Posts tagged women-
Four More Biden Officials Covering Economic Policy Join TCF: Lauren McFerran, Gayle Goldin, Rachel West, Ruth Friedman
February 20, 2025 // “As the last few weeks have shown, this is an all-hands-on-deck moment to protect American workers and defend the progress made under the most pro-worker, pro-union presidential administration in history, and I’m immensely proud that Century is stepping up to meet the moment with these new hires,”
The Facts About U.S. Union Membership
January 29, 2025 // The total number of workers who are union members is 14.3 million. Of those, 7 million are public sector workers, so roughly half of U.S. union members work for the government. The National Education Association reported to the Department of Labor that it had 2.8 million members in 2024. The American Federation of Teachers reported 1.8 million members. That means 32 percent of all U.S. union members are in the two major teachers’ unions.
‘We Are Hopeful’ Q&A with Patrice Onwuka and Kim Kavin
January 24, 2025 // Congress should consider enshrining the Trump-era definition for independent contractors, and/or consider ways to get ahead of the opposition to flexible work. The Employee Rights Act was a federal bill that, among many pro-worker provisions, sought to protect independent contractors as a counter to a national ABC Test in the now-defunct Protecting the Right to Organize Act. Portable benefits also provide a pathway for companies to provide independent contractors with workplace benefits without triggering a reclassification.
Chicago teachers union slams newspaper that called them out for their members’ chronic absence
December 3, 2024 // "Alarmingly, this poor record of CPS teachers showing up for work has been a new and recent phenomenon. In the 2022-23 school year, for example, CPS teachers’ performance was even worse — 43% were absent at least 10 days. Before that year, though, the rate was considerably better: in the 2016-17 school year, chronic absenteeism among CPS teachers was 31%. The number worsened slightly from there leading into the pandemic but still was better than what we’re seeing now," the editorial board wrote. Chicago teachers are paid a median salary of $95,000, significantly more than what teachers are paid in the suburbs and more than "any other large school district in the nation," according to the Tribune.
Strikes start at top hotel chains; housekeepers seek higher wages, daily room cleaning
September 2, 2024 // The union hopes to build on its recent success in southern California, where after repeated strikes it won significant wage hikes, increased employer contributions to pensions, and fair workload guarantees in a new contract with 34 hotels. Under the contract, housekeepers at most hotels will earn $35 an hour by July 2027. The American Hotel And Lodging Association says 80% of its member hotels report staffing shortages, and 50% cite housekeeping as their most critical hiring need. Kevin Carey, the association's interim president and CEO, says hotels are doing all they can to attract workers. According to the association's surveys, 86% of hoteliers have increased wages over the past six months, and many have offered more flexibility with hours or expanded benefits. The association says wages for hotel workers have risen 26% since the pandemic.
Opinion: Congress Doesn’t Care About Freelancers — and It May Cost Them at the Polls
August 11, 2024 // Supporters of reclassification do not understand how essential independent contracting is to our livelihoods. This was evident in 2020 in the fight against California’s AB5—a law implementing a restrictive ABC test that reclassified many independent contractors as employees and inspired the DOL’s new rule. One elected state official claimed the independent status being stripped from us was just “taking away our lollipops.” Instead, AB5 hollowed out self-employment, pushed up unemployment, and destroyed many livelihoods in the process. While California is not in play in this election, Virginia is. Independent professionals are aware of what they will lose if similar policies are nationalized.
Thousands of Colorado janitors vote to authorize strike: “Denver depends on us, and we need livable wages”
July 25, 2024 // "Anybody downtown or in these large commercial building areas, they're going to see and feel our membership," said Felix-Sowy. "The strike is going to affect those buildings and our members are going to be very strategic about which buildings they take out on strike, and where that impact is going to be felt."
Latinas, the lowest-paid group in the U.S., turn to unions for better wages, report says
May 28, 2024 // Latinas are the lowest paid demographic in the United States, one of the reasons union membership among them is increasing, bucking the national downward trend of at least four decades, according to a report released this week by the National Women's Law Center (NWLC). The document, a fact sheet on union membership analyzing relevant trends among workers from all demographics in the United States, highlights that through 2023 women made up almost half of union members (45.6%).
A New Law Could Affect Your Retirement Side Hustle Income
April 10, 2024 // Kavin owns her own freelance writing and editing business in New Jersey and leads Fight For Freelancers USA, a nonpartisan coalition of freelancers from across the country that spans professions from translation to interior design. Around 20% of group members are ages 55 to 64 and nearly 10% are age 65 and older. Some members turned to freelancing after suffering age discrimination that cost them a traditional job, says Kavin. "They still want to work and earn, and the way they're able to do it is as independent contractors," she says. Kavin says she does well as a freelancer and does not want a traditional job, even if she could find one at her age. "It's a lot harder to find a traditional job in your 50s than in your 30s, especially one with the significantly higher level of income that I've been able to achieve as a freelancer," she says. "If I lose this self-employed business that I just spent 20 years building up, there may be no other place for me to go."
Biden claims to stand for women, but his new regulation will kill jobs that women want
March 30, 2024 // Patrice Onwuka, director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at the Independent Women’s Forum, is extremely concerned about how Biden’s rule will affect women. Jennifer Oliver O’Connell, a visiting fellow at the Independent Women's Forum, is a small business owner and independent contractor who learned firsthand about how government intrusion into this realm is harmful.