Labor and Trump Administration Dr. Mary Gatta Associate Professor, Sociology CUNY-Guttman

Current labor market Trump inherited a strong labor market (January Jobs Report, 2017) Job growth (added 227,000 jobs in January and has averaged 183,000 over the past three months) The retail, construction and financial industries accounted for much of the hiring last month Low unemployment (4.8%) Average hourly earnings are up 2.5 percent over the year (less than last month) Growth in Retail, Food/Hospitality, Health Care, and Construction

Concerns… Minimum Wage Federal minimum wage: $7.25/hour legislation to raise it to $10.10 Lost 9.6% of its purchasing power Workers are older than you think! 88% of all affected workers are at least 20 years old; Average age: 35 35.5% are at least 40 years old; 56% are women 44% have some college experience Subminimum wage: $2.13/hour for tipped workers Data: Economic Policy Institute:http://www.epi.org/publication/wage-workers-older-88- percent-workers-benefit/

Concerns…Social Security Solvent until 2034– then can pay out 75% of benefits if we do nothing Critical for retirement security Insurance program workers pay into with their paychecks Trump campaigned NOT to cut social security but--- Concerns about benefit cuts Raising the retirement age-- reproduces inequality Privatization-- increase administrative costs; and increase financial firms fees

Concerns…Wage Theft Denial of wages or benefits that are rightfully owed to an employee New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles (Bernardt, et al 2008) 26 percent of low-wage workers had been paid less than the minimum wage, with 60 percent underpaid by more than $1 per hour. Over 75% of workers who worked over 40 hours did not receive any overtime pay. New Jersey Shore Restaurant Workers (Gatta and Unrath, 2012) 70% of workers reported they did not receive overtime pay. 40% reported that they had worked off the clock Under Secretary Perez- Since 2009, USDOL recovered $1.6 billion in workers’ back wages. In 2015, it recovered an average of $700,000 every day, which the Wage and Hour Division explains is “enough for more than 3,600 working families to buy a week’s groceries

Concerns…Paid Sick Days Workers must work sick or get fired Not all workers have equal access through their jobs (Gould, 2015) 87% of the top 10% of earners 30% of the bottom 25% of earners NJ Shore restaurant workers (Gatta and Unrath, 2012) 92% did not have paid sick days 80% went to restaurant work sick 50% coughed/sneezed on food Public health issue (CDC estimates 80% norovirus transmission tied to food workers)

Concerns…Paid Family Leave Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) 12 weeks of job-protected UNPAID leave Large company (50 or more employees) Work at company for a year Countries WITHOUT Paid Leave Swaziland, Lesotho, Papua New Guinea AND United States FAMILY ACT (Sen. Gillibrand and Rep. DeLauro)– bill to establish a paid leave system New Jersey does have PAID Leave (NJ Family Leave Insurance)

Andrew Puzder– Labor Secretary nominee CEO of CKE restaurants (Hardees, Carl Jrs)

Under his watch-- CKE restaurants have been investigated by USDOL for wage violations/theft and ordered to pay back pay about 60 percent of all Labor Department investigations of Carl's Jr. restaurants found violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act CKE Restaurants has established a record of multiple lawsuits: Discrimination Not paying overtime, accused of firing workers for protesting against low wages CKE restaurants have repeatedly objectified women CKE restaurants looking to automate work

On Labor Issues… Against raising the minimum wage Against expanding the overtime rule for managers Against paid sick days (79% of his workers report going to work sick, ROC, 2017) Against NLRB “joint-employer” designation for franchisees which would hold parent company accountable for labor violations in franchisees stores

What can we do? Labor Dept.– necessary for working families economic security and safe working conditions Family leave/fair wages/equal pay--- “family values” Connections between health and work (occupational health and safety; paid sick days) Voice your concerns about Puzder #AntiLaborSecretary -- get informed! Reach out to your representatives about Puzder Learn about workers at CKE restaurants– ROC report (2017): Puzder’s Labor Problems Support local initiatives #sanctuaryrestaurants Local Paid Sick Days and minimum wage legislation Equal Pay in NJ (Senator Beck—voted against)-- Action Table on Town Equal Pay Resolution