Today, the National Labor Relations Board’s chief prosecutor, General Counsel Richard Griffin, jointly charged McDonald’s and several of its franchisees with multiple violations of federal labor law. According to the NLRB’s press release, the agency will pursue 13 complaints involving 78 charges of alleged wrongdoing, while 71 cases remain under… Read More»
To shed new light on how extensively U.S. guestworker programs are used, Jobs With Justice Education Fund along with the Economic Policy Institute, launched the first iteration of GuestworkerData.org today. This resource offers new state-by-state analysis of how employers use nonimmigrant employment visa programs – commonly referred to as “guestworker”… Read More»
Recently, Evan Soltas and I debated the role of unions in the U.S. economy and the reasons for their decline. In doing so, I primarily focused on the macroeconomic benefits of unions – for example raising wages and reducing poverty for all workers. Unions, however, do more than ensure workers… Read More»
As we stand with Walmart associates, restaurant staff and home care workers in their efforts for better job standards, we occasionally receive this dismissive response: “No one is forcing them to stay at their job. They should just quit and find another one!” But can these workers actually just quit… Read More»
The debate on the need for unions, initiated by blogger Evan Soltas’ call to let them die, has gained considerable attention. On the Washington Center for Equitable Growth’s blog, Brad DeLong nicely compiled the back-and-forth – which has grown to include, among others, Kevin Drum, Timothy Noah and Michael Hiltzik.… Read More»
Evan Soltas would like you to know he read a book about unions. In his recent Bloomberg View column, Soltas ponders the thesis of Richard Freeman and James Medoff’s seminal book What Do Unions Do? and concludes that unions don’t do much in today’s economy. As Soltas notes, Freeman and… Read More»
Last week’s union election at Volkswagen’s Chattanooga, Tennessee, assembly plant – where workers fell 86 votes short of gaining union representation through the UAW – leaves a foul taste in my mouth. My reaction isn’t a matter of sour grapes, as I deeply respect the right of workers to decide if… Read More»
A new study from American Rights at Work compares the “Workplace Rights Policy” of National Express Group, Durham’s parent company, to internationally accepted standards for workers’ rights, and finds that the company’s policy falls far short of protecting its employees’ freedom of association and other fundamental rights on the job.… Read More»
If you’ve never been in a union, chances are the concept is pretty foreign. When it comes to understanding unions, collective bargaining, and labor laws, the technical jargon can get really confusing, not to mention all of the misinformation about unions that’s regularly spread around. This quick tutorial gives the… Read More»
The attack on pensions over the past few years ignores the fact that these funds not only provide for a decent retirement after decades of hard work; they serve as a powerful source of capital that drives our economy. In this brief, we shine the light on one small fraction… Read More»
