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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

 

Another week goes by with more rumblings about a minimum wage hike.  For those keeping tabs on some of the swing votes in the Senate (in particular, Democrats who will need to be relied upon to vote along party lines to pass this legislation), a development about West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin’s wife being nominated for a position by President Joe Biden could signal an olive branch being offered to assure passage.  Time will tell.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Ford Greenlights Permanent Work From Home Option For 30,000 Employees

Hannah Denham at The Washington Post recently reported that Ford has announced plans for a permanent work from home arrangement for 30,000 of its employees.  As Ford announced during a recent virtual town hall meeting, beginning in July, workers will be able to return to the office for face to face meetings or team projects.  The rest of the time, they would be permitted to work remotely.  Of course, certain positions might require more time in the office than others, as the article points out.  However, with Ford taking steps to implement this flexible work arrangement for such a wide swath of its workforce, it might foreshadow other Motor City car companies following suit with similar work from home plans.  Stay tuned.


Senate Democrats Huddle on Minimum Wage

On Tuesday, some Senate Democrats (and Independent Senators Bernie Sanders and Angus King) convened a sit down to talk about a minimum wage proposal that could find enough support to become law.  (Remember, Democrats have majority control of the House and Senate.  So long as they can get a minimum wage bill approved, it is almost certain the White House would sign it into law.)  After prior attempts this year to raise the federal minimum wage rate to $15/hour faltered, Democrats are looking at an avenue to find enough support to get a minimum wage bill across the finish line.  As this article from Politico reports, while a $15/hour wage rate might not have enough support, $11/hour or even $12/hour might garner enough votes to assure passage.

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