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What I've Been Reading This Week


I came across quite a few good articles this week but perhaps one of the more thought provoking topics was an opinion piece which surmised that organized labor might be positioned for a major breakthrough.  Now many readers are likely aware that membership and the political influence of labor unions have been in decline for years...but perhaps there is a glimmer of hope here?

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


Florida Attorney Progresses With Attempt to Get $15/Hour Minimum Wage Proposal on 2020 Ballot

Earlier this year, I made note of an attorney in Florida, John Morgan, that was spearheading an effort to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot in Florida in 2020 that would seek to raise the state's minimum wage rate from $8.46/hour to $15/hour.  As The Palm Beach Post reported earlier this month, Morgan's spending of millions of dollars to collect enough signatures to get the measure on the ballot in 2020 appears to be working:  Most of the signatures needed to get the minimum wage measure on the ballot have already been collected.  I suspect this minimum wage fight will start to heat up as the 2020 election gets closer.  In a Presidential election year when turnout is typically higher than "off" year elections, voter turnout next year could help get this constitutional amendment approved.


Senator Elizabeth Warren Makes Labor a Focal Point of Campaign's Policy Proposal

Massachusetts Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren released a new policy proposal earlier this month in which she advocated for "reversing the steady decline in union membership" by taking several steps, one being barring states from passing right to work laws.  I am not necessarily surprised that Senator Warren, who is running for the Democratic nomination for President, is running to the left and embracing unions and pushing for workers' rights during the primary.  (After all, her support of a $15/hour minimum wage rate is commonplace among the 2020 Democratic Presidential candidate field.)  Whether her proposal for barring states from implementing right to work laws will benefit her come the general election (should she get the Democratic nomination) remains to be seen.  (Notably, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan, Virginia, and Florida are all right to work states...and potential swing states in 2020.)


Are We On the Verge of a Boom By Organized Labor?

On Monday, Conor Sen over at Bloomberg wrote an opinion piece and surmised that with a tight labor market and workers being more likely to up and quit their jobs, labor unions could soon find themselves in an ideal position to mount a comeback after many years of decline.  Conor suggests that with a tight labor market, unions are less timid about going on strike (as last year, more workers took part in work stoppages than in any year since back in the 1980's.)  Whether organized labor will ever get back to its heyday of last century when labor unions exerted great influence remains to be seen...but as Conor writes, there is some reason to believe organized labor could be on the upswing.

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