House adopts resolution allowing staffers to unionize - May 11, 2022

In a 51-50 party-line vote, the Senate confirmed economist Lisa Cook to serve on the Federal Reserve’s Board of governors, a confirmation that made her the first Black woman to sit on the panel in its 108-year history. Some of Cook’s well-known research has focused on the long-term impact of lynchings and racial violence on African American innovation. Analysis of publicly traded U.S. companies found that just 12.5% of board directors were from underrepresented ethnic and racial groups, and only 34% of board members felt racial diversity was “very important” on their boards. Following a year of soaring goods and gas prices, inflation slowed slightly in April as gas prices and supply-chain bottlenecks eased. The Labor Department reported an 8.3% annual increase in April from the same month a year ago. Some Fed officials recently acknowledged they were too slow to respond to rapid inflation last year, forcing more economic constraints. President Joe Biden voiced his support for taming inflation, saying it is his "top domestic priority.” More Americans are struggling to pay usual household expenses, with 60% of people reporting having a difficult time due to inflation. The House of Representatives approved a resolution that allows staffers in the lower chamber to unionize in addition to announcing an increase to their minimum salary. The decision comes after the Congressional Workers Union distributed a survey that found 91% of the 516 staff surveyed want more protections to give them a voice at work. The resolution enables over 9,000 staffers on Capitol Hill access to the same basic legal protections other workers have. It remains unlikely that the Senate will pass a similar measure. Microsoft is aggressively tackling the problem of ransomware with a series of new managed cybersecurity services designed to assist organizations in spotting and responding to cybersecurity incidents. As one of the leaders in cloud software, Microsoft plans to offer consulting-oriented services for security software in a market wh