Well, we’re a little late for Labor Day, but this week we’ve got a stellar package lined up on how to make this country work better for people who work.
To start, my colleague Sarah Anderson — the country’s leading expert on CEO-worker pay gaps — shares her astounding new findings on pay inequality. The 100 biggest low wage corporations, she found, paid their CEOs well over 500 times what they paid their median workers last year — while shelling out hundreds of billions on stock price manipulation instead of wages or improvements.
At many of these companies, workers could literally be making tens of thousands more each year. No wonder Americans are fed up with corporate greed and looking at new ways to curb it, Sarah writes.
Also this week, Emily Guerra shares a firsthand account of what it’s like to work for one of these companies — in her case, Dollar General. With all that money getting wasted on executives and shareholders, associates like her make poverty wages toiling in unsafe conditions — with bad results for customers, too.
Meanwhile, with much of the country broiling in a post-Labor Day heat wave, Farrah Hassen highlights the shocking statistic that 2,000 workers die each year from extreme heat. She calls for both federal and state heat safety standards for workers in our warming world.
Finally, Algernon Austin and Dedrick Asante-Muhammad point out that it’s often Black workers who get stiffed in our unequal economy. Despite rising rates of African American employment, they write, the racial wealth divide won’t close itself on its own — it takes public policy to do that.
New This Week…
The Big Rip: Low Wage Corporations Spent Half a Trillion Inflating CEO Pay | Sarah Anderson
Why don’t low wage workers earn more? Because their bosses plowed $522 million into manipulating their stock price — and CEO paychecks — instead.
Low Wage Work Isn’t Just Bad for Employees — It Hurts Customers, Too | Emily Guerra
When companies cut corners on wages and safety, executives cash in while putting workers and customers at risk. I saw it first hand at Dollar General.
Workers Need Protection from Record-Breaking Heat | Farrah Hassen
2,000 workers die from extreme heat every year. As temperatures rise, we need federal standards for water breaks, shade, and other basic protections.
The Paradox of Progress for Black Americans | Algernon Austin and Dedrick Asante-Muhammad
This is the best economy for Black Americans in generations, but that’s not enough to close the racial wealth divide on its own.
Remembering Phil Donahue | Jim Hightower
Can mass media promote democracy over divisiveness? Here’s a guy who did.
CARTOON: The Elon-Trump Merger | Khalil Bendib
For the right of all billionaires to become trillionaires.
In Case You Missed It…
America’s Nuclear ‘Downwinders’ Deserve Justice | Aspen Coriz-Romero and Anila Lopez Marks
Countless Americans were poisoned by the nuclear arms race — and their federal compensation just expired. That’s an outrage.
If We Want Better Care, We Need a Better Tax Code | Amy Hanauer
If the wealthiest paid their fair share, we could easily fund better child care, elder care, and health care for the rest of us.
Health Care for All Should Be an Election Issue | Sonali Kolhatkar
You shouldn’t have to qualify for the Olympics to qualify for free quality health care.
Teaching About Race Is Good, Actually. States Need to Stop Banning It. | Ian Wright
Neither white students nor students of color benefit from laws that censor history, critical thinking, and open dialogue in the classroom.
