Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
Anastasia Christman and Brian Chen at InEquality.org write—House Approves Worker Rights Bill in Face of Growing Labor Backlash Against Trickle-Down Policies
For years, workers have been sounding a clarion call to those in power: they’re tired of being left behind in an allegedly booming economy. Hundreds of thousands are taking to the streets and flooding statehouses to demand better working conditions, and by extension, stronger communities.
The number of workers walking off the job to achieve a more equitable economy is greater than at any time since the mid-1980s. These workers, to paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr., are modelling the power and importance of collective action and democratic principles—and in so doing, “enlarging the strength of the nation.”
On February 6, the U.S. House of Representatives took a major step to recognize and advance workers’ hard-fought efforts by voting 224-194 to pass with bipartisan support the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.
A landmark bill that would dramatically reform federal labor laws, the PRO Act strengthens workers’ ability to unionize and collectively bargain for a contract; imposes stronger remedies when employers interfere with workers’ rights; and cracks down on employers’ ability to mislabel their workers as contractors and therefore deny them the opportunity to organize under federal law. [...]
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“Equality is the heart and essence of democracy, freedom, and justice, equality of opportunity in industry, in labor unions, schools and colleges, government, politics, and before the law. There must be no dual standards of justice, no dual rights, privileges, duties, or responsibilities of citizenship. No dual forms of freedom.” ~~A. Philip Randolph, Autobiography of a People: Three Centuries of African American History Told by Those Who Lived It. (2000)
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At Daily Kos on this date in 2007—CSI: Federal Reserve:
Yesterday Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, stated that the US would be better off not imposing trade barriers. In other news: water still wet. But there was something of a dry spot in Bernanke's talk, a little cloud of unease scudding across the blue sky of the billions corporations are raking in.
An economic mystery that worried the top money guy.
Income inequality has increased in the United States over the last three decades, Bernanke said. Income at the 90th percentile of wage earners ‚those close to the top—rose 34 percent between 1979 and 2006, while the wage at the 10th percentile rose a scant 4 percent in that period, he said.
The percentage of total income for the top 1% doubled over that period, going from 8% to 16%, and making it a larger portion of overall income than in any period this side of the Great Depression. This inequity is becoming so severe, that the folks in charge of the economy are now worried that it's making our economy inflexible and leading to instability.
On today’s Kagro in the Morning show: Things you need to know for the weekend, some of which I read, others of which you should. Backstory on Burisma. Trump's plan to kill knowable reality. Trolls jammed IA. How much is Trump stealing through his travel? Emboldened Trump targets enemies.
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