| | | | |  | | By Eleanor Mueller | | | | FIRST IN SHIFT: More and more U.S. workers are returning to the office, either part- or full-time. After two years of remote work, it's an adjustment for many. But for parents, they must also cope with an already-insufficient child care system decimated by the pandemic. Put a number on it: A new analysis from The Century Foundation and the Center for Economic and Policy Research, provided exclusively to Morning Shift, found that if Congress had enacted the funding for child care that was included in the now-defunct Build Back Better package , it would have created $48 billion in additional economic output from increased parental employment; $60 billion in gains for businesses and state tax revenue from decreased child care-related disruptions; and at least a $30 billion boost to the economy from the expansion of the child care sector and related industries. "Families have mostly been piecemealing it," Julie Kashen, one of the report's authors, told Morning Shift. "Many families are just not able to either afford child care for their families or not find any, just because more than half of all families live in child care deserts where there just isn't enough licensed childcare for every child." Kashen will testify on the issue before the Senate HELP Committee at a hearing Tuesday. "There's a big story to tell here," Kashen said. "We know child care costs have been skyrocketing for families over many years. They're both out of reach and growing faster than increases in the cost of food and other necessities." Families covered by the BBB proposal "will actually see their costs lowered if the policies move forward, and at a time when we're worried about rising prices." Zooming in on small biz: A new survey from Goldman Sachs found that lack of access to child care is a primary issue holding back small businesses across the U.S. Over half of small business owners said they or their employees have dealt with child care challenges during the pandemic. Eighty percent of small business owners support Congress taking action to increase access to affordable child care. GOOD MORNING. It's Monday, March 21. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on employment and immigration news, where your host today can confirm this WSJ report . Send feedback, tips and exclusives to emueller@politico.com and nniedzwiadek@politico.com. Follow us on Twitter at @eleanor_mueller and @nickniedz.
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| | | PAID LEAVE IN PURGATORY: President Joe Biden reanimated paid leave advocates earlier this month when he publicly called for reinstating a lapsed program that offered employers tax breaks for giving their workers paid time off to cope with Covid-19. But the administration has yet to take any concrete steps toward bringing back the policy, your host reports. "The relevant congressional staffers have yet to hear anything from the White House about the new plan, two people familiar with the issue on the Hill said. That outreach would be the first step toward exploring how to make the proposal, first reported by POLITICO, a reality." "One potential reason for the foot-dragging: Bringing back the teeth of the policy — requiring qualifying companies to provide employees with the benefit — is a red line for congressional Republicans." "And the alternative — extending the tax credit alone on an opt-in basis, as Congress wound up doing — is untenable to advocates, who argue that it would not expand paid leave to any new workers. Instead, they say, it would line the pockets of employers who would have chosen to offer it anyway." "Tax credits alone are not real paid leave," Dawn Huckelbridge, director of Paid Leave for All, said. "That's not what we're fighting for." MORE HILL NEWS: "Biden to send fiscal 2023 budget request on March 28," from POLITICO
| | | EDUCATION LAUNCHES PUSH AGAINST SUBMINIMUM WAGE: The Education Department announced an initiative Friday to help phase out the subminimum wage for people with disabilities by making $167 million in grants available to state agencies and their partners that come up with ways to transition such workers into regularly paid jobs. "Economic security should be available to all Americans," Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement. "Providing individuals with disabilities with a high-quality education and the services that they need to thrive will result in real pay for real jobs, empowering them and leading to greater social and economic inclusion." Workers with disabilities employed at companies paying the subminimum wage earn $3.34 per hour on average and work about 16 hours a week, according to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. That comes out to about $214 a month. Congressional Democrats hailed the move: "It's completely unacceptable that some workers with disabilities are still paid subminimum wages simply because they have a disability," Senate HELP Chair Patty Murray said in a statement. "I'm glad the Department of Education is taking this really important step to help eliminate subminimum wages for workers with disabilities as we continue fighting to ban the practice outright." DOL WARNS AGAINST USING CRYPTOCURRENCY FOR RETIREMENT PLANS: The Labor Department told administrators of retirement plans not to use cryptocurrency earlier this month, The Washington Post's Michelle Singletary reports. "The department's directive follows President Biden's executive order this month calling for a review of the government's regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies. Biden's order talks about the volatility of cryptocurrency, but it also signals an acceptance of the viability of digital currencies and a lot of concern that it could lead retirement plans to prematurely embrace the investment as an option for employees."
