skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Lagging Wages: Trouble for North Dakota?

play audio
Play

Thursday, September 27, 2007   

A California newspaper is telling its readers to cheer up because they earn way more than North Dakotans. The San Diego Business Journal quoted the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics as saying average weekly wages in California were $987, compared to $643 in North Dakota. Rick Pfenning with the Missouri Slope Central Labor Council says the statistics also show the impact of so-called "right to work" legislation.

"The 'right to work' states tend to be either the prairie or southern states. They are also typically very anti-union and also have the lowest wages."

Pfenning says it is no coincidence that the two North Dakota counties with the highest per capita income, Mercer and Oliver counties, also have the highest union density. And neither county has a Wal-Mart.

Pfenning says low wages also drive young people out and keep them away.

"The state keeps mounting these 'bring them back home' campaigns to entice former residents to return, and more would come back if they could make a decent living."

He also notes that North Dakota's low wages don't translate into a lower cost-of-living.

"This is an expensive place to live. We currently have the nation's highest gas prices. Frankly, if you're not going to pay people a decent wage, they can't afford to live here. And it appears we're going to keep heading down this path until there's nothing left but buffalo and prairie dogs."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021