Nina Mast

Jan 16, 2025 | epi.org | Nina Mast

Summary: From fighting wildfires to toiling in the kitchens of some of the country’s most popular food franchises, incarcerated workers perform vital functions across the United States and produce billions of dollars in value for the public and private sectors. Yet they are paid very little (between 13 and 52 cents an hour on average)—if at all— and are excluded from the basic rights and protections afforded to most workers.

Nov 26, 2024 | epi.org | Samantha Sanders |Nina Mast

The country’s largest and most important government anti-hunger program faces a renewed threat as Congress returns from recess next week: privatization.  Congress needs to reauthorize the now-expired Farm Bill—the enormous legislative package that includes funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, also known as food stamps)—but a privatization scheme was attached to the bill. Earlier this Congress, Rep.

Aug 20, 2024 | counterpunch.org | Nina Mast

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009, while the tipped minimum wage remains $2.13 per hour. As a result, employers of tipped workers can rely on customers to pay $5.12 per hour — roughly 70 percent — of the business’ wage obligation to tipped staff. Even as most states have now enacted minimum wages above the federal $7.25 per hour, many still maintain exceptionally low tipped minimum wages.

Aug 15, 2024 | inequality.org | Nina Mast

The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25 since 2009, while the tipped minimum wage remains $2.13 per hour. As a result, employers of tipped workers can rely on customers to pay $5.12 per hour — roughly 70 percent — of the business’ wage obligation to tipped staff. Even as most states have now enacted minimum wages above the federal $7.25 per hour, many still maintain exceptionally low tipped minimum wages.

Jul 12, 2024 | popularresistance.org | Nina Mast

Above photo: Jim Heimann Collection/Archive Photos, via Getty Images. And a modern tool of economic oppression in the South. The racist origins of tipping and the tipped minimum wageIn most of the country, workers in restaurants, bars, nail salons, barber shops, and various other service jobs are paid differently than workers in virtually all other occupations.