Good Jobs First Blog

As fall approaches, millions of moms and dads are scrambling to prepare for the first day of school, excited to support their children’s success.

But are schools ready to receive our kids and foster that success? Increasingly, the answer is no.

The titans of the sports apparel industry are reveling in the success of the Olympic athletes they’ve signed up to wear their products in Rio. At the same time, the companies themselves are competing in their own games: the Corporate Welfare Olympics.

Local economic development departments are so eager to fertilize job creation in their communities that they often grow low-wage jobs that are detrimental to their economic landscape. Too often, localities (cities or counties) provide funding to employers that promise to create jobs but fail to ask: Will these positions be full-time? Pay minimum-wage or a living-wage?

An incredible community-labor mobilization in Baltimore has tied up what would be the third-biggest private-sector tax increment financing (TIF) deal in U.S. history.

Whether or not it is a good idea to increase subsidies for renewable energy, one thing is certain: we need to stop giving them to fossil-fuel companies and start charging dirty energy for their “externalities,” i.e., the costs of carbon and other pollutant emissions.