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Retail Jobs Don’t Need to Be Bad. Here’s Proof.

Eduardo Porter New York Times
Retail work does not have to pay poverty wages. New study compares work in Europe and the U.S. For all the power of market forces, from automation taking over routine tasks to globalization squeezing retailers’ margins, there is nothing inevitable about low-quality retail jobs. Social norms and political institutions can make them better, or worse.

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Veterans and the Minimum Wage

Elena Holodny Business Insider
Approximately 1.8 million veterans in payroll jobs across the US would get a raise if Congress raised the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2024. Nearly two-thirds of the veterans who would get the raise are age 40 or older, over 60% have some college experience, and nearly 70% work full time. The real federal minimum wage peaked back in 1968.

When Raising the Minimum Wage is a Bad Thing

Stephanie Luce and Jen Kern In These Times
In some of the most brutal authoritarian regimes, labor unions have been the anchor of a broad working-class movement for democracy. Think South Africa, Brazil, South Korea. Our worker movements, political movements and unions must be wary of co-optation. We are not here for one-off gains for some of us. We are here to build broader movements for all of us. The minimum wage is a tool for organizing as much as it is a policy outcome.

Reframing the Minimum-Wage Debate

Michelle Chen / David Howell The Nation / The American Prospect
Why “no job loss” is the wrong standard for setting the right wage floor.

Tidbits - November 12, 2015 - Asian Voters; Bernie Sanders (and Labor); Portside Satire; Cops and Students; $15 Wage; Football; BDS; Announcements and more...

Portside
Reader Comments: 2016 Elections - Asian American Voters, Bernie Sanders (and Labor); Portside Satire; Fight for $15; BDS, France, Israel, Palestine; Syria; Our Bodies Ourselves Needs Your Help; George Houser tribute; Skateboarders of Havana; These 24 Chains are Refusing to Open on Thanksgiving Day; How Class Works-2016 - conference proposals due

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The Fight for $15 Spreads

Personal care attendants will see their wages increase to $15 per hour in Massachusetts, while fast food workers in New York State may soon see a large pay increase as well.

Chipotle Expands Benefits: Inequality Fight Moves Beyond Wages

Ellen Meyers Christian Science Monitor
Chipotle will offer hourly employees benefits such as sick pay and tuition reimbursements starting July 1. The announcement comes as workers and advocates call for higher wages and benefits so that people in the restaurant industry can make a living without relying on public assistance.

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At Fight for $15 Convention, A Call from Clinton but Little Talk of Union

E. Tammy Kim Aljazeera America
The still fledgling campaign focuses on organizing to raise wages and delays question of union structure. No one seems sure about the shape of a fast-food union. Many formations are possible. Since wages and other employment laws differ by city and state, one could envision local or regional contracts that establish a basic compensation structure, benefits and freedom from arbitrary firing. A more ambitious version would be national in scope: a framework agreement...
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