TY - JOUR T1 - The Battle over the Minimum Wage, City by City JF - New Labor Forum Y1 - 2014 A1 - Peter Dreier KW - community organizations KW - elections KW - equality KW - living wage KW - minimum wage KW - working class AB -

[Excerpt] Seattle Mayor Ed Murray used May Day 2014 to announce that business and labor had agreed to a historic plan to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. Seattle’s bold measure is a part of a growing wave of activism and local legislation around the country to help lift the working poor out of poverty. The gridlock in Washington—where Congress has not boosted the federal minimum wage, stuck at $7.25 an hour, since 2009—has catalyzed a growing movement in cities and states. Nineteen states have minimum wages over $7.25 an hour, and ten states automatically increase their minimum wages with inflation. In 2004, San Francisco and Santa Fe, New Mexico were the first two localities to adopt citywide minimum-wage laws, now $10.74 and $10.66, respectively. Since then, cities from Los Angeles to New York have begun the process of crafting minimum-wage laws with different components. Nineteen states now have minimum wages over $7.25 an hour, and ten states automatically increase their minimum wages with inflation. As of June 2014, activists in Idaho, South Dakota, and Alaska were gathering signatures to put minimum-wage hikes on the ballot this year. Their counterparts in Maryland, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Hawaii were pushing state legislators to raise the minimum wages in their states, too.

VL - 23 L2 - eng CP - 3 ER - TY - RPRT T1 - No Holds Barred: The Intensification of Employer Opposition to Organizing (Economic Policy Institute Briefing Paper #235) Y1 - 2009 A1 - K. Bronfenbrenner KW - elections KW - employer opposition KW - labor unions KW - National Labor Relations Board KW - NLRB KW - organizing AB -

[Excerpt] This study is a comprehensive analysis of employer behavior in representation elections supervised by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The data for this study originate from a thorough review of primary NLRB documents for a random sample of 1,004 NLRB certification elections that took place between January 1, 1999 and December 31, 2003 and from an in-depth survey of 562 campaigns conducted with that same sample. Employer behavior data from prior studies conducted over the last 20 years are used for purposes of comparison. The representativeness of the sample combined with the high response rate for both the survey (56%) and NLRB unfair labor practice (ULP) charge documents (98%) ensure that the findings provide unique and highly credible information. In combination, the results provide a detailed and well-documented portrait of the legal and illegal tactics used by employers in NLRB representational elections and of the ineffectiveness of current labor law policy to protect and enforce workers rights in the election process.

PB - Economic Policy Institute CY - Washington, DC L2 - eng UR - http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/reports/38/ ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Why Unions Matter Y1 - 2009 A1 - Yates, M. KW - AFL-CIO KW - American labor movement KW - bargaining power KW - benefits KW - Change to Win KW - collective bargaining KW - elections AB -

Unions mean better pay, benefits, and working conditions for their members; they force employers to treat employees with dignity and respect; and at their best, they provide a way for workers to make society both more democratic and egalitarian. Yates uses simple language, clear data, and engaging examples to show why workers need unions, how unions are formed, how they operate, how collective bargaining works, the role of unions in politics, and what unions have done to bring workers together across the divides of race, gender, religion, and sexual orientation. (publisher’s statement)

PB - Monthly Review Press CY - New York L2 - eng ER - TY - BOOK T1 - Political Man: The Social Bases of Politics Y1 - 1959 A1 - S. M. Lipset KW - class struggle KW - democracy KW - economic development KW - elections KW - Social conflict KW - trade unions AB -

Uses statistical and historical data to demonstrate that social class is one of the chief determinants of political behaviour.

PB - Doubleday & Company, Inc. CY - Garden City, NY L2 - eng ER -