Labor News & Commentary October 29, 2023 percent of women in the workforce reaches all-time high

[Omaha Steve]

https://onlabor.org/october-29-2023/

By Will Ebeler

Will Ebeler is a student at Harvard Law School.

In this weekend’s news and commentary, the UAW reaches tentative agreement with Stellantis; the Washington Post highlights the rise of workplace child-care centers; the percent of women in the workforce reaches all-time high, but there are significant race- and income-based disparities; and nearly half of Amazon workers report taking unpaid time off to recover from work-based pain or exhaustion.

Yesterday, the UAW announced that it had reached a tentative agreement with Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, Jeep, and Ram. Details of the deal haven’t been announced, but it will include a 25% wage increase. It also includes various job guarantees, including the company’s agreement to reopen a plant and hire enough workers to cover two production shifts; and a commitment maintain or expand production at another two plants. The union also won the right to strike if the company fails to follow through on these commitments. General Motors is now the only company yet to reach a tentative agreement with the union after the union reached a deal with Ford on Wednesday. Shortly after announcing its tentative agreement yesterday, the union expanded its strike against GM.

A new Washington Post report highlights the rise of employer-provided childcare centers. Since the start of the COVID pandemic, there has been an increasingly-urgent need for more childcare providers. Before the pandemic, there was already a shortage of millions of childcare spots, but during the COVID shutdowns, roughly 10% of the providers in the country closed permanently. A $24 billion government subsidy helped other providers keep running, but that subsidy ran out last month. Although President Biden has asked Congress to fund $16 billion to support childcare, experts say that money would barely maintain the status quo. Companies have seen a downstream effect from the childcare shortage. Employers lose roughly $23 billion per year because of childcare-related complications, and some workers have quit their jobs when unable to find childcare in their area. In response, employers have started exploring their own childcare solutions. In the past year, one of the country’s largest day-care operators has seen a 50% increase in the number of employers asking about on-site childcare.

On-site centers have typically been in urban or wealthy areas near corporate headquarters and for office workers, but there has been an increased interest among companies in providing care in lower-income or rural areas for workers in manufacturing, retail, and education. One semiconductor company is planning to open childcare centers at both its company headquarters and a planned manufacturing plant, and is investing $500,000 to train providers and early-childhood teachers in the area. Other companies, rather than focusing on on-site centers, have started providing subsidies to employees who can then find childcare that works for their needs.

FULL story at link above.