In a searing indictment of U.S. trade policies, EPI’s Jeff Faux writes that Washington’s fixation with trade agreements has diverted attention from the more important question of how to put American workers back on the historic track of rising wages. Faux calls on Trump to announce an indefinite freeze on any new trade negotiations until he commits to a comprehensive agenda for making American workers competitive and balancing our trade with the rest of the world.
Millions of workers should have gotten a raise on December 1st—the day that should have marked the implementation of the Department of Labor’s updated overtime rule, but last week a judge in Texas put the rule on hold in an ill-reasoned decision. EPI’s Ross Eisenbrey spoke at a media event along with Senators Elizabeth Warren, Chuck Schumer, Patty Murray, Al Franken, and other members of Congress who read stories from workers who would have been eligible to get overtime pay if the rule had gone in to effect. Several speakers called on President-elect Trump to support the updated rules.
On Tuesday, thousands of working people across the country participated in a demonstration in favor of a $15 minimum wage. EPI’s president Lawrence Mishel released a statement on increasing the minimum wage to $15. “A bold proposal such as $15 is needed to lift the earnings of the bottom third of the workforce, generate robust wage growth overall and fuel economic growth.”
