.
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.
Michigan Republican presses Chavez-DeRemer to rescind Biden-era labor regulations
March 20, 2025 // “I encourage DOL to enforce its laws while providing robust compliance assistance to workers and businesses instead of continuing the enforcement-only approach taken by the Biden-Harris administration,” Walberg said Wednesday to Chavez-DeRemer in a letter shared with The Hill.
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.