Labor

Labor policy governs the relationship between workers and employers — covering wages, union rights, workplace safety, discrimination, benefits, and increasingly the gig economy. The federal minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since 2009, far below the cost of living in most U.S. cities, though more than 30 states and many cities have set higher rates. Union membership has fallen steadily from roughly 35 percent of workers in the 1950s to about 10 percent today, though recent years have seen high-profile organizing campaigns at Amazon, Starbucks, and major universities. The National Labor Relations Act gives workers the right to organize and bargain collectively; the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would significantly strengthen those protections, has passed the House but repeatedly stalled in the Senate. The gig economy has created a large class of workers classified as independent contractors — Uber drivers, DoorDash couriers, freelancers — who receive no minimum wage guarantees, health insurance, unemployment insurance, or workers' compensation, raising fundamental questions about who is an employee. Workplace safety is enforced by OSHA, which is chronically understaffed relative to the number of workplaces it oversees. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated remote work, accelerated automation anxiety, and prompted debates about paid sick leave — the U.S. is one of the few wealthy nations without a federal mandate for paid sick days.