As we head into our second Labor Day of the pandemic, the State of Working Wisconsin report focuses on how working people are doing and continue to shine a spotlight on the state’s brutal Black-white disparities.
A project of COWS, the State of Working Wisconsin has presented the workers’ perspective on the economy in the state for more than two decades: who is winning, and who is being left out; where is disparity growing; and what’s happening to the economic chasm separating Black and white workers in the state.
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The State of Working Wisconsin 2021
Jobs
In part one of four, we’re discussing the jobs outlook for working people this Labor Day: how many we have, who has them, and who doesn’t.
Unions
In part two of four, we show how the state’s union history has been undermined by policy over the past decade, and how this diminishes the power and voice of workers across the state.
Wages
For the three million Wisconsinites who have jobs, wages are the most important measure of the quality of those jobs. In part three of four, we will discuss why wages matter.
Worker Experiences
Last year we spoke to workers to better understand what their experience has been, as well as the impact of policies (or lack thereof) at the state and federal levels. We check back in with a few of them to hear what's changed, and what hasn't, since then.
Black-white Disparities
Before the COVID-19 crisis, Black-white disparities in Wisconsin were among the worst in the nation. COWS documented these disparities in our 2019 report, Race in the Heartland. As COVID-19 has widened Black-white gaps nationally, Wisconsin’s racial divide, already pronounced, is likely growing as well. The response to the crisis and the recovery must focus on racial justice.
