As the open-enrollment period for people who need health insurance fast approaches, some Mississippi workers are threatening to walk the picket line.

They handle tens of millions of questions about the Affordable Care Act and Medicare at the Maximus Call Center in Hattiesburg. The open-enrollment period will be critical for those who may have lost their Medicaid coverage when the pandemic officially ended.

Denotra Clayton, a dual-agent customer service representative for Maximus and the Communications Workers of America, said she was part of a Thursday rally demanding that Maximus provide affordable health benefits and job security, along with better balance between work and home life.

"The demands that we are predicting for the increase in pay - hourly rates, more respect, more leeway, more time for even to use the bathroom, for breaks," she said. "And if, basically, Maximus doesn't meet our need for better pay, then we will strike again."

She noted that workers have walked off the job several other times, adding that the customer service agents are predominantly Black and Latina women. They're asking for a pay rate of $25 an hour, up from the starting pay of $16.

Maximus was awarded a $6.6 billion contract last year to handle calls and questions about the federal insurance marketplace.

The union has claimed that Maximus recently laid off 800 workers. Clayton alleged that the company has used what some see as "intimidation tactics" to try to keep people from striking, by offering bonus pay on the first day of the strike.

"I stand up for the CWA and I am definitely participating to join a union, to make a better workplace," she said. "So of course, I'm going to go on strike to demand these better means, these better pays, less micromanagement. Of course, I'm going to do that."

Clayton said she can't speak for her coworkers, but has encouraged them to learn more. She added that most would need more than one day of bonus pay to continue to provide for their families.

More jobs are available now in Kentucky compared with the past couple of years and many are better-paying union jobs driven by federal investments, according to a new report from the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy.

The construction industry added more than 13,000 jobs or 16% above pre-pandemic levels.

Jason Bailey, executive director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, noted the rate of growth is nearly twice the national average.

"Building new manufacturing facilities like the Blue Oval plant in Hardin County, in energy-related construction, in building infrastructure like bridges and water and sewer systems," Bailey outlined.

The state is also seeing big job gains in health care and the clean energy sector. Eastern Kentucky, however, continues to grapple with fewer jobs and a lower workforce participation rate. And public sector employment lags behind, in part due to lean state budgets and income tax cuts.

Among Kentuckians of prime working age, 80% are already working or in the labor force. Bailey explained most of those not working are either caregivers or people living with an illness or a disability.

"There are very, very few people who are not in the labor force that don't have real barriers," Bailey emphasized.

After decades of declining union membership, Bailey noted the Commonwealth is seeing an uptick in labor organizing.

"There are more workers voting to form unions," Bailey observed. "There's more union strikes and job actions, higher union membership."

Yet many Kentucky workers are paid low wages and lack benefits and workplace protections. In 2023, 19% of workers were paid less than $15 an hour. According to the report, 28% of working residents' incomes put their family below the poverty line.

A Pennsylvania environmental justice group is voicing its concerns about the potential sale of U.S. Steel, the effect on the community and the future of its jobs.

Japan's Nippon Steel is buying U.S. Steel for more than $14 billion.

Matthew Mehalik, executive director of the Breathe Project, said prioritizing the health and well-being of Mon Valley residents over corporate profit would have to be included in the proposed agreement. It would then need approval from the Biden administration and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to avoid monopolies. He added union jobs may also be affected by the sale.

"There's also arbitration happening with the United Steelworkers, because their position is that they weren't consulted for the sale of the company," Mehalik pointed out. "Their current contract has a clause in there that would require that."

President Joe Biden is preparing to block the proposed takeover for national security reasons. Mehalik added there is no labor agreement with the U.S. Steel Workers' Union examining the impact on the region and community. U.S. Steel has had a presence in the Mon Valley since 1901 and currently employs about 4,000 workers.

Mehalik noted Mon Valley residents feel they are being left out of important conversations about the sale and are urging better health protections.

"The community needs to have a seat at the table," Mehalik emphasized. "They need to be able to articulate their concerns so that the health harms that keep happening from these old, outdated leaking U.S. Steel facilities, you know, those pollution emission events come to a stop."

He added Nippon Steel is offering to invest $1.3 billion in U.S. Steel Corporation's Mon Valley and Gary Works. However, he added specifics regarding how the investment would be used are not well-articulated.

A new report showed income inequality in Wisconsin is declining as lower-wage workers are seeing faster wage growth but Black, Latino and women workers still lag behind.

A study by the High Road Strategy Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison found the state's job market hit record levels in the second quarter and the inflation-adjusted median hourly wage has increased by 97 cents.

Laura Dresser, associate director of the High Road Strategy Center at the University of Wisconsin Madison and the report's co-author, said the increase in the median wage is just making up for the period inflation ran ahead of earnings in 2022.

"In these last five years, lower-wage workers have seen their wages go up by 8%," Dresser reported. "In terms of purchasing power, real value, and high-wage workers have only had wages go up about 1%."

The State of Working Wisconsin 2024 report noted the number of jobs in Wisconsin has topped 3 million and unemployment remained steady at 3%. The study also found the rate of unionized workers in Wisconsin dropped by one-third between 2011 and 2023, the steepest decline in union membership across the Midwest region.

Despite the increase in wages, the report said significant wage gaps remain between white men and workers who are Black, Latino or female. Dresser pointed out Latinos earn about 33% less, Black workers make 25% less, and white women's pay lags 16% behind in the workplace.

"When you focus on improving the quality of jobs, especially at the bottom of the labor market, you also are looking to close racial and gender gaps in wages," Dresser explained. "Because it is Black and brown and women workers who are dominant in lower-wage jobs."

The report made some recommendations for Wisconsin lawmakers. It suggested raising the minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 an hour to help close the pay gap, rolling back the state's so-called "right to work" laws to restore union rights and increasing investments in child care and education to provide relief for families and employers.


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