Every year, workers at the Postal Service and UPS expect to work long hours between Thanksgiving and Christmas. “This is like our Super Bowl,” said Kimberly Karol, president of the Iowa Postal Workers (APWU). “Employees really do rally together.” But this year has been like no other. Workers were still catching their breath from last …
It’s Been a Long Nightmare Before Christmas for UPS and Postal Workers Read More »
What’s the use of a crisis if big corporations and wealthy people can’t use it to make more money, preferably at the expense of those with less than them? I ask you! Well, by that standard, the coronavirus pandemic has worked out quite well. A large majority of the biggest publicly traded companies were profitable …
U.S. lawmakers are struggling to hammer out another economic relief package before Congress adjourns next week. But for millions of Americans, the deadline may have already passed. Even if Congress reaches a deal, some 12 million unemployed people could see their benefits lapse after Christmas. Worker advocates say it could take weeks for the jobless aid …
‘We’re already too late’: Unemployment lifeline to lapse even with an aid deal Read More »
Unemployment claims just hit their highest level in months, Republicans are still refusing to negotiate a stimulus package that does half what the country needs, and people who have been unemployed for months are increasingly desperate. Only the government can truly help unemployed people, but the National Employment Law Project’s Michele Evermore has three pieces of advice …
Three things unemployed people should know right now, this week in the war on workers Read More »
The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the hospitality industry, with the fallout still growing. This week the Philadelphia City Council took steps to protect workers when the economic recovery begins, unanimously passing legislation to give laid-off hospitality workers the right to be rehired when jobs start coming back. The bill could eventually help 12,000 Philadelphia hotel housekeepers, stadium …
Arguably one of the true silver linings of the global health pandemic is the rise of employee financial wellness programs. Much of this has to do with how COVID-19 has practically doubled financial stress among employees. Anxieties about retiring much later than planned, the national economy, and job loss are at an all-time high. It’s no surprise …
The Rise of Employee Financial Wellness Programs in the Modern Workplace Read More »
As Halloween approached, Ronald Jackson spent his days at a Chicago-area warehouse for the Mars candy company ?“getting Halloween candy to America.” After co-workers got Covid-19, Jackson complained to management about a lack of safety precautions. Rather than improving precautions, he said, the company fired Jackson for an alleged infraction that occurred months ago. Such situations are why workers …
States are increasingly bypassing the federal government and imposing their own rules to protect workers from the coronavirus, creating a patchwork of regulations that could serve as a blueprint for new national standards promised by President-elect Joe Biden. Oregon last month began requiring employers to supply masks, develop infection control plans and notify staff of …
States become worker safety watchdogs as pandemic worsens Read More »
Brian Banks and his colleagues at Nipro Glass log 60- or 70-hour weeks right now in a grueling race to produce the glass tubing and vials essential to distributing millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Banks, a maintenance mechanic for nearly three decades, often feared over the years that the Millville, New Jersey, complex would …
Why America’s Future Depends on Rebuilding Our Factories Read More »
President-elect Joe Biden will inherit one of the weakest labor markets in U.S. history, with record-high unemployment, widening inequality and deteriorating economic conditions. Yet many of the solutions he’s offering — massive infrastructure, clean energy and technology investments — will need the approval of a largely hostile Congress. That could undercut one of the central …
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
