MITCHELL SCHMIDT
Wisconsinâs return to near pre-pandemic unemployment levels has brought with it the reemergence of one of the biggest challenges facing some of the stateâs largest industries â a workforce shortage.
The need for workers in multiple sectors of the economy has Republicans and the stateâs largest business lobby calling on the state to end its participation in enhanced federal pandemic unemployment benefits, which they say creates a disincentive to work.
Liberals point to long-term structural changes as an opportunity to provide higher wages, better benefits, more skills-based training and adequate child care offerings â a need that was drastically amplified with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic â as necessary to get more Wisconsinites into the workforce.
Colectivo Coffee employee and union supporter Patrick Zastrow speaks Monday at a news conference to promote the PRO Act, which would strengthen labor rights for workers. He s flanked by Bill Franks, left, of the Dane County NAACP, and Stephanie Bloomingdale, president of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO. (Erik Gunn | Wisconsin Examiner)
Patrick Zastrow was among more than 200 Colectivo Coffee workers who voted in March on whether to have a union represent employees at the chain’s 20 coffee shops in Madison, Milwaukee and Chicago, along with those working at its production facility, bakery and warehouse.
The vote came after months of anti-union campaigning by the chain’s owners and management including required meetings with an outside anti-union consultant.
Seeking shared public-private agenda. 45% of city renters are cost burdened by housing. By Jeramey Jannene - Apr 19th, 2021 06:49 pm //end headline wrapper ?>Houses on W. Windlake Ave. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
A public-private partnership of the Department of City Development and Community Development Alliance is working to craft a citywide affordable housing plan.
The goal is to create a shared agenda that the city and private partners support to address long-standing issues related to affordable rental housing, racial disparities in homeownership and displacement. Existing studies and efforts will be analyzed to create an action plan followed by the development of accountability metrics.
MADISON - People injured on the job in Wisconsin haven’t seen an increase in benefits in four years because of political disputes over the state’s workers compensation system.
Wisconsin lawmakers for decades took the advice of a panel of labor and management representatives to decide how to run the system and how much to pay injured workers. That approach has broken down in recent years.
Republicans who control the Legislature have been unable to agree among themselves on workers compensation for most of the last decade.
With a new legislative session underway, lawmakers will once again consider workers compensation and decide whether to increase benefits for the first time since 2017.
Workers comp payments stagnant in Wisconsin because of political fight htrnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from htrnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.