SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
us department of labor
Warren Tells Fed Chair Powell to 'Cancel His Summer Vacation' and Cut Rates Now
"He's been warned over and over again that waiting too long risks driving the economy into a ditch," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren. "The jobs data is flashing red."
Aug 02, 2024
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Friday demanded that the chairman of the Federal Reserve immediately "cancel his summer vacation" and slash interest rates following the release of government data showing weaker-than-expected job growth and an increase in the unemployment rate last month.
Warren (D-Mass.), an outspoken critic of the Fed's aggressive interest rate increases, argued in a social media post that Fed Chair Jerome Powell "made a serious mistake not cutting interest rates" at the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) meeting earlier this week. The central bank's policy-setting group opted to hold rates at 5.25% to 5.5% for the 12th consecutive month.
The FOMC's next scheduled meeting isn't until September 17.
"The jobs data is flashing red," the senator wrote. "Powell needs to cancel his summer vacation and cut rates now—not wait six weeks."
The U.S. Labor Department said Friday that employers added 114,000 jobs in July, the lowest number since April. Economists projected 175,000 new jobs.
"Today's report shows the Fed erred in postponing rate cuts to September," said Bilal Baydoun, director of policy and research at the Groundwork Collaborative. "A recession is not inevitable, but it is solely in the hands of the Fed to deliver a major rate cut immediately. Workers should not have to pay the price for the Fed's failure to follow the data."
"Powell's delay is hurting millions of Americans and raising the risks of a recession. The only person it may help is Trump."
The jobs data came two days after Powell said a September rate cut is "on the table" but declined to commit to reducing borrowing costs, even though inflation has cooled dramatically since its peak in June 2022 and higher interest rates have hammered lower-income Americans. Warren and other Democratic lawmakers have also blamed Fed policy for worsening the nation's housing crisis.
Elise Gould, a senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute, argued the new jobs data "suggests the Fed has waited too long to lower interest rates."
"More people entered the labor market in search of jobs, but many haven't found them," Gould wrote. "Nominal wage growth continues to edge down, falling to 3.6% year over year, its lowest in two years. While more recent comparisons are more volatile, the deceleration is clear across all measures. There is no evidence of inflationary pressures coming from the labor market."
The Fed's refusal to cut interest rates in the face of mounting evidence that a reduction is warranted—and potentially necessary to avert a recession—has raised concerns that Powell is succumbing to political pressure from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, who has warned the central bank chief against cutting rates before the November election.
Trump initially nominated Powell to serve as Fed chair in 2017, and President Joe Biden renominated him for another four-year term in 2021.
In an interview last month, Trump said that if he's elected to another four years in the White House in November, he would let Powell serve the rest of his term, "especially if I thought he was doing the right thing."
Powell insisted at a press conference Wednesday that "we don't change anything in our approach to address other factors, like the political calendar."
JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the U.S., is forecasting a half-point rate cut in both September and November. The FOMC's November meeting is scheduled to begin a day after the presidential election.
While Trump and Republicans in Congress have attempted to characterize any pre-election rate cuts as politically motivated, Democratic lawmakers and watchdogs have argued that refusing to cut rates amid overwhelming evidence in favor would itself be a political decision—one that could help the former president win the 2024 race.
"The Fed should have already cut rates!" the Revolving Door Project, an anti-corruption group, wrote on social media Friday. "Powell's delay is hurting millions of Americans and raising the risks of a recession. The only person it may help is Trump."
"Powell's maintenance of a high interest rate environment improves Trump's 2024 electoral prospects—and a victory for Trump would be a death knell for democracy and the climate," the group added.
Keep ReadingShow Less
'War on Workers': Unions Denounce GOP Efforts to Undo Pro-Labor Biden Rules
"It is absolutely critical that those who want to stand with workers do so united in their opposition to these attacks on pro-worker rulemaking."
Jul 10, 2024
Nearly 50 labor organizations representing a wide range of U.S. workers—from teachers to letter carriers to mine workers—are urging members of Congress this week to oppose Republican efforts to roll back a slew of Biden administration rules aimed at protecting the nation's workforce from abusive employers and unscrupulous Wall Street investors.
Led by the AFL-CIO, the country's largest federation of labor unions, the groups sent a letter to lawmakers on Tuesday warning about the GOP's attempted use of the Congressional Review Act (CRA) to overturn pro-worker rules enacted by the Department of Labor and other U.S. agencies.
Since it became law in 1996, the CRA has been used to overturn just 20 federal rules, with 16 of those rolled back by the Republican-dominated 115th Congress during the first two years of former President Donald Trump's first term.
"Plainly, the CRA has become the latest weapon in a war on workers waged by special interests."
The new letter from labor unions lists more than a dozen recently finalized or pending rules that are in congressional Republicans' crosshairs, including ones designed to expand overtime pay protections for millions of workers and shield employees from junk fees in retirement investment advice—a change that's projected to save workers $55 billion over the next decade.
"Plainly, the CRA has become the latest weapon in a war on workers waged by special interests," the letter states. "Each of the above resolutions, some of which already passed the Congress, carry a threat of permanently undermining critical gains for working people across the country."
"It is absolutely critical that those who want to stand with workers do so united in their opposition to these attacks on pro-worker rulemaking," the letter continues. "Each vote for one of these CRA disapproval resolutions is a vote against labor," the letter continues. "We ask that you not allow private equity, the financial industry, multinational franchisors, unionbusters, or other special interests to use this tool to undo the progress that workers are making via federal rulemaking."
Should any of the Republican CRA resolutions pass both the House and the Senate, the labor organizations urged President Joe Biden to use his veto power to keep the rules in place—something he's done more than 10 times since taking office in 2024.