| | | ANXIETY SETS IN AMID RETURN TO OFFICE: Employers are embracing a workplace atmosphere reminiscent of pre-pandemic times even as a new subvariant of the Omicron coronavirus spurs concerns, The New York Times' Emma Goldberg and Lananh Nguyen report. "After several false starts in calling workers back, company leaders now seem eager to press forward. A flurry of return-to-office plans have rolled out in recent weeks, with businesses including American Express, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Microsoft calling some workers back to their desks." "Many of those companies followed state and local governments in easing Covid-19 restrictions, arguing that ending mask mandates could make workplaces more pleasant. But some workers, especially those with compromised immunity or unvaccinated children, feel uncomfortable with the rush back to open floor plans." RELATED: " As workers return to the office, experts see early signs of more driving," from The Washington Post
| | | FIRST IN SHIFT: Baggage handlers, cabin cleaners and other contracted airport workers organizing with SEIU are planning a series of actions March 30 in more than 20 cities to call on American, Delta and United Airlines CEOs to "guarantee good, union jobs in every U.S. airport." The cities include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Newark, New York, Portland, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. In the home base of each of the above airlines, the workers will call on the CEOs to sign the "Good Airports Pledge" committing to good jobs, benefits and union rights for all. The workers also plan to launch new organizing drives in Charlotte and Phoenix. By the numbers: The union will release new data revealing that 64 percent of contracted airport workers are people of color, and that contracted airport workers make 40 percent less than air transportation industry workers overall. Black contracted airport workers make 40 percent less than their white coworkers. "Amid a national reckoning and wave of workers exercising their power, airport workers are building on years of organizing," SEIU president Mary Kay Henry said in a statement to Morning Shift. "They're fed up with a system where Black and brown workers make tens of thousands of dollars less than their white peers, and they're taking action." SCHULTZ RETURNS TO STARBUCKS AMID UNIONIZATION WAVE: Howard Schultz, who will return as interim CEO of Starbucks next month, has a long history of shutting down unionization efforts at the chain, the Associated Press' Dee-Ann Durbin reports. "He took it really personally that his workers wanted to be part of a union, because he thought with him in charge they wouldn't need it," said Pam Blauman-Schmitz, a retired union representative who worked to organize Starbucks' first stores in the early 1980s. "He would say stuff like, 'Maybe you need unions in the coal mines, but not at Starbucks stores.'" Roundup: "Six U.S. Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since December, and at least 140 more in 27 states have filed petitions for union elections." MORE UNION NEWS: "Canadian Pacific Railway Work Stoppage Threatens New Supply-Chain Snarl," from The Wall Street Journal AND: " Union workers at Chevron refinery prepare for strike on Monday," from Reuters
| | | | DON'T MISS POLITICO'S INAUGURAL HEALTH CARE SUMMIT ON 3/31: Join POLITICO for a discussion with health care providers, policymakers, federal regulators, patient representatives, and industry leaders to better understand the latest policy and industry solutions in place as we enter year three of the pandemic. Panelists will discuss the latest proposals to overcome long-standing health care challenges in the U.S., such as expanding access to care, affordability, and prescription drug prices. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | | — Opinion: "Want to protect the health of older Americans? Increase immigrant labor," from The Dallas Morning News — "Two years later, remote work has changed millions of careers," from CNN — " New survey says these are the 3 most annoying co-worker habits — here's how to handle them," from CNBC — "Manufacturers With Ties to Russia Struggle to Unwind," from The Wall Street Journal — Opinion: "I left NYC to work remotely in Colombia for almost 2 months. I loved it so much I plan to do it every year ," from Business Insider — "Thank God it's . . . Wednesday? Hybrid work is scrambling the days as we knew them," from The Boston Globe — Opinion: "Americans rediscover labor unions," from The Seattle Times — " How older workers can push back against the reality of ageism," from CNBC — "Here's what to wear when you go back to the office," from the New York Post — Opinion: "The future of work is hybrid, seamless and inclusive," from The Seattle Times THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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