CHICAGO - Fast-food workers in Chicago and around the nation are leading into Labor Day with another round of one-day strikes Thursday.

Steven Ashby, a University of Illinois professor who specializes in labor and employment relations, said these strikes have picked up momentum this year, partly because of their new approach. Instead of targeting one company, in Chicago, they target low-wage industries - fast food and retail - and strike for one day.

Another difference, Ashby said, is that religious leaders go back to their jobs with them the next day to make sure there's no retaliation. He said that empowers the workers.

"Scores of clergy just stand with the workers, to the bosses," he said, "and basically say to them, 'Look, it was legal for them to walk off the job. If you punish them, we're going to be back in much larger numbers.' "

In St. Louis, 40 people who had hours cut or lost jobs after a one-day strike all got them back after community leaders walked in and talked with their managers.

Ashby said he believes weak labor laws have caused the labor movement to change its approach.

"So, they're turning to these innovative tactics of labor-community coalitions, one-day strike, hitting an entire industry, organizing for the long run," he said. "And it does seem to be working. The morale of the workers is extremely high."

Ashby said today's fast-food workers are not teenagers living at home. The average employee in that industry is 28 years old, and many are working there after losing higher-paying jobs.

"We have the worst income gap we've had in 80-plus years," he said. "So, the wealthy are doing extremely well, whereas the wages of half of the workforce have been stagnant or declining."

The minimum wage in Illinois is $8.25 an hour, which for a full-time worker amounts to slightly more than $17,000 a year before taxes. President Obama has proposed increasing the federal minimum wage to $10.10 an hour by 2015. If the minimum wage in 1968 had been adjusted for inflation, analysts say, it would already be up to $10.56 an hour.

More information is online at canmybossdothat.com.


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By Katie Fleischer for Ms. Magazine
Broadcast version by Lily Böhlke for Tennessee News Service/Public News Service

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- After over a year of dealing with the economic fallout caused by COVID-19, several things have become clear: The pandemic has disproportionately impacted women, especially women of color; and federal policies-not individual strategies-are necessary to help Americans fully recover.

In response to the gendered and racialized impacts of the pandemic, resulting in a drastic decline in women's labor force participation, the Biden administration has attempted to support struggling Americans through policies like the American Rescue Plan-which, among other provisions, provides additional financial support for people unemployed during the pandemic.

But unfortunately, those supplemental unemployment benefits have become increasingly politicized. Conservative politicians critical of policies like unemployment benefits and guaranteed income are attempting to frame people receiving benefits or direct cash as "dependent on the unemployment system" and discouraged from working. In addition to being flat-out inaccurate-the states that ended supplemental unemployment benefits early have not seen increased levels of employment, according to recent studies-these damaging myths target already marginalized groups like low-income women of color.

Nevertheless, across the country, governors in 26 states (25 GOP-led and one Democratic state) have already ended the federal supplemental unemployment benefits-funding provided entirely by the federal government at no cost to state budgets-and the rest are set to expire in early September unless Congress takes action to extend them.

False messaging about who works and why erases the lived experiences of people struggling to support their families and themselves. For example, a Black mother who received unemployment benefits and guaranteed income during the pandemic, Ebony (last name withheld), explained:

"There's this untruth that women like me sit at home and don't do anything. From TV and things, they think that we're at home sitting lazily doing nothing, making all these kids, everyone takes their money and just runs and goes shopping. And that's definitely not the truth. I can't tell you the last time I've been in a mall or whatever, I just go to the grocery store to get things that we need. I'm not lazy, I work my butt off day and night. Nobody wants to be broke, I know I don't."

Reinstating unemployment benefits would make a huge difference for many Americans, particularly low-income women and women of color. But that's just the first step. COVID-19 has laid bare and exacerbated the growing wealth disparities and race and gender inequities endemic to the U.S. economy.

It's time for the U.S. to build an economy that works for everyone and levels the playing field. An economy that doesn't rely on an extractive business model, which demands employees be available any time of day or night, often for poverty wages. An economy that doesn't leave millions of people without a living wage or benefits like paid sick leave, forcing them to live paycheck to paycheck. One where the wealthy pay their fair share.

Instituting new federal policies with economic equality at the center-like guaranteed income-are a stepping stone to this reality.

Magnolia Mother's Trust (MMT) is one real-world example of how the abstract economic policies being debated at the national level can have huge impacts on marginalized communities. Based in Jackson, Miss., MMT is an initiative that demonstrates the power of no-strings-attached financial benefits, providing Black mothers living in extreme poverty $1,000 per month for a year. For many of these women, the combination of increased unemployment benefits and guaranteed income gave them the economic security they needed to take care of their families and work towards long-term goals. By sharing their stories in Ms.'s Front and Center series, they show how cash relief provided a safety net for themselves and their children.

