Wages and Benefits
Key Legislation:
Minimum Wage Increase »
If the story of the janitors and groundskeepers at the Carnegie Science Center weren't true, it would seem as if the advocates of the Employee Free Choice Act were making it up.
Those 10 people work for the same employer as the 50 people who clean the Carnegie Museums of Art and Natural History and the Carnegie Libraries. Yet, because of a quirk of history dating to a time when the individual museums were run as if they were separate organizations, the janitorial staffs at the museums and libraries are unionized. The cleaners at the Science Center are not….
The pay is $7.85 an hour. He is without medical insurance and is not granted days off with pay for sick time or vacation….
The janitors at the Oakland museums and the Carnegie Libraries of Pittsburgh make $10 to $14 an hour and are awarded full benefits, including health insurance, vacation time and sick days, according to Gabe Morgan from the union that represents them.
The Employee Free Choice Act would help those 10 workers get the same wages and benefits as the other 50 janitors within the same organization.
Learn more about the Employee Free Choice Act and how it will benefit workers.
Here is another story worth reading. It highlights how workers in Indiana would be helped by the Employee Free Choice Act.
The recession is affecting artists, dancers and musicians everywhere, including the Bay Area, but hope is on the way. A House committee in Washington is examining how communities everywhere are being affected. $50 million has been set aside to give a boost to the arts and entertainment industry. The arts are big business generating 5.7 million jobs and $166 billion in economic activity each year. The House Education and Labor Committee, chaired by Congressman George Miller (D) of Concord, was told artists are unemployed and need their share of the stimulus package.
Watch the full report here.
“Those most vulnerable to wage theft are likely bearing the brunt of our nation’s economic crisis,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, who requested the investigation. “We owe it to all hard working Americans to ensure that we correct the incompetence of the Bush administration and ensure families are not being cheated out of their wages by unscrupulous employers. This was a massive failure. Former Secretary Chao was absent without leave.”
The House Education and Labor Committee will hold a hearing to examine the findings of the Government Accountability Office’s undercover investigation into the Labor Department’s ability to enforce and investigate violations of our nation’s minimum wage, overtime and child labor laws.
The committee held a hearing last July that identified failures by the Bush administration to properly protect workers from the problem of “wage theft” by adopting weak enforcement strategies and reducing funding and staffing levels of the Wage and Hour Division. This agency is responsible for investigating complaints of wage, hour, and child labor violations. For more information on July’s hearing, click here.
The Committee held a hearing last July that identified failures by the Bush administration to properly protect workers from the problem of “wage theft” by adopting weak enforcement strategies and reducing funding and staffing levels of the Wage and Hour Division. This agency is responsible for investigating complaints of wage, hour, and child labor violations. For more information on July’s hearing, click here.
Michelle Andrews wrote:
Anxious readers who had lost their jobs wanted to know how they could apply for the subsidy, which will cover 65 percent of laid-off workers' COBRA health insurance premiums if they choose to continue their health insurance under their former employer's plan. The reason for their concern is no mystery: The federal law known as COBRA that permits them to extend their health insurance also requires them to pay 100 percent of the premium, plus an administrative fee of 2 percent. For people trying to get by on an unemployment insurance check of around $325 a week, shelling out $1,000 or more a month for health insurance is often not feasible. Even a helping hand of 65 percent doesn't make COBRA cheap, but for some the subsidy will at least make coverage affordable.If you have questions about the COBRA subsidy make sure to visit our FAQ, the article and the Department of Labor's COBRA website.
The economic stimulus package signed into law last month seeks to address the high costs by subsidizing COBRA premiums for unemployed workers. Under the federal Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, or COBRA, laid-off workers can continue their former employer's health coverage for up to 18 months, but only if they pay the entire premium, plus a 2% administrative fee. Average COBRA premiums exceed $400 a month for individuals, and more than $1,000 a month for families.Read the rest of the article for additional important information about eligibility and COBRA expiry.
The stimulus package will subsidize 65% of COBRA premiums for employees who were laid off between Sept. 1 and the end of this year. If you delayed signing up for COBRA coverage when you lost your job, you have 60 days to re-enroll after you receive a notice from your employer.
“After eight years of disastrous policies that have steamrolled workers and our economy, this President has done enough harm,” said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), the chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee. “At a time when too many Americans are seeing their jobs and wages slip away, it’s despicable that this is how the Bush administration is spending its final days. I hope the new administration will work with us to quickly overturn this and other last-minute rules that open the door to more abuse in the guest worker programs and threaten the livelihoods of all workers in this country.”
![georgemiller2.jpg](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090514071020im_/http://edlabor.house.gov/blog/images/georgemiller2.jpg)
“The Growing Income Gap in the American Middle Class”
Thursday, July 31, 2008, 10:00 a.m. EDT
The increase in the minimum wage comes at an important time for the millions of Americans struggling to make ends meet. Real incomes have dropped since 2001, while the costs of gasoline, health insurance, and attending college have skyrocketed. With today’s increase, Americans who most urgently need a pay raise will get a badly needed boost.
The House Education and Labor Committee held a hearing on Tuesday, July 15 to examine the U.S. Department of Labor's record of enforcing the nation's wage and hour laws. The Government Accountability Office highlighted the results of two separate investigations requested by the chairman of the committee, U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA), into the Labor Department’s failures to fully investigate and properly address violations of the law.
Seventy years ago last month, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the landmark Fair Labor Standards Act into law. The law has provided generations of Americans with basic rights to minimum wages, overtime pay, and a ban on oppressive child labor. However, critics say that the Bush administration has failed to protect workers from a growing problem of "wage theft" by adopting weak approaches to enforcement and reducing funding and staffing levels of the Wage and Hour Division, the agency responsible for investigating complaints of wage, hour, and child labor violations.
The Committee will hold a hearing on Tuesday, July 15 to examine the U.S. Department of Labor’s record of enforcing the nation’s wage and hour laws. The Government Accountability Office will highlight the results of two separate investigations requested by Chairman George Miller into the Labor Department’s failures to fully investigate and properly address violations of the law. Seventy years ago last month, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the landmark Fair Labor Standards Act into law. The law has provided generations of Americans with basic rights to minimum wages, overtime pay, and a ban on oppressive child labor. However, critics say that the Bush administration has failed to protect workers from a growing problem of “wage theft” by adopting weak approaches to enforcement and reducing funding and staffing levels of the Wage and Hour Division, the agency responsible for investigating complaints of wage, hour, and child labor violations.