Residents of Sydney, Australia, are currently at war with their local cockatoo population over access to their garbage, joining the ranks of human-bird conflicts. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, has targeted O’Rourke for his positions on organized labor.Stock image of a cockatoo (left) and an angry human (right). “So denying public teachers the right to collectively bargain and organize really does limit the wage and benefit negotiation of teachers and keeps them working at a much lower wage.”ĭemocratic candidate for governor Beto O’Rourke has criticized the Republican push to weaken unions in Texas and has made strengthening unions in the state part of his campaign. “Public teachers are one of the largest sectors in this country, behind government workers, and overwhelmingly are women,” she said. Texas also bans collective bargaining and wage negotiations for teachers. When states like Texas impose “right-to-work” laws, it prohibits unions from collecting dues from the people who benefit from their activities, making it much more challenging for unions to grow. Historically, unions have played a vital role in protecting workers’ rights to speak out about problems in the workplace, bargain for higher wages and push for stronger protections. As a “right-to-work” state, Texas ranks just shy of dead last in this category. Researchers also looked at whether workers have the right to organize and sustain a union. It found those benefits only cover 10.5% of the wages needed to cover cost of living. The study also looked at how well Texas’ unemployment benefits cover the cost of living for a family of four. According to the MIT Living Wage Calculator, that would only cover about 20% of the cost of living for a family of four. In Texas, the minimum wage remains at $7.25. When determining whether a state offers fair wages to workers, Oxfam looked at the ratio of the state minimum wage compared to the cost of living for a family of four. There is no protection for outdoor workers from heat.” There's no protections for domestic workers. “There are very few regulations around having a fair enough schedule for workers. “Texas does not have any paid leave, does not have accommodations for pregnant workers, for workers who are breastfeeding,” Henderson said. Texas does mandate equal pay across gender and race and provides sexual harassment protection by state law, but it fell short on nearly every other criteria the study looked at. ![]() That includes things like equal pay mandates, pregnancy accommodations and paid family and sick leave. ![]() The research looked at policies that support workers and their families’ needs both within and outside the workplace. ![]() “The stronger the labor landscape is at the state level, the less likely there is to be high levels of poverty, food insecurity and infant mortality,” Henderson said. “We tracked our state ranking against measures of food insecurity, poverty and infant mortality, and we found that there is a very strong correlation.” “If you have a robust labor policy landscape at the state level, does that equate to or correlate to other good measures of well-being?” she said. Oxfam also wanted to understand if and how labor policies impact people’s well-being. The goal of the study was not just to rank the best and worst states for workers, Henderson said. “Texas does not perform very strongly in any of those spaces.” Kaitlyn Henderson, a senior researcher with the organization. ![]() “The three big themes of the index are wages, worker protections and the right to organize,” said Dr. The Lone Star State ranked 48th on the “Best States to Work Index” from Oxfam America, a nonprofit focused on ending poverty. Texas is among the worst states in the country for workers, according to new research from a national nonprofit.
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