WASHINGTON D.C. -- Today, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) highlighted the exhausted momentum of the SEIU’s Fight for $15, which has suffered numerous financial, academic, and legislative setbacks in recent months. Yet another round of coordinated Fight for $15 protests are set to occur nationwide on Labor Day. This is just the latest Fight for $15 media stunt; previous ones have included the promise of civil […]

Washington D.C. – Today, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) criticized Montgomery County Councilmember Marc Elrich's introduction of $15 minimum wage legislation for Montgomery County, Maryland. Montgomery County’s minimum wage is currently $11.50, and the bill requires many businesses to pay $15 per hour by 2020. This proposal comes after a push for a $15 minimum wage failed earlier in the year when Council Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett vetoed it due to concerns […]

  Washington D.C. – Today, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) released a new analysis showing that at least 95 percent of U.S. House and Senate cosponsors of recently introduced $15 federal minimum wage legislation hire interns who earn no wage at all. In total, 174 of the 184 “Raise the Wage Act” cosponsors and primary sponsors hire unpaid interns. In the Senate, Senators Kamala Harris, Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, […]

Washington D.C. – Today, The Employment Policies Institute (EPI) is highlighting the 17 minimum wage increases set to take place on July 1, 2017. These include two states, the District of Columbia and 14 other municipalities, threatening to destroy job opportunities for young adults across the country. You can view the full list of increases in the table below. Ten California cities and localities will see wage increases, with the […]

  Washington D.C. – Today, the Employment Policies Institute (EPI) relaunched its Faces of $15 website, which documents the real victims of dramatic minimum wage increases. The new site features over 100 stories of affected businesses, which can be sorted by location and consequence type (business closure, job loss, etc). The site also features video documentaries and an interactive map of affected businesses. Business owners are encouraged to write […]

  Washington D.C. – Today, the Employment Policies Institute criticized a proposal by the Congressional Progressive Caucus to raise the federal minimum wage by 107 percent to $15 an hour. The best academic research and real stories from across the country show the negative impacts of an extreme minimum wage hike to $15 an hour, and the policy has been criticized by a bipartisan group of economists […]