Martin Drake is a student at Harvard Law School.
A new report shows that workers paid the minimum wage can’t afford a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the U.S., the Hill reports. The report, released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, concludes that even the newly popular $15 an hour minimum wage would not cover the cost of rent for a “decent” two-bedroom apartment in most states. The study defined an affordable apartment as one where a worker could spend less than 30 percent of their income on rent. The report found that a minimum wage worker could afford a one-bedroom apartment in just 20 counties nationwide.
In more bad news for minimum wage workers, Microsoft is beginning a push to help automate store checkouts, Reuters reports. The computing giant is developing technology to track what shoppers add to their carts, in a bid to help retailers compete with Amazon’s new automated shopping experience. Amazon recently opened a highly automated store in Seattle, and plans to open two more in the near future. Currently, cashier is one of the most common jobs in the U.S.
More than 400 union workers at the Washington Post demanded a raise and better benefits in an open letter to the paper’s owner, Jeff Bezos, the New York Post reports. The Washington Post Guild has been in contract negotiations for over a year, and the paper offered only a $10 per week pay raise, and asked workers to waive their right to severance payments if laid off. The workers’ letter was published last Thursday, and it accused Bezos, who is the richest man in the world according to Forbes magazine, of not offering “fair wages; fair benefits for retirement, family leave and health care; and a fair amount of job security.”
Union workers at Caesars’ Las Vegas casino-resorts approved a new five-year contract this week, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports. The contract addresses sexual harassment in the workplace, job security, wage increases. Additionally, the contract gives Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients who lose their work authorization to right to get their jobs back if they are able to regain a work permit.
Daily News & Commentary
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July 16
Trump's NLRB nominee set for Senate vote, federal district court grants partial win on WARN Act claims, Brigham and Women's nurses return to work.
July 15
U.S. labor productivity climbs at its fastest pace in decades; a federal judge grants a preliminary injunction to anti-abortion groups challenging Michigan’s civil rights law; and Jackson, Mississippi’s bus workers walk off the job.
July 14
DOJ opens investigation of UAW president; LIUNA protests Pfizer building collapse; national park workers unionize
July 13
New York Times files retaliation suit against the EEOC; US government pushes back TPS designation termination for Haiti; federal judge grants preliminary injunction to federal workers seeking reasonable telework accommodations.
July 12
Postal workers demand investigation into Atlanta distribution center conditions following deaths; University of Chicago Press Workers vote to unionize.
July 10
Brigham and Women’s Hospital locks out 4,000 nurses after one-day strike; appeal filed challenging agency-shop agreements.