Speaking of unionizing efforts, organized labor in the state of Illinois is aggressively pushing to create a state constitutional “right to collective bargaining” in Illinois for all employees. In fact, unions have donated $5 million thus far in support of Amendment 1, an initiative petition on the November 8 ballot that proposes to add a…
In the context of the ongoing push to ease union organizing (think PRO Act, Biden being ‘most union-friendly president’ in history, NLRB becoming more advocacy-oriented, etc.), the state of Illinois does not intend to be left behind. In fact, earlier this year, the legislature passed a joint resolution to place a constitutional amendment on the…
Notwithstanding the economic realities of the ongoing labor shortage and the BLS data showing wages exceeding $15 per hour in supermarkets and restaurants across the country, advocates continue to push. In Nebraska, a host of community organizations announced the launch of Raise the Wage Nebraska, a 2022 ballot initiative campaign that would increase the current…
Elsewhere over the Labor Day weekend, activist groups – including SEIU and other labor unions – held rallies and protests in support of Amendment 2 on the November ballot. Amendment 2 is a constitutional amendment proposed – and funded – by Orlando attorney John Morgan to increase the state minimum wage to $15 per hour…
Tune up the DeLorean! The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday passed a resolution eliminating the 1982 deadline (yes, 38 years after the deadline passed) for states to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The change comes largely in response to Virginia – becoming a democratic trifecta state in 2019 for the first…
Shortly before Christmas, the Florida Supreme Court wrapped up and handed Orlando attorney/activist John Morgan a big present with its approval of a proposed state constitutional amendment that would increase the minimum wage in the Sunshine State to $15/hour in 2026. Morgan was instrumental in the drafting of the proposed amendment and has essentially been…
Many of our readers likely are young enough to have only heard of the most recent effort to amend the US Constitution with adoption of the Equal Rights Amendment in history classes, but believe it or not, ERA is back in the news. To refresh your memory, amendments to the Constitution require a two-thirds majority…
Speaking of minimum wages, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has asked the Florida Supreme Court to review a proposed Constitutional Amendment that would mandate a $15 minimum. The proposed amendment calls for the $8.46 minimum wage to rise to $10 on September 30, 2021 and increase $1 each year thereafter until reaching $15 per hour…
As expected, earlier this month, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made good on his promise to veto legislation increasing the state minimum wage to $15 per hour. The bill would have allowed the minimum wage, currently $8.25 an hour, to increase to $10.10 on January 1 and then by $1.25 for each of the subsequent…
Minimum wage initiatives, another issue that was initially surfaced by President Obama, continue to make headlines in states and cities across the country. Just this past week, the Urban County Council for Lexington, Kentucky voted to raise the minimum wage in the city from the current federal floor of $7.25/hour to a minimum of $10.10,…
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