It’s Halloween week — time to get spooky! Who needs ghost stories when you have spine-tingling bars and trend lines? Our newest blog post highlights five ghoulish charts about West Virginia in 2021 that should make you shudder (and fight for needed change!). Topics explored include state job loss, ongoing unemployment, prematurely terminated federally-funded unemployment…
Budget Beat
Earlier this week, it was reported that Senator Manchin was calling for a significant weakening of the enhanced Child Tax Credit (CTC) as part of his proposal to scale back the Build Back Better agenda. Senator Manchin is reportedly calling for a significant reduction in the size and scope of the CTC by demanding a strict work…
Senator Joe Manchin has recently called for the budget reconciliation package currently being negotiated in Congress to be cut from $3.5 trillion to $1.5 trillion over 10 years. The Build Back Better agenda, combining the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and the proposed $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package, is estimated to support more than 4 million jobs annually, including over 17,000…
The Build Back Better Act would create long-lasting change for West Virginia families, workers, and our state economy. Senator Joe Manchin can play a critical role in its passage. It is urgent that he capitalize on this historic opportunity to invest in our communities. Our newest blog post explores how the Build Back Better Act would benefit…
Senator Joe Manchin sits at the center of the Build Back Better Act negotiations currently taking place in Washington. The WVCBP strongly urges him to recognize the urgency of our state’s needs and move quickly to support workers and families in West Virginia. We agree that Congress must pass the bipartisan infrastructure bill, but we know…
Over the next week, Congress and West Virginia's federal delegation are expected to make major decisions on the elements of the budget reconciliation package. This period will determine whether critical worker and family supports are passed in tandem with a hard infrastructure package. Congress acted swiftly to enact pandemic relief because we raised our voices…
While the newest jobs numbers indicate that some areas of West Virginia’s economy are recovering, the job market is far from pre-pandemic levels and employment gains have not been equally distributed. Further, increasing COVID-19 cases remain a threat to workers’ health and the economy. While the state has seen relatively steady job growth in recent…
Racism has long been weaponized in order to divide workers, but unions have the unique power to bring people with varying identities together. The time has come for the working class to form a united front once again. One of the greatest weapons that individual workers have against companies and corporations is unity. Class solidarity…
Thanks to the programs enacted through COVID-related federal relief legislation this past year, an estimated 301,000 fewer West Virginians were living in poverty this year than would have been otherwise, a reduction of 71 percent, according to an analysis from the Urban Institute estimating the state’s Supplemental Poverty Measure. The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) measures poverty after taking into…
State of Working West Virginia 2021: Labor, Race, and Solidarity is out now! The 14th edition of the WVCBP's State of Working West Virginia series explores the interrelated declines of worker power and economic equality in the Mountain State. The report was written in three parts. Part 1 examines the economic transition that took place in…