One MMT mom, Tia, explained:

"I know people say that if you have programs like these, people will stop working. I don't personally understand that-I mean, I think it's fine if someone made that choice, but for me I'll always want to be working, I want to be adding to my money, not decreasing it. It's not about not working; it's about just being able to take a little time off-to take a week and spend it with your kids, then go back to work. I wasn't able to do that before, to have that time off without being worried about covering the bills."

"It's been hard," said Sabrina, another MMT mother. "I'm not used to not working and being at the house. And obviously it's also hard because of the income loss. Unemployment helped me sustain. But now the governor just announced that Mississippi is going to cut us off from extra unemployment benefits so I'll be losing that $300 a week. It will be tough."

MMT mother Nikki relies on federal aid because of a disability, but she used to work in child care. "I really, really miss working," she said. "It's hard. I miss my babies-the ones I used to take care of. You fall in love with these kids spending so much time with them."

These moms aren't on "the sidelines" refusing to work; they all have goals for themselves and their families. Sabrina plans to study nursing, buy her own home and send her son to a school for kids with dyslexia. Tia was able to move out of subsidized housing. And Ebony is working to open her own nail salon business and buy a home.

"Invest in yourself," she advised the other MMT mothers. "That can be anything-it doesn't have to be starting a business-it could be self-care or learning something new. But you're the most important investment you can make."

Unemployment benefits are already difficult to access-after waiting for a month, Ebony was only able to receive the benefits she was owed because she happened to do the nails of a woman who worked intake at the state unemployment department.

Instead of cutting access to COVID benefits, now is the chance to expand and solidify them into permanent policy. Only through universal policies like increased unemployment benefits, expansion of the child tax credit and guaranteed income can the U.S. create an economic model that works in a post-pandemic world and allows women, low-income people and people to recover and reach their full potential.

Katie Fleischer wrote this article for Ms. Magazine.

MADISON, Wis. -- The federal government today begins issuing monthly payments under the expanded Child Tax Credit.

Advocates for working families in Wisconsin say it goes beyond cutting poverty rates. They say it will remove a lot of monthly budget pressure for scores of households.

The tax credit, expanded under the American Rescue Plan, includes monthly payments of $250 to $300 for each child through the end of the year.

Meghan Roh, program director for Opportunity Wisconsin, said aside from the credit amount going up, age limits have been expanded, making more families eligible.

"Speaking as a parent myself, you know, raising a family is tough," Roh remarked. "And even with careful budgeting, folks can fall behind on keeping up with their expenses."

She noted those recurring budget challenges existed before COVID set many families back.

As for other provisions, parents who earn too little to pay taxes are also eligible.

The Coalition on Human Needs said nearly 1.2 million Wisconsin children will benefit from the overall expansion, and 46,000 kids will be lifted out of poverty. But advocates warn it's just a temporary increase, and there are repeated calls to make it permanent.

The federal government has taken a variety of steps to help people negatively impacted by the crisis recover from their hardships.

Roh acknowledged while the federal boost added to what has been done, she hopes the significance of the expansion is not lost on the general public.

"This new monthly funding will help families across the state put food on the table, pay the bills, save for college," Roh outlined.

As was the case with enhanced jobless benefits during the crisis, skeptics say the expanded credit could discourage people from working. But backers point to a 2019 National Academy of Sciences expert panel report, which found almost all low- to moderate-income families would keep working if an expansion were approved.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - A historic expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit could be a game-changer for Ohio families.

According to state data, nearly 10% of Ohio families were living in poverty prior to the pandemic.

The American Rescue Plan expands the credit for the 2021 tax year to an additional $1,000 for children ages six to 17, and $1,600 for kids younger than six. Families will receive half of the credit in advance, as monthly payments this year, and the remainder when they file their taxes next year.

Elisa Minoff, senior policy analyst with the Center for the Study of Social Policy, offered an example of payments that a family with a two-year-old and a seven-year-old would receive.

"They should be getting $550 a month starting in July, running through December," said Minoff. "And then, they'll get the rest of their expected Child Tax Credit as a lump-sum payment, $3300, in 2022."

The Internal Revenue Service begins sending the payments July 15 to eligible families.

The expanded tax credit phases out for single-parent households earning more than $75,000 annually, and $150,000 for married couples.

In the U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey for the week ending May 10, nearly 97,000 households with children reported having trouble paying their usual household expenses.

Another Biden administration proposal, the American Families Plan, would make the expanded Child Tax Credit available for the next four years.

Research from Columbia University's Center on Poverty and Social Policy indicates if that happens - coupled with other tax credits in the plan - it would cut child poverty nearly in half.

Minoff thinks the Child Tax Credit should continue after 2025.

"So, this can do a lot to support children and families in the United States," said Minoff. "We just need to make sure that the policy really works as it should, and that families get it who need it, and that it's made permanent."

The expanded Child Tax Credit is also refundable, meaning eligible families with no earned income can claim the credit.

Meantime, critics of the $1.8 trillion American Families Plan don't agree with the corporate tax increases it includes and say it would only add to the national debt.