The labor groups' call came a day before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce convened a hearing Wednesday to consider H.J. Res. 142, a Republican-authored CRA resolution aimed at overturning a Labor Department rule that would—as Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su put it—"get junk fees out of the retirement savings market."
The rule is scheduled to take effect in September.
Liz Zelnick, director of the Economic Security and Corporate Power Program at Accountable.US, said in a statement Tuesday that the CRA resolution introduced by Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.) "was written by and for Wall Street lobbyists, and any vote for it is a vote against increasing retirement savings for middle-class workers."
"Rubber-stamping this resolution means giving greedy retirement advisers a free pass to put their own interests ahead of their clients—undermining retirement security for millions," said Zelnick. "Right-wing lawmakers are eager to do the dirty work of their big bank megadonors while saying no to lower costs for everyday families. These members should answer why they believe the workers they represent are undeserving of the same quality of advice from their financial advisers."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Biden DOL Finalizes Independent Contractor Rule to 'Help Protect Workers'
Praising the policy, one economist said that employer misclassification "robs workers of labor rights and threatens their economic security."
Jan 09, 2024
Democrats in Congress and unions were among those applauding on Tuesday as the U.S. Department of Labor announced its final rule to provide guidance on when employers can treat workers as independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
"Misclassifying employees as independent contractors is a serious issue that deprives workers of basic rights and protections," acting Labor Secretary Julie Su said in a statement. "This rule will help protect workers, especially those facing the greatest risk of exploitation, by making sure they are classified properly and that they receive the wages they've earned."
Welcoming the rule—set to take effect in March—the Teamsters said on social media that "it's long past time for American employers to recognize and respect their employees, to stop exploiting loopholes to pay workers less and deprive them of benefits, and to honor every worker's right to organize and collectively bargain a union contract."
\xe2\x80\x9cMisclassifying employees as independent contractors is a serious issue that deprives workers of basic rights and protections.\xe2\x80\x9d\n\xc2\xa0\nActing U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su didn\xe2\x80\x99t sugarcoat it on Tuesday as the Department of Labor issued a new ruling on worker misclassification and the\xe2\x80\xa6— (@)
Economic Policy Institute (EPI) president Heidi Shierholz highlighted that the rule rescinds a Trump-era
policy and, like Su, stressed how "employer misclassification of workers as independent contractors robs workers of labor rights and threatens their economic security."
"Many workers are harmed by employer misclassification—particularly those in the lowest-wage and most difficult jobs, such as nail salon workers, truck drivers, and construction workers," Shierholz said. "A previous EPI analysis found that in 11 commonly misclassified occupations, workers misclassified as independent contractors lose out on thousands of dollars in earnings and benefits per year, compared with workers doing the same job with employee status."
"Since this rule was proposed, opponents of this rule have waged an all-out misinformation war, claiming that independent entrepreneurs and business owners will now be forced into employee status against their will," the economist noted. "The reality is that if the Trump administration's rule was allowed to stand, workers with far less power to actually set the terms and conditions of their employment—not bonafide contractors—would have continued to lose out on basic worker protections, earnings, and benefits to which they should be entitled."
The Washington Postreported Tuesday that "the rule is expected to face an onslaught of legal challenges from companies. It has faced extensive criticism from businesses and industry groups, including those representing Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and other ride-share and delivery platforms. But labor officials say they have carefully considered possible litigation and are confident that the rule would withstand a court challenge."
Some Republicans in Congress are already taking aim at the policy, with U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Ranking Member Bill Cassidy (R-La.) threatening to challenge it under the Congressional Review Act.
Meanwhile, Senate HELP Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime labor rights advocate, praised the administration's new move to "stop unscrupulous employers from deliberately misclassifying their workers and cheating them out of hard-earned wages," adding that "when 60% of Americans live paycheck-to-paycheck, workers need labor laws that protect them, not allow them to be ripped off."
Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) Chair Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) also offered praise, saying that "I am thrilled to see the Biden administration continuing to put its pro-worker commitment into action with this new final rule."
"With gig work playing a larger role in our economy, it's more important than ever that workers are protected under federal law and have access to all the rights to which they're entitled," she said. "This new policy will
ensure that the workers who have fallen through the cracks—from rideshare and delivery drivers to janitors and home care workers—will finally be able to access Social Security benefits and unemployment insurance and be guaranteed overtime and minimum wage pay."
"The rule is also an essential check on large, wealthy corporations who have skirted their obligations to these workers even as their labor makes the companies" profits possible," she continued, adding that the CPC looks forward to working with President Joe Biden and Su to ensure it "is implemented fairly and equitably across the country and industries."
The department's announcement came a day after Biden renominated Su as labor secretary—a decision also celebrated by progressives, including Jayapal and Sanders, who called on the Senate to stop stalling.
"Julie Su has spent her career as a dedicated public servant, fighting tirelessly for working people, especially the lowest-wage workers, domestic workers, immigrant workers, and workers of color," Jayapal pointed out. "She deeply understands how the Department of Labor should work and the needs of our modern economy."
"There is so much work still to do to raise wages, lower costs, and fight for the working people of this country, and we need Labor Secretary Su to achieve it," the CPC leader added. "We urge the Senate to move swiftly and finally confirm this extremely qualified nominee."
Sanders said that "I strongly support Julie Su's renomination to serve as Secretary of Labor. Her strong pro-worker track record as acting Secretary shows beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is the right person for the job. Her tireless and consistent work for working families across the country should continue as secretary of labor and I urge my colleagues to support her nomination."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular