Laura Dresser, COWS associate director, says requiring developing entities to create favorable conditions for workers has happened too infrequently. She says, “We have normalized in this nation throwing money at stadium deals and the owners …
Year: 2022
Report: Public development subsidy deals should guarantee better jobs, working conditions
“It’s important for Milwaukee to see itself as a national leader in this way and to reapply the lessons from the Deer District as new development is considered,” says Laura Dresser, associate director of COWS. …
Rash of illnesses among Wisconsin kids keeping caregivers home from work
“There is this thing that’s changed about what we do when we’re sick, when our kids are sick, what our child cares will accept or tolerate when our kids are sick,” Dresser said. “I think …
Wisconsin-based company under investigation for allegedly using child labor
Laura Dresser, associate director of the COWS economic think tank at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said the labor shortage may make some companies more likely to violate protections for minors. “It is probably the case …
Amidst organizing surge, Wisconsin unions still face an uphill climb
“I don’t want to give the impression that this is some sort of workers’ paradise in any sector,” Dresser said. The tight labor market gave employees some additional power, “but there’s a lot of ways …
More Wisconsin workers are organizing. How much leverage do they have?
“I think that we have a context where workers, individually and collectively, are demanding more of work,” said Laura Dresser, a labor economist and associate director of the University of Wisconsin-Madison think tank COWS. In …
Economists: Blast proposed Michels tax plan
“What a ‘flat tax’ does in Wisconsin is let the richest residents of the state off the hook for taxes,” said Laura Dresser, Associate Director, [COWS], University of Wisconsin- Madison. “The state doesn’t need policy …
Workers lost ground on wages in wake of Wisconsin’s anti-labor laws
Despite the gains, racial and gender disparities persist, a report by [COWS] at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found… “The distance that black and brown workers are from white workers in terms of wages is substantial,” …
Strike continues at Racine Case tractor factory with no clear end in sight
Laura Dresser, associate director of the COWS economic think tank at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said tight labor markets and the COVID-19 pandemic have put more power in the hands of workers. “I think workers …
The Conservative Astroturf Organization Rolling Back Child Labor Protections
Laura Dresser, a labor economist and associate director of [COWS], a progressive policy organization, told Workday Magazine and the Prospect that the push to erode child labor protections is “less about getting people to pack …