Work and Economy
July 15, 2014 -
Eighty workers and activists gathered at Charleston's Avery Research Center on July 8 to celebrate recent union victories in South Carolina and to discuss their plans to "Organize the South." Thelma Frasier, who has helped lead the campaign to demand a $15 an hour minimum wage and a union for fast food workers, was among the featured panelists and reports on the event.
July 8, 2014 -
A new Census Bureau report finds a dramatic surge in the past decade in the number of Americans living in communities with concentrated poverty, with the greatest increase in North Carolina. Other states that experienced big jumps include Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina.
June 20, 2014 -
Income inequality in the U.S. began growing dramatically around the time unionization rates began plummeting. Can the current push to organize the South reverse the trend?
June 13, 2014 -
A recent study looked at the costs associated with corrupt government, showing that corruption is taking a heavy toll on taxpayers in Southern states -- an average of $1,308 annually per capita in the most corrupt states, which are concentrated in the region.
June 13, 2014 -
We tend to think that promoting anger at big business is a theme of the Left, but conservative libertarians such as David Brat, who defeated House Majority Leader Eric Cantor this week in Virginia's GOP primary, have their own version of this critique.
June 6, 2014 -
"Our families cannot continue to struggle on Walmart's poverty pay and constantly changing schedules while Walmart and the Walton family make billions from our work," says one striking mother who works for the Arkansas-based retail giant.
June 4, 2014 -
A new conservative advocacy group called Carolina Rising says a falling unemployment rate is good news for North Carolina's economy. But economists warn of ominous developments behind the numbers, including people dropping out of the workforce and a shift toward low-wage jobs. Meanwhile, state lawmakers are considering new cuts to unemployment benefits.
