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EPI News—Our most important stories this week

A handful of powerful organizations are financing an attack on unions’ ability to represent workers
The upcoming U.S. Supreme Court case Janus v. AFSCME Council 31—and previous cases challenging unions’ right to collect “fair share” fees from nonmembers—have been financed by a small group of foundations with ties to the largest and most powerful corporate lobbies. A new report by EPI’s Celine McNicholas and Zane Mokhiber identifies those foundations and argues that a political system dominated by moneyed interests leaves working people with little power if they do not have an effective way to pool their resources. The decision in Janus will determine the future of effective unions, democratic decision-making in the workplace, and the preservation of good, middle-class jobs in public employment. Read the report »
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EPI’s examination of work hours reveals two labor markets, as more workers fall further behind


In a new report, EPI’s Valerie Wilson and Janelle Jones examine how trends in annual work hours among prime-age workers since 1979 diverge along the lines of gender, race, and class. They find that prime-age adults (ages 25–54) are increasingly separating into two groups: those who are employed and working more hours than ever before, and those growing number who have fallen out of the labor market—or cannot get into it at all. Read the report »

AAPI women make 88 cents on the dollar relative to white men


February 22, 2018, marks Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) women’s equal pay day, which calls attention to the pay disparity between AAPI women and white men. In a new infographic, EPI shows that the average AAPI woman is paid only 88 cents for every dollar a white man is paid.  View the infographic »

From the EPI blog

EPI in the news
The Washington Post quoted EPI’s Heidi Shierholz on why workers shouldn’t fear automation.  “There will be people who get hurt by automation, but we have zero evidence it will actually reduce the overall number of jobs in the economy,” said Shierholz. | GOP Senator Suggests We Need Fewer Immigrants Because Robots Are Coming »
CBS Moneywatch featured EPI’s statement encouraging the Commerce Department to take long overdue action to protect U.S. steel and aluminum production by imposing strong restrictions on imports of steel and aluminum products. | Proposed U.S. Crackdown on Aluminum, Steel Imports Roils Stocks »

Politico cited EPI research on wage theft by employers, who steal more than $15 billion a year from workers through minimum wage violations. | Behind the Minimum Wage Fight, a Sweeping Failure to Enforce the Law »

In a feature about the right-wing campaign against unions, In These Times cited EPI research showing that while average unionized workers make 20 percent more than other workers, only 6.5 percent of private-sector workers and 34.4 percent of public-sector workers are unionized. This decline has “tracked the decline of the American middle class,” the article said.  | Behind Janus: Documents Reveal 15-Year Conspiracy to Kill Public-Sector Unions »
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