Employment

One of the best cures for the post-holiday blues is the crop of new TV shows in January. One new show on ABC, “Work It”, is definitely going to boost us out of any blues – by making us see red.

According to ABC, “Work It” is: Read more »

Way to show your appreciation, Hyatt:

After two housekeepers protested their faces being superimposed on bikini-clad cartoons during “Housekeeper Appreciation Week,” Hyatt Hotels ‘investigated’ and later fired the two sisters, Martha and Lorena Reyes, who had worked at the hotel for 7 and 24 years, respectively. The women have gone on to file harassment and retaliation charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Read more »

Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tried to get the Senate to consider another component of the American Jobs Act. The Rebuild America Jobs Act would create hundreds of thousands of jobs by investing $50 billion to repair and upgrade our highways, bridges, rail systems and airports, with $50 million dedicated to enhancing access to those job opportunities for women, people of color, and disadvantaged individuals. It would also provide $10 billion for a National Infrastructure Bank to finance additional improvements in water, energy and transportation infrastructure. It would be fully paid for by a surtax of 0.1 percent on income above $1 million.

But – as you’ve probably guessed – it was filibustered, just like the comprehensive American Jobs Act and another of its components, the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act.   Read more »

Yesterday we submitted comments to the Department of Labor regarding its proposal for a new compensation data collection tool. You can read our comments here.

This tool would allow the Department of Labor to collect compensation data from federal contractors in order to identify pay disparities and potential discrimination. One-fourth of our labor force works for federal contractors. But it’s increasingly difficult for workers to identify pay discrimination and enforce their rights under antidiscrimination laws. Over 61% of employers prohibit or strongly discourage employees from sharing wage information, leaving workers unaware of significant pay disparities. Furthermore, the Supreme Court has drastically increased the obstacles that workers must surmount to enforce their statutory rights. Last, loopholes in equal pay laws and the failure of the Paycheck Fairness Act to pass the Senate make it easier for many employers to avoid antidiscrimination obligations.     Read more »

It's about jobs. You know that the most urgent deficit facing this country is the jobs deficit. It's time for Congress to do its job and pass a plan that creates jobs for the millions of Americans who are desperately looking for work.

We expect the Senate to vote tonight on whether to allow debate to begin on President Obama's jobs plan. It couldn't be more timely or important. Last week, we got some news about the job market, and it's not a pretty picture. Women gained just 4,000 of the 103,000 jobs created last month. The main reason? Cuts in funding for public services are disproportionately eliminating jobs held by women. Since the recession officially ended in June 2009, women have actually lost jobs and their unemployment rate has risen. Read more »

Today’s jobs data may bring better news than last month, but it certainly isn’t great news for women. Our analysis shows that, yet again, women’s unemployment inched up this month, demonstrating that the small gains in jobs weren’t enough to keep up with the additional women looking for work. In fact, women gained just 4,000 of the 103,000 jobs added to the economy this month. These numbers are again driven by public sector losses. In September, the public sector lost 34,000 jobs, 82 percent of which were women’s jobs. Read more »

The wage gap the National Women’s Law Center reports at the national and state levels are the same ones reported by the Census Bureau – the median earnings of women full-time, year-round workers as a percentage of the median earnings of men full-time, year-round workers. Median earnings are the earnings made by an individual at the 50^th percentile – the worker right in the middle. Earnings include wages, salary, net self-employment income but not property income, government cash transfers or other cash income – so basically what people get paid for working. Working full time means working at least 35 hours a week and working year round means working at least 50 weeks during the last twelve months (This includes sick leave and paid vacation. School personnel are also included if they are returning to work in the fall). Read more »

In addition to the analysis we’ve done on the poverty data this week, we’ve also examined Census data on median earnings. The results are clear – the wage gap persists. Since 2009, the wage gap remains unchanged and has only shrunk by three cents over the last decade. Read more »

Labor Day has become a celebration of the last of summer, but its roots lie with the celebration of the American working class: It brings attention to the struggles, victories, and economic and social contributions of our workers. Read more »

With the Labor Day holiday around the corner, today’s jobs data leaves no room for celebration. This month, the modest recovery ground to a halt – with no jobs added to the economy in the month of August. Our analysis shows that the news was even worse for women, whose unemployment rate inched up in August. While both women’s and men’s small gains in the private sector were wiped out by public sector job losses in August, since the start of the recovery in June 2009, men have gained 984,000 jobs, while women have lost 345,000 jobs. Read more »