Celine McNicholas

Celine McNicholas

Celine McNicholas is labor counsel for the Economic Policy Institute and a core member of EPI’s Perkins Project on Worker Rights and Wages, a policy response team that tracks the Trump administration’s wage and employment policies.

Articles by this author

People gather together to ask the McDonald’s corporation to raise workers wages to a $15 minimum wage as well as demanding the right to a union on May 23, 2019 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) Views
Tuesday, December 15, 2020
The Biden Administration Can Reverse Much of Trump’s Bad Labor Policy Without Congress
For the last four years, at every turn, the Trump administration systematically promoted the interests of corporations and shareholders over those of working people. Through a series of executive orders and agency regulations, the Trump administration attacked workers’ health and safety, wages, and...
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This most recent effort to limit corporate accountability must be examined in the larger political and legal context. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Views
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
Republicans and Corporate Interests Exploit Coronavirus Crisis to Erase Companies' Liability
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) announced that they are working on legislation to give companies enhanced protections against lawsuits by employees and consumers who contract COVID-19 and claim that the business is responsible for their infection...
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Unfortunately, Republicans have made clear that they plan to put corporations first, with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s prioritizing liability waivers for employers that require non-essential workers to report to work. (Photo: Zach Gibson/Getty Images) Views
Tuesday, May 05, 2020
We Need an Essential Workers Bill of Rights—Now
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, Congress has now passed four separate relief and recovery measures allocating trillions of dollars in aid, but none have provided meaningful protections to working people. Workers continue to be required to work without protective gear . Sick workers...
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The pandemic has exposed the inadequacy of our current system of worker protections. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Views
Monday, April 13, 2020
Congress Should Immediately Pass Legislation Protecting Workers' Safety During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Key takeaways: Working people should not have to wait for a fourth recovery bill for vital, lifesaving protections, while corporations have received $450 billion in aid with no strings attached. The federal government should take on the role of “payroll of the last resort” like some other nations,...
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How policymakers respond now will determine the level of pain working families experience and the speed at which the economy can get back on track after the shutdown period is over. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images) Views
Tuesday, April 07, 2020
What a 'Phase Four' Stimulus Package Must Provide
In the last two weeks, nearly 10 million people applied for unemployment insurance. The March jobs report revealed a loss of 701,000 jobs —the first monthly job loss in nearly 10 years and already one of the worst monthly losses on record. Further, March’s job loss numbers are just the tip of the...
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) speaks to reporters following the Senate Republican policy luncheon on March 10, 2020 in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Samuel Corum/Getty Images) Views
Monday, March 23, 2020
Any Industry Bailout Package Must Include Meaningful Protections for Working People and Guardrails Against Corporate Greed
This week, Congress continues to negotiate a fiscal stimulus package to help ease the economic shock of the coronavirus. In these negotiations, it is critical that lawmakers establish strong conditions for industry bailouts. Working families, not just shareholders and corporate executives, must...
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If the Justices side with Trump and big corporations, women across America will be forced to go it alone when they are victimized and harassed. Views
Thursday, November 16, 2017
Supreme Court Will Decide If Women Can Join Together To Fight Sexual Harassment At Work
After the news that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein had been sexually harassing and assaulting women in the movie industry for decades , millions of women shared their stories with the hashtag #metoo. The social media campaign shined a light on a fact that to many women: sexual harassment is a...
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Tuesday, April 04, 2017
Unions Help Narrow the Gender Wage Gap
Tuesday, April 4th is Equal Pay Day— the day that marks when a typical woman’s earnings catch up to what a man earned in the previous year. The gender wage gap is a measure of pay disparity between men and women. The research is conclusive: gender wage gaps exist across the wage distribution and...
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Monday, March 06, 2017
Federal Contract Workers Need the Protection of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Rule
Last week, Senator Warren, joined by her colleagues Senator Murray and Senator Sanders, asked Attorney General Sessions to open a criminal investigation into the deaths and serious injuries of workers employed by VT Halter Marine, Inc., a shipbuilder with United States Navy contracts. Senators...
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