Labour relations

December 20, 2016

What you should know about wage subsidies

Note: This is post #14 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics. What’s the difference between a wage subsidy and a minimum wage? What is the cost of a wage subsidy to taxpayers? Continue Reading...

November 17, 2016

Now that Republicans control the government, here’s what we can expect

Because of the recent election, Republicans now control the White House, the U.S. Senate (51 percent), the House of Representatives (54 percent), 31 of the 50 state governorships (62 percent), and a record 67 of the 98 partisan state legislative chambers in the nation (68 percent). Continue Reading...

July 29, 2016

Economic and religious implications of the DNC platform

Earlier this week, I talked about the religious and economic implications of the RNC platform. As the DNC wraps up, it is time to examine the relevant points of the Democratic platform. Continue Reading...

May 19, 2016

5 Ways Obama’s New Overtime Rule Will Harm Workers

In announcing the Obama administration’s new overtime rule (for more on this news, see this explainer), Vice President Joe Biden says companies will “face a choice” to either pay their workers for the overtime that they work, or cap the hours that their salaried workers making below $47,500 at 40 hours each work week. Continue Reading...

May 19, 2016

Explainer: Obama’s New Overtime Rule

What just happened? On May 18, the Obama administration announced the publication of a new Department of Labor rule updating and expanding overtime regulations. Why did the overtime rule change? Since the 1930s some white collar jobs (i.e., Continue Reading...

March 29, 2016

Explainer: Supreme Court Rules on Conservative Challenge to Public-Sector Unions

What just happened? Earlier today the U.S. Supreme Court split 4-4 on a legal challenge to a California law that forces non-union workers to pay fees to public-employee unions. What was the case about? Continue Reading...

July 28, 2014

Teachers Unions vs. Students

Labor unions can be a force for good, especially in protecting the interest of workers against exploitation. But as with any human institution, unions can become harmful to the common good. Continue Reading...

May 08, 2014

Why McDonald’s Has Become a School for Remedial Work Skills

“Clean up your own mess. Your mother doesn’t work here.” That was a sign, printed on dot matrix printer paper, which hung in the breakroom of the McDonald’s where I worked. Continue Reading...

February 21, 2013

Like Putting a Beret on a Cowboy

“[He] belongs more in an insane asylum than at the head of a multinational corporation.” That was the reaction by a French union official to an amusingly harsh letter by Maurice Taylor, chief executive of tire maker Titan. Continue Reading...

December 11, 2012

The Separation of Union and State

When I moved to west Michigan, one of the things that struck me the most were distinct cultural differences between the different sides of the state. While I was pursuing a master’s degree at Calvin Theological Seminary, I worked for a while in the receiving department at Bissell, Inc. Continue Reading...

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