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** COVID-19 underlines the importance of unions ([link removed])
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A note from EPI’s Kirstyn Flood ([link removed]) : Although the COVID-19 economy has been difficult for everyone, it’s been more difficult for Latinx workers—particularly women—whose economic, health, and social conditions have only worsened since the beginning of the pandemic. In a new report ([link removed]) , EPI experts weigh in on why federal policymakers should take action now to support Latinx workers and others who are suffering from the devastating effects of the recession. In another report ([link removed]) , EPI experts discuss how important unions are—especially for Latino and black workers, and especially during a pandemic.


** Why unions are good for workers—especially in a crisis like COVID-19 ([link removed])
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This new report ([link removed]) discusses the importance of unions and workers’ collective action in establishing an equitable economy, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic. Unionized workers earn on average 11.2% more in wages than their nonunionized peers. Additionally, more workers covered by a union contract have access to employer-sponsored health benefits and paid sick days than nonunion workers. The authors recommend a slate of federal and state policy reforms to promote workers’ collective power and grow union density. The Protecting the Right to Organize Act, known as the PRO Act, is a comprehensive set of reforms that would close loopholes in our labor law and strengthen workers’ rights to organize. Additionally, the authors’ recommendations include passing the Public Sector Freedom to Negotiate Act and the Public Safety
Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, which would give all public-sector workers the right to collectively bargain, and amending the National Labor Relations Act to give workers more power at every stage of the organizing process. Read the report » ([link removed])
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** Why unions are good for workers—especially in a crisis like COVID-19
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** Latinx workers—particularly women—face devastating job losses in the COVID-19 recession ([link removed])
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Latinx workers have suffered greater economic distress than their white counterparts since COVID-19 began spreading in the United States. In this report ([link removed]) , the authors find that these outcomes have been driven by the fact that Latinx workers already had lower pre-pandemic wages, income, and wealth, as well as less access to health care and other important job-related benefits. The report highlights how the federal coronavirus policy response has not addressed—and has even exacerbated—these disparities, including through mandating meatpacking industries to reopen and excluding undocumented Latinx workers from unemployment insurance benefits and stimulus payments. Additional key findings include:
* Among those ages 35–44, Latinx Americans are nearly nine times as likely to die from COVID as white Americans.
* Latino workers are paid only $0.75 for every dollar paid to a white man. Latina workers, who face both gender and ethnic discrimination, are paid even less—$0.64 on the white male dollar.
* Among the employed, Latinx workers are over three times as likely to be uninsured as white workers. Read the report » ([link removed])


** The Way Out Through State and Local Aid ([link removed])
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If a bipartisan group of the nation’s top economists were trapped in an elevator with Republican members of Congress, what would they tell them about the need for state and local aid? EPI recently brought economists together to discuss this question and others. The panel, moderated by Washington Post economics correspondent Heather Long, included:
* Gbenga Ajilore, Senior Economist, Center for American Progress
* Glenn Hubbard, Dean Emeritus and Russell L. Carson Professor of Finance and Economics, Columbia University
* Jason Furman, Professor of the Practice of Economic Policy, Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard University Economics Department
* Josh Bivens, Director of Research, Economic Policy Institute
* Mark Zandi, Chief Economist, Moody’s Analytics

Read the blog post and watch the video » ([link removed])


** UI claims remain historically high and the president’s sham executive memorandum is doing next to nothing ([link removed])
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Two weeks ago, 1.4 million workers applied for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits. Breaking that down: 892,000 applied for regular state unemployment insurance, and 543,000 applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA). Earlier this month, President Trump issued a sham of an executive memorandum. It was purported to give recipients an additional $300 in benefits. But in reality, even this drastically reduced benefit is only available to recipients in a handful of small states, and only for a few weeks. This is cruel, and terrible economics. The extra $600 was supporting a huge amount of spending by people who now have to make drastic cuts. Slashing the $600 is also exacerbating racial inequality. Due to the impact of historic and current systemic racism, Black and brown communities are suffering more from this pandemic, and have less wealth to fall back on. Read the blog post »
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** Previous webinars
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** Book event: Let Them Eat Tweets: How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality ([link removed])

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To keep the gravy train going for mostly white one-percenters and prop up the plutocracy, political leaders are using toxic populism with a racially infused culture-war strategy to stay in power—a strategy led by Trump and playing out daily in his tweet storms, according to political scientists and authors of Let Them Eat Tweets ([link removed]) Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson. Hacker and Pierson discussed their book, followed by a panel of EPI experts who talked about what can be done to derail this distorted political influence by the rich and derail rising inequality. EPI President Thea Lee moderated. Watch the video » ([link removed])


** Reconstruction 2020: Valuing Black Lives and Economic Opportunities for All ([link removed])
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EPI hosted a panel ([link removed]) of experts on why policy must be changed to reverse the nation’s culture of anti-Blackness and the economic inequality surrounding it. EPI Distinguished Fellow Richard Rothstein discussed his book The Color of Law ([link removed]) , followed by a discussion on reshaping the country into one that values Black lives and bolsters economic opportunities for all. Watch the video » ([link removed])


** EPI in the news
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MarketWatch ([link removed]) covered EPI ([link removed]) ’ ([link removed]) s report ([link removed]) on Latinx workers, which finds that these workers have suffered greater economic distress than their white counterparts since the beginning of the pandemic. | COVID-19’s Toll on Latinx Americans Shows the Pandemic Isn’t a ‘Great Equalizer’ ([link removed])
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A blog post ([link removed]) about the need for unemployment benefits, written by EPI Director of Policy Heidi Shierholz, was cited by The Fiscal Times ([link removed]) . | Unemployment Claims Jump Back Above 1 Million ([link removed])
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Shierholz also discussed the importance of properly interpreting data to advance economic policy, citing EPI’s Nominal Wage Tracker ([link removed]) , for Marketplace ([link removed]) . | How Economic Data Has Been Distorted During COVID-19 ([link removed])
Follow EPI on Instagram ([link removed])


** What we’re reading
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** A Transit Worker’s Survival Story ([link removed])
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On the morning of March 23rd, Terence A. Layne drove a half-empty M116 bus across Manhattan, starting on the Upper West Side. Read more » ([link removed])

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Debt, Eviction and Hunger: Millions Fall Back into Crisis as Stimulus and Safety Nets Vanish ([link removed])

One of the most successful elements of the government’s response to the coronavirus recession—protecting people on the margins from falling into poverty—is faltering as the safety net shrinks and federal benefits expire. Read more » ([link removed])

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Latinx workers hit harder by COVID-19 than their white counterparts
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