
Andrea Hsu
Andrea Hsu is NPR's labor and workplace correspondent.
Hsu first joined NPR in 2002 and spent nearly two decades as a producer for All Things Considered. Through interviews and in-depth series, she's covered topics ranging from America's opioid epidemic to emerging research at the intersection of music and the brain. She led the award-winning NPR team that happened to be in Sichuan Province, China, when a massive earthquake struck in 2008. In the coronavirus pandemic, she reported a series of stories on the pandemic's uneven toll on women, capturing the angst that women and especially mothers were experiencing across the country, alone. Hsu came to NPR via National Geographic, the BBC, and the long-shuttered Jumping Cow Coffee House.
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A hearing for the history books: The resolutely anti-union architect of the modern Starbucks faces the outspoken champion of the union movement in Congress.
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Labor organizing surged last year, led by Amazon and Starbucks. A Gallup poll found 71% of Americans approve of unions. Yet only 10% of workers belong to a union, as employers continue to fight back.
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The administration is turning to semiconductors in the hopes of expanding affordable child care.
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The freight railroad CSX announced it had made a deal to provide paid sick leave to roughly 5,000 rail workers. The White House and lawmakers are pushing other railroads to follow suit.
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says artificial intelligence-based hiring tools may be creating discriminatory barriers to jobs. The agency is asking for input as it considers guardrails.
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A new Gallup report finds employee engagement in the U.S. fell in 2022 to 32%. Young people in particular reported feeling less cared about at work and having fewer opportunities to learn and grow.
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The Labor Department has cited Amazon for failing to keep workers safe at three warehouses. Federal safety inspectors found workers at high risk of lower back injuries and musculoskeletal disorders.
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Employers say that noncompete agreements are needed to protect trade secrets and investments. The FTC says they deprive workers of their economic liberties and has proposed a rule to ban them.
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Business & EconomyThe Federal Trade Commission has proposed a new rule that bans the use of noncompete agreements, calling them an exploitative practice that suppresses wages and hampers innovation.
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As COVID has become less virulent, the debate over vaccine mandates has faded. But some workers who were fired for refusing the shots are still fighting to be reinstated.