News & Commentary

September 28, 2017

According to the New York Times, apprenticeships have the power to help Americans gain jobs and secure rising wages. This article details Destina Garcia, a woman who secured an apprenticeship as a community health worker and then secured a permanent job. President Trump has called on using federal job-training money to expand the number of apprenticeships from 500,000 to 5,000,000. Research shows that well-designed apprenticeship programs can provide significant benefits.

 

According to the New York Times, from 2013 to 2016, Americans of all races and socio-economic groups saw their wealth grow; however, the biggest gains occurred for the richest Americans. Since 2013, the top 10% of Americans saw their wealth rise by 40% whereas the bottom 20% only saw its wealth increase by 6%. Finally, the racial wealth gap remained with the average White family having ten times as much wealth as the average African American family.

 

According to the Des Moines Register, 13 bargaining units with over 1,300 Iowa teachers voted to maintain their union status. Iowa’s new collective bargaining law requires public sector unions to recertify their unions every time they face a new contract negotiation. Republicans in the State Legislature supported this law as a way to hold unions accountable to their members.

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