Posts tagged unemployment insurance
Opinion: The Biden Administration Should Look to Virginia Democrats For a Better Way to Help Gig Workers
February 25, 2024 // The concept of coupling the protection of contracting status with a flexible benefits system is an idea that also should appeal to right-leaning policymakers. That’s because such an approach not only helps businesses, but stands to benefit workers by preserving the entrepreneurial flexibility they desire as independent contractors. In addition to this flexibility, it likewise provides workplace protections and benefits that can help these workers weather the exigencies of life—all without the harmful negative impacts of widespread worker reclassification. According to our sources, local Virginia labor unions initially expressed interest in this Democrat-introduced portable benefits model, only to catch flak from their national parent organizations who pressured them to reverse course. Unfortunately, the influence of the national labor brass appears to have doomed the bill for now, although its mere existence suggests that Democratic lawmakers are starting to buck the party’s consensus on worker reclassification.
Op-ed: Watch out — California’s damaging gig workers law is going nationwide
February 20, 2024 // The rule is slated to take effect on March 10. U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) have both declared they will use the Congressional Review Act to have this rule rescinded. Previous legislation has been tendered in support of small businesses and the self-employed. The “Fight for Freelancers” group of female writers and editors has filed a lawsuit challenging this rule, which serves to appease Big Labor in the same manner as AB5.
Rachel Greszler: 64 million Americans risk losing work under Biden administration rule
January 30, 2024 // The group Freelancers Against AB 5 compiled a list of more than 600 professions that have been negatively affected by independent contracting restrictions, and Americans for Tax Reform documents more than 600 personal testimonials of workers who’ve been harmed. Karen Anderson, the founder of Freelancers Against AB5, testified to federal lawmakers about children’s theaters and nonprofit youth sports clubs closing their doors; sign language interpreters unable to provide ADA-mandated services to the deaf; and professionals having to move out of state to maintain their livelihoods.
Opinion: Why stop at the four-day workweek?
November 9, 2023 // s. Second, let workers unionize and collectively bargain rather than firing them for it. The road, though, doesn’t end there. “One thing you need,” said Benanav, “is something that was never really achieved in the US: actual sectoral bargaining. Not just collective bargaining at the firm level, but at the industry level.” Sectoral bargaining means unions would negotiate standards that apply to all workers in an industry, not just those who work in unionized firms. To complement that greater representation, workers would also benefit from social programs like unconditional cash transfers, universal healthcare, or as the pandemic showed, stronger unemployment insurance. We already saw early tremors of the power such reforms can hold as part of the surprisingly generous US policy response to the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly the boosted unemployment insurance. “A lot of that was giving people resources to just make their own decisions,” said Konczal.
How state unemployment benefits impact the UAW strike
September 27, 2023 // "We were very confused if we were going to get (strike pay) or not," Halle Heinz, one of the Ford employees laid off, told WXYZ-TV in Detroit. "They were trying to hold as much strike pay as they could in order to make everything survive." Under Michigan law, UAW workers generally won't qualify for unemployment if they get laid off because of a labor dispute involving other workers at the same worksite, Brett Miller, an attorney specializing in labor law for Butzel in Detroit, tells Axios. UAW's Ohio and Indiana director is also navigating murky waters when it comes to unemployment. "It's clear as mud," UAW Region 2B director David Green told Crain's Cleveland Business. "I don't want to say all our members are going to get unemployment, because that's not going to happen." Disputes over unemployment benefits could end up in court, he said.
Commentary: Few California workers belong to unions, but they scored big in Legislature this year
September 20, 2023 // Previously, the Legislature had helped unions gain members by declaring home care and child care workers to be public employees and thus capable of being unionized. In fact, as the Legislature’s session was winding down, it approved a new contract for the latter that included hefty raises. Extending similar status to other service sectors is one possibility. Meanwhile, the bills setting new minimum wages for fast food and health care workers would seem to open the door for similar efforts in other segments of the economy that have large numbers of employees with relatively low salaries.
Will AI Benefit or Harm Workers?
August 25, 2023 // Recent breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI)—particularly generative AI products such as ChatGPT, which had 100 million monthly active users in just two months—have resurfaced headlines of robots taking jobs. While the scale of disruption caused by the adoption of AI in the workplace remains unknown, the developers and users of AI should consider the impact this has on workers. Moreover, policymakers also have the capacity to shape the ways in which AI will affect workers—either through their action or inaction. Responding to the challenges and opportunities posed by AI, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) recently launched a SAFE Innovation Framework that named security, including worker security, a key component of his policy objectives. Alongside this, the Biden administration is also in the process of developing its National AI Strategy—which, as the Center for American Progress has previously called for, must contain a plan to address economic and job impacts from the use of AI.
Here’s where striking actors can find financial help with Hollywood shut down
July 20, 2023 // Now that actors and other performers have joined the writers on strike, where can SAG-AFTRA members turn for help if they can’t pay their bills? Many workers throughout the industry will be financially affected by the production shutdowns. In most states, including California, employees on strike are not entitled to unemployment insurance benefits because they are still considered employed. One exception is that employees in New York can file for unemployment after a two-week waiting period.
Former UIA contract worker sentenced for stealing taxpayer money
July 19, 2023 // Regulation agents with the UIA’s Fraud and Investigations Division built a detailed case against Semaje Reffigee by identifying irregular claim activity that uncovered a kickback scheme to defraud the agency and Michigan taxpayers. Reffigee is one of nearly 50 fraudsters – four of them former UIA staff or contract workers – who have been convicted of unemployment insurance crimes. Many more cases are pending. In a plea agreement, Reffigee was sentenced in Detroit to 18 months in prison on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud for her participation in the pandemic-related unemployment insurance fraud scheme. She was ordered to pay $313,497 in restitution to the state of Michigan. The UIA uses internal and external tools as well as close collaborations with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies to file charges and bring suspects to justice. Charges have been brought in more than 100 criminal cases UIA’s investigators have built since March 2020. Once detailed evidence is gathered and suspects identified, agents work with the Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General (U.S. DOL-OIG) as well as local, state and federal authorities to prosecute the cases.
It’s a Gloomy Outlook for Jobs Under Biden. Here’s the Formula to Change That.
May 19, 2023 // For the sake of personal and societal happiness, for the sake of the financial well-being of American families, for the sake of solving America’s dire fiscal situation, and for the sake of preserving the foundation of American society, policymakers need to recognize the value and rewards of work. By protecting individuals’ rights to pursue the type of work and compensation that is best for them, expanding alternative education and job-training opportunities, and not forcing workers into unions, policymakers can expand opportunities for people to achieve meaningful and rewarding work. Work truly affects every aspect of American life. Our economy, our personal financial and physical well-being, our nation’s fiscal sustainability, and even our national security depend on it.