COSI (Conversations on Social Issues)

"The Washington Labor Education and Research Center provides working people with useful tools, through education, training, conferences and events, and timely, targeted research. We serve workers of all ages, races, genders, languages and communities, working in many industries."

This website is home to the Washington State Workers’ Rights Manual and provides an easy overview of everyone’s Workplace Rights.

Learn about some important employment laws and issues from USA.gov

Many high-hazard/low-reward occupations are experiencing disproportionate unemployment impacts during the pandemic. Unemployment among many of these occupations is increasing applications for food stamps and temporary/emergency assistance. With unemployment still disproportionately high for high-hazard, low reward jobs in early 2021, we expect continued high economic hardship, increased need for assistance and growing housing insecurity through the remainder of 2021. This report examines applications for state assistance to workers and other measures to estimate key economic impacts on these occupations.

Policy Report from Washington State Labor Education & Research Center

Washington Workers in the Pandemic confirms the lived experience of our state’s workers: this pandemic has on average hit women differently from men, white workers differently from Black and Latinx workers. The report, third in a series by the WA Labor Education and Research Center and Working Title Research, confirms:

The #1 reason women of color have left the workforce: to fulfill unpaid family care needs, rather than for lack of work.
Men, and particularly Latinx men, were alarmingly and disproportionately likely to have lost work due to illness and COVID19.
Women, especially women of color, more frequently cited examples of extreme family economic distress – unpaid bills, food insecurity, and children’s food insufficiency. Food insecurity hit families of color, and especially Latinx households, hardest.
Unlike our prior reports focusing on low-wage frontline workers, this report examined households across the state using three different Census Department survey “snapshots”; it compares all workers’ experience across occupations, demographics, and time. This broader look at Washington households confirms: there will be no broad-based recovery until Washington address the childcare crisis and other equity-focused policies to support working families.

The Union Effect provides the first study of the economic impact of unions on Washington workers. The report’s findings are consistent with other national and state-level research, demonstrating that Washington unions produce higher wages, better health and pension benefits, reduced racial and gender inequalities, and less use of public assistance programs.