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A note from EPI’s Kirstyn Flood: 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, 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, EPI experts discuss how important unions are—especially for Latino and black workers, and especially during a pandemic.
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This new report 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 »
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Why unions are good for workers—especially in a crisis like COVID-19
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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, 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 »
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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 »
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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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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 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 »
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EPI hosted a panel 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, followed by a discussion on reshaping the country into one that values Black lives and bolsters economic opportunities for all. Watch the video »
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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 »
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Latinx workers hit harder by COVID-19 than their white counterparts
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