OpenMarket: Labor and Employment

Debates over public pension finance often have an abstract quality, taking place outside most people’s immediate concerns. Yet, the real-world effects can be quite tangible. That’s because underfunded pension plans can take up taxpayer dollars that could have gone to public services.

A holdover Obama regulation is costing businesses billions of dollars and workers millions of job opportunities. A survey conducted by the International Franchise Association found that the Obama joint-employer standard already costs businesses between $17 billion and $33.3 billion annually. It also represents a roadblock to job creation, with between 194,000 and 376,000 potential jobs eliminated.

This week, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Amazon employees should unionize, and that the company should welcome losing a direct line of communication to their employees. Mayor Blasio also mentioned that labor policy was not discussed when he was wooing Amazon to New York City, but he felt “strongly if they came here, the pressure to unionize deeply would win the day.”

The latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest that the economy is continuing on a steady course, at least as far as employment goes.  Wage growth is stronger than the trend of the last few years, which may be the result of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act allowing employers to pay their workers more.

Earlier this week, I took a look at legislation that has been enacted to undercut the Supreme Court’s decision last year in Janus v. AFSCME. Unfortunately, state legislatures are just getting started. Today, I’ll examine a bill introduced in Oregon.

Prior to the landmark Supreme Court decision in Janus v. AFSCME, government unions were already devising ways to keep members and dues flowing. In a previous post, I discussed some of the ideas that the National Education Association put forth to lessen the impact of a potential Supreme Court decision that ruled forced union dues unconstitutional.

This week the public comment period closes in regards to the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) proposed rule to modify the standard for joint employment. This concept determines when multiple employers are considered one for the purposes of collective bargaining and liable for unfair labor practices under the National Labor Relations Act.

The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) union contract negotiations with the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) have broken down. UTLA president Alex Caputo-Pearl called the contract offer from the school district “unacceptable.”

Today’s jobs numbers were a surprise to everyone—312,000 jobs added in December was almost twice the consensus view of economists of 176,000. Strong wage growth was also present, as was a welcome return of working age adults to the labor force (which likely contributed to a slight uptick in the unemployment rate). Black men remain one of the main beneficiaries, with a historically low unemployment rate.

There was a mix of good and bad news in the labor and employment policy space in 2018. A tremendous gain was made in the public sector. Yet inaction ruled the day in the private sector.