Prices paid by production and non-supervisory workers (the CPI-W) rose 9.7% as compared to June 2021, a 40-year high. This is even higher than the 9.1% for the headline Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) which also hit a 40-year high. This CPI includes prices for goods and services bought by professionals, supervisors and managers, and businesspeople, as well as workers.

The increase in annual inflation from 9.2% in May to 9.7% in June has led many economists to predict that the Federal Reserve may raise short-term interest rates by a full one percent at their next meeting later in July. Before the latest inflation report, expectations were that the Fed would raise interest rates by ¾ of one percent, the same as in their June meeting.

Higher interest rates make mortgages, car loans and credit cards more expensive, putting a drag on consumer spending. Interest rates for bank loans for smaller businesses as well as bonds sold by large corporations are also rising.

For example, gasoline prices, which are up almost 60% from a year ago, reflect the higher oil prices in the wake of the U.S. economic sanctions on Russia. Western oil giants such as Shell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron and British Petroleum are not pumping more oil to make up for the lack of Russian oil, instead they are seeing their profits triple or more as prices rise but their costs do not.

The cost of rents and owners’ housing is up “only” 5.5 to 5.8%, but this makes up a third of the CPI. While the price of homes and the cost of mortgages continue to rise, this just makes home buying less affordable. This increases the demand for rentals, causing rents to rise.

An even faster increase in interest rates is increasing the chances of a recession in the near future. Scattered reports of large companies laying off workers finally showed up in the weekly new claims for unemployment insurance, which jumped to 244,000 for the week ending July 9. While low compared to some of the records set with the pandemic in 2020, it is still the highest number of new applications since November of 2021.

The next recession shows few signs of being as steep as the one in 2020 with COVID-19, or the 2007 to 2009 recession with the greatest financial crisis in the United States since the 1930s. However the typical Keynesian government responses of lower interest rates and more government spending are unlikely to happen. The Federal Reserve is focused on raising interest rates to fight inflation and has said that a recession may be necessary to bring inflation down. The massive federal government aid for extended and expanded unemployment benefits, eviction and foreclosure protections, and increased food stamps, as well as easier access to health insurance and a moratorium on student loan payments are almost certain not to come back with Republicans holding half the Senate and a couple of conservative Democratic senators, such as Manchin of West Virginia, able to block more social spending.

#SanJoséCA #wages #inflation

The ESPs are currently negotiating their contract. At stake is higher wages, but the district has said that certain ESPs must give up their breaks in order to get the wage increases. Members of the Minneapolis Federation of Teacher Local 59 ESP chapter members expressed that they will not give up breaks for higher wages, that both should be on the table.

The school workers who serve kids, and who are impacted by this issue, currently work for the lowest of wages – at $13.19 per hour. It has been proposed to raise starting wages to $15 per hour, but then the district will not give breaks to the ESPs, most of who work split shifts.

During the public comment, many ESPs spoke of the difficulty of their jobs, of working short-staffed at some schools, of struggling to make ends meet on the paltry wages and having to work a second or third job.

The low pay has meant that many ESPs have left the district for better paying jobs. Currently there are 60 unfilled ESP positions in the district, which means that a lot of ESPs have do more work with fewer people, and also on lower pay. In one high school, over a five-year period, they had staffing shortages that resulted in only having full staff of Special Education Assistants for a single month. This same high school started the school year with 32 DCD (Developmental Cognitive Disabilities) students and only seven Special Education Assistants to work with them.

ESPs in Minneapolis have had their step increases frozen during the negotiations, so many staff have not seen a raise since 2016.

According the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper, there is a shortage of school support staff across the state of Minnesota, and the same issues that face Minneapolis Public schools are faced by school districts in the state.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #teachers #Minnesota #wages #TeachersUnions

Step pay increases

Currently the average county worker gets one step a year, which represents about a 5% increase in hourly pay. This increase is essential because Hennepin County pays its workers less than other counties in Minnesota. The county proposal to eliminate steps and move to a 2.5 % “merit raise” came as a shock to union negotiators and rank-and-file members alike.

“Who is it that you value? We will have to play the game of who has brown-nosed to their supervisor to be able to get any kind of a merit-based pay. Do you value our everyday workers who are doing the hard work of serving your residents? Or highly paid top executives? Do you value equal pay for equal work?” Grace Baltich, president of AFSCME 34, asked the commissioners.

“The county is looking to break the promise that you made to your workers. First of all, introducing that idea at the second to last mediation session to a process that's been going on since May is frankly shameful,” said Jim Ahrens in supporting step pay increases. Ahrens is vice president of the Hennepin AFSCME Policy Committee with 26 years working for the county.

Equal pay, equal treatment

The county proposal also maintains unequal pay between Senior Social Workers and Public Health Nurses. Currently Public Health Nurses make a top pay of $25,000 more than Senior Social Workers for doing the same work.

Speaking to the wage disparity between Social Workers and Public Health Nurses, Sheila Matson, a Social Worker, asked the commissioners: “How would you feel if you made $25,000 less a year than your co-commissioner sitting right next to you for doing the same work?”

Sam Gutierrez stated: “This is one of the richest counties in the state of Minnesota, one of the most powerful counties in Minnesota. This county supposedly prides itself on valuing workers and valuing diversity,” but added, “The disciplinary process is used against workers of color to terminate workers of color at twice the rate they're employed.”

Hennepin County is flush with money

A financial analysis conducted by a Labor Economist at AFSCME International found the county's finances in excellent health, citing its AAA rating from Moody's Standard and Poor and its strong reserve funds. Recent county board expenditures also reflect confidence in the county's financial situation.

In Sept of 2017 the board authorized the purchase of the Thrivent Financial Building and an adjoining parking lot for a combined price of over $66 million. On July 31 the board approved big increases for top county management: 10.7% for the county administrator, 19.9% for assistant administrators and 10.9% for department directors.

“If there is money for new buildings, increasing administrative pay and hiring consultants,” argued Ali Fuhrman, president of AFSCME Local 2822, “then there certainly is money to pay the people that keep this institution moving.”

Fuhrman also highlighted the board's payment of $180,000 to Mercer Inc., a consultant firm, to “reform compensation at the county” and its holding of a closed door meeting on Nov. 22 to discuss labor strategies. Commissioner Peter McLaughlin passed the motion for the payment and the closed door meeting. McLaughlin barely held on to his seat in the primary election, where Angela Conley challenged him.

Deb Konechne, a Public Health Nurse framed the issues, “Is Hennepin County riding on the coattails of the Janus decision in order to pry takebacks from our workers? Hennepin County is looking more and more like a corporate model that aims to concentrate funds in executives and property while trying to cut from those of us who do the important work of serving the members of our community. Steps are the wage adjustments that allow us to get to the pay level we should be making as we gain experience in our positions.”

Over 4000 AFSCME workers are in negotiations with Hennepin County. They vow to continue their fight to maintain steps and get fair wages with call in days to county commissioners. They return to the bargaining table August 20.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #Minnesota #AFSCME #wages

Hammond, IN – By 4:00 p.m. Sept. 14, the negotiating committee from UAW Local 2335 had reached a tentative agreement with Lear Corporation. Over 700 workers walked off the job Sept. 13 demanding an end to the two-tier wage structure. In a major victory in the auto industry, the employer agreed to abolish the double standard in wages. Workers will return to work on Sept. 15 and have yet to ratify the agreement.

Fight Back! caught up with Mike Elliot, the chair of the Union Solidarity Committee of UAW Local 551 at the Ford assembly plant in Chicago. His local is the only local in the UAW that has a standing committee like this. Its mission is to build solidarity with other unions and social justice groups and mobilize members from the plant to picket lines, fights for justice, for women’s rights, human rights and even anti-eviction campaigns.

“Without solidarity, none of this would be possible. We set up shifts and brought out a great number of our members to the pickets lines at Lear,” Elliot said. “It was announced this afternoon that Lear Corporation agreed to abolish the two-tier wage structure and increase workers at the top by 1.5%”. The details of the agreement have not been made public yet, but workers on the picket lines were celebrating their fight today.

Elliot expressed how important this is to the 4500 workers at the assembly plant. “Our contract expires next year on Sept. 15, 2015. This is a major blow to what divides the workers: a two-tiered wage structure. You cannot survive long if you have people working next to one another doing the same work and one person is paid half of the other person.” Members of UAW Local 551 will be carefully building for their fight next year to dump the two-tier system there, he added.

#HammondIN #PeoplesStruggles #AutoUnitedAutoWorkers #UAW #Indiana #Workers #LearCorporation #AutoWorkers #wages