living wage

  • Wage Laws Could Include Homecare Workers, Finally
    Jenny Brown
    Feb 28 2012 - 1:42pm

    Two million homecare workers are finally getting a little respect under U.S. labor law. New Labor Department rules extending overtime and minimum wage protections to home health aides and personal care assistants could go into force next month.

  • Living Wage Laws: Worth the Effort?
    Stephanie Luce
    Feb 27 2012 - 9:41am

    Activists have won more than 125 living wage ordinances in cities and counties, and state and federal minimum wage increases. Yet the number of workers earning poverty wages remains as high as ever. Are the laws worth the effort?

  • A Shallow Victory on Living Wages in New York City
    Jenny Brown
    Feb 23 2012 - 9:36am

    After New York’s retail union announced a living wage deal, activists greeted the news with mixed feelings. Only a small number of workers will be affected, but activists think the campaign changed the conversation on low wages.

  • 100 Years Later, the Cry for ‘Bread & Roses’ Still Resonates

    One hundred years ago today, thousands of angry textile workers abandoned their looms and poured into the frigid streets of Lawrence, Massachusetts. Like Occupy Wall Street in our own gilded age, this unexpected grassroots protest cast a dramatic spotlight on the problem of social and economic inequality. In all of American labor history, there are few better examples of the synergy between radical activism and indigenous militancy.

  • New York Governor, SEIU 1199 Raise Hackles with Medicaid Deal
    Mark Brenner
    Jan 9 2011 - 9:48am

    New York’s Medicaid redesign will privatize the state's home care network, costing 700 city jobs and tossing 40,000 low-income elderly and disabled into managed care agencies that a union says cut corners. AFSCME says SEIU 1199 OK'd the deal.

  • NYC Retail Workers Win Settlement, Look to Fight for Living Wage
    Diane Krauthamer
    Jul 14 2010 - 2:33pm

    Low-wage retail jobs in New York City aren't easy, and discrimination, wage theft, and hazardous conditions make them even lousier. A settlement for 17 workers could be a springboard to a citywide living wage, though.

  • Baltimore Worker Center Says Tourist District Shouldn't Grow on Poverty Jobs
    Tom Kertes
    Mar 12 2010 - 4:51am

    Poverty conditions for workers in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor are threatening to become routine. That doesn't make them tolerable, said a worker center. They're pursuing living-wage agreements by targeting developers.

  • NY Boutique Boss Arrested, Faces 4 Years in Jail for Stealing Wages
    by Mischa Gaus
    Feb 25 2010 - 4:41pm

    The owner of a New York boutique chain accused of shorting workers by $1.5 million was taken away in handcuffs Tuesday. The charges grew from a union-backed drive to remake retail by attacking its worst employers.

  • Don't Subsidize Lousy Jobs, Say Teamsters in New York Warehouse Drive

    The mantra is jobs, and the government has unlocked the public coffers to subsidize employers that are hiring. But what kind of jobs are they creating with our tax dollars? In New York, the Teamsters are putting the heat on employers only too happy to pocket public money while creating lousy jobs and fighting unions.

  • Bronx Battle Line: Development on City's Dime Must Push Up Wages
    by Mischa Gaus
    Jan 7 2010 - 5:49pm

    Refusing to promise a living wage, a New York retail developer lost out on about $60 million in subsidies. Campaigns nationally are tying public money used in mega-projects to decent wage and working standards.