On workers raises to help them become more economically viable...
The latest June data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that average wages dropped as more low-wage workers were called back to work, a troubling indication that a surge of income loss may already be underway.
Congress can address this dilemma with two tweaks. First, change the rules so that people lose unemployment insurance only if they turn down offers with wages comparable to their current unemployment benefits.
That gives laid-off workers leverage to bargain for an offer that sustains their new, higher level of income.
Second, to protect employers and encourage them to offer these higher wages, provide employers with a federal subsidy that covers the full difference between an unemployed worker’s former wage and their new one. Call it a “fair wage guarantee.”