Tag: United State

Public-Private Sector Pay Gap Continues to Grow, But Not As Rapidly

Public-Private Sector Pay Gap Continues to Grow, But Not As Rapidly

 
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The gap between federal and private-sector pay continued to widen in 2013, according to a new study. Typical federal employees now earn  35.4 percent less than their private sector peers, the Federal Salary Council reported.

The council, made up of union representatives and pay policy experts, used data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Bureau of Labor and Statistics to make its calculations. In 2012, the council found the gap expanded by more than 8 percentage points. This year, the pay gap grew by just 0.8 percentage points.

The pay disparities vary by locality. In the Washington, D.C., area, for example, private-sector workers make 49 percent more than their federal counterparts. Continue reading “Public-Private Sector Pay Gap Continues to Grow, But Not As Rapidly”

NRDC-Farmworker Justice: Overdue Standards Better Protect People from Human Pesticide Tests

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NRDC-Farmworker Justice: Overdue Standards Better Protect People from Human Pesticide Tests

WASHINGTON (February 8, 2013) – The Environmental Protection Agency today strengthened federal standards to make it harder for the chemical industry to use people as test subjects in pesticide research that is sent to EPA to help set health protection standards.

“This will better protect Americans from often unethical and unscientific human testing by pesticide manufacturers,” said Jennifer Sass, senior scientist in the Natural Resources Defense Council’s health and environmental program. “While the new standards do not completely ban human testing, they prohibit the EPA from considering pesticide tests conducted on pregnant women and children. They also protect people by ensuring that the EPA puts sound science in determining whether a human study can be relied upon for setting human health standards. Continue reading “NRDC-Farmworker Justice: Overdue Standards Better Protect People from Human Pesticide Tests”

Jobs Deficit: Austerity Politics Threatens Economy

Jobs Deficit: Austerity Politics Threatens Economy

Posted: 01/30/2013 1:25 pm EST  |  Updated: 01/30/2013 1:46 pm EST

Obama AusterityWASHINGTON — Lawmakers were stunned Wednesday to learn that the U.S. economy officially dove toward a double-dip recession at the end of 2012, contracting for the first time in three and a half years amid steep declines in government spending and sluggish exports.

Policymakers were similarly stunned in Europe when reductions in government spending led to continued economic malaise, leading top economists there to question the logic behind austerity recommendations. European austerity programs are a major driver of the slowdown in U.S. exports, and several economists have argued that reductions in government spending, here and abroad, are almost solely responsible for the suddenly tanking economy. Continue reading “Jobs Deficit: Austerity Politics Threatens Economy”

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