Nebraska is one of three states with paid sick leave on the ballot next month.

Nebraska women are disproportionately affected by a lack of paid sick leave, since they are more apt to work part-time. Only around 12% of the state's part-time workers receive paid sick leave, including employees of Vis Major Brewing Company in Omaha.

Lindsey Clements, co-owner of the company, said everyone begins accruing sick leave their first day of training. She explained they implemented a paid sick leave policy in early 2023 after having trouble finding and retaining workers.

"It really was a need for us to add more value for our employees to attract some quality folks to come in and work for us," Clements explained. "We recognize we've got to do our part to take care of the folks that help operate our business from day to day."

The Paid Sick Leave for Nebraskans initiative is supported by more than 200 Nebraska businesses and dozens of organizations. Employers with fewer than 20 employees would have to provide 40 hours of paid sick leave per year, and 56 hours for those with more than 20. Nearly 250,000 Nebraska workers currently lack paid sick leave.

Opponents of Initiative 436 maintain it would create a financial burden for Nebraska businesses.
However, studies show the benefits of paid sick leave, including increased job satisfaction and productivity, lower turnover and better overall employee health, outweigh the additional cost to employers.

Clements noted this matches what they have experienced.

"Frankly, it's easier running a business when you allow for your people to take care of themselves when they are sick," Clements emphasized. "Because we have such a small team, we really can't allow one another to pass along illnesses."

While acknowledging providing paid sick leave will be a challenge for some Nebraska businesses, especially those for whom business has not completely returned to pre-pandemic levels, Clements recommends it.

"I think that with the hope that things will continue to pivot and improve, it's good to "normalize" these benefits that we're providing for our employees," she asserted.

Washington, D.C., 15 states and a number of municipalities require some amount of paid sick leave. Missouri and Alaska voters will join Nebraskans in deciding the fate of paid sick leave in their state this year.


get more stories like this via email

Low-wage workers in Pennsylvania haven't seen a minimum-wage increase in more than a decade, but a new bill with bipartisan support would change that.

The Raise the Wage Act of 2025, introduced in both chambers of Congress on April 8, aims to gradually raise the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $17 per hour by 2030.

Andrea Grove, owner of Elementary Coffee Co. in Harrisburg, said the change would lead to bigger paychecks and boost the economy.

"There has been a lot of movement, a lot of momentum, a lot of bills presented to hopefully get the minimum wage increased, even just incrementally," she said, "and I would really love to see this actually go through this time."

An analysis by the Economic Policy Institute finds that increasing the federal minimum wage to $17 per hour by 2030 would affect one million workers in Pennsylvania and more than 22 million workers nationwide.

Grove said she works with a lot of small and micro-businesses, with most already paying more than the federal minimum wage. She said the minimum wage remaining low results in employers paying less.

"Nine dollars an hour isn't even very good for minimum wage at this point in time," she said, "and if you look at the increase in rising costs and just what it takes for just to live, that's not keeping up, and that's not keeping pace with what just the average person needs to work a 40 hour work week and be able to provide for themselves."

The Pennsylvania House already passed House Bill 1500, which would raise the state's minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2026. The idea has bipartisan support but the Senate has not yet acted on a similar bill.

Nebraska lawmakers have reached a compromise on a measure to roll back a minimum wage increase but labor group advocates said the deal goes against the will of voters.

Nebraskans approved a measure in 2022 to incrementally raise the minimum wage from $9 an hour to $15 by the beginning of 2026. But Legislative Bill 258, sponsored by longtime grocery store chain owner, Sen. Jane Raybould, D-Lincoln, would reduce the increases to fall below the cost of living.

Now, lawmakers have reached a percentage-based compromise, which still limits wage increases.

Jodi Lepaopao, field director for the advocacy group Nebraska Appleseed, said the deal falls short of what Nebraskans voted for three years ago.

"We are a thumbs down on the compromise," Lepaopao stressed. "We want to be sure that we are upholding the will of the voters and the legislature does that."

Supporters of the compromise said it minimizes financial risk over time and offer as evidence data from the Midwest Bureau of Labor Statistics showing a fixed annual increase would be superior to tying increases to annual cost of living adjustments, which is the approach the current takes.

Lepaopao added the 2022 voter-approved measure was designed to help Nebraskans who most need the wage increase.

"This was to ensure that they were able to continue to meet their needs as costs continue to rise," Lepaopao explained. "This was for the rural workers in smaller communities so they don't lose their purchasing power."

The bill would also create a minimum a $13.50 hourly wage for 14- and 15-year-olds.


get more stories like this via email

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s decision to cut a cut a majority of jobs at the federal agency responsible for worker health and safety is seen as a direct attack on Kentucky workers by labor unions in the state.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health could be trimmed from around 1,400 employees to fewer than 150. At the state level, House Bill 398 would also have dismantled Kentucky's worker protection standards and requirements.

Dustin Reinstedler, president of the Kentucky AFL-CIO, said similar proposals down the road are now more concerning.

"To think that Kentucky was supposed to fall back on the federal OSHA guidelines, and to think that it's under attack now, it's pretty alarming," Reinstedler stressed.

The federal cuts are expected to include the agency's 9/11 firefighter program, also known as the World Trade Center Health Program. The American Industrial Hygiene Association, the AFL-CIO and Laborers' International Union of North America have all launched campaigns to urge the feds to restore the agency's staff and funding.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Reinstedler explained Kentucky relies on its data, research and recommendations to protect workers. He cited personal protective equipment, respirators, and HEPA vacuum systems as standards the agency set to protect workers from silica exposure.

"Myself, as a bricklayer, any time that you're cutting masonry or anything, or cutting concrete, you're throwing up silica into the air," Reinstedler pointed out. "There are guidelines against that."

National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health scientists also study Black Lung disease, which affects an estimated 20% of coal miners in Central Appalachia. The agency's mine safety research is regularly used by coal country's key regulatory agency, the Mine Safety and Health Administration.


get more stories like this via email