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Greetings EARN Community.
It is more important than ever that we stand strong in our fight for pro-worker policies that advance economic, racial, and gender justice. We are so grateful to have so many partners in this fight, especially those of you leading the fight in the states. In states where we do not have an EARN group but where grassroots, labor, and policy groups are seeking to advance equity and worker power, we offer our support.
South Carolina is one of those states. There is not (yet!) an official EARN group in the Palmetto state, but there are advocates, organizers, and leaders throughout the state fighting to make the economy work for workers and families. With their support and guidance, EPI recently produced the very first State of Working South Carolina report. The report documents the harm of the state’s policies while making the case for worker- and family-centered reforms.
Many of the potential benefits of the state’s strong recent job growth, driven in large part by Biden administration investments in the BIL, IRA, and CHIPs and Sciences Act, have been undermined by the state’s harmful economic policies. For example, the state’s low minimum wage and anti-union ‘right to work’ law disempower workers and keep wages low. Subsidies to large corporations without job quality standards or measures to ensure benefits accrue to local communities siphon much-needed dollars away from local communities. The state’s preemption policies deny local communities the ability to improve standards for their residents. These are just some of the poor outcomes faced by workers across the state. For more details, see the full report and an accompanying blog post illustrating how these policies have led to the exploitation of one local community, Chester, South Carolina.
For data resources to document the strengths and weaknesses of your state’s economy, check out EPI’s State of Working America data library. The library provides data on employment, wages, union coverage and many other indicators, including many by race, gender, and other demographics, for each state and the District of Columbia. If you have questions about the data library, the State of Working South Carolina, or anything else we can help you with, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Best,
Chandra Childers
Senior Policy and Economic Analyst
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