On This Labor Day.... A DU Working Class Primer

Totally Committed

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Mon Sep-04-06 09:27 AM
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On This Labor Day.... A DU Working Class Primer

Edited on Mon Sep-04-06 10:22 AM by Totally Committed

The Bush Administration has been disastrous for the American Working Class. This Labor Day post outlines just how disastrous. As you celebrate your Labor Day, and the end of a long, hot summer, please take time to read the articles and threads mentioned here. And, feel free to add those I may have missed or that you feel are newsworthy.

Let's all hope this is the last Labor Day with a Republican-controlled Congress, so we can start rolling back these egregious injustices that are making America the country with two classes: The HAVES and the HAVE NOTS.

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/wahl/029

The war on workers
by David Sirota

U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige labeled one "a terrorist organization." Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, called them "a clear and present danger to the security of the United States." And U.S. Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Ga., claimed they employ "tyranny that Americans are fighting and dying to defeat in Iraq and Afghanistan" and are thus "enemies of freedom and democracy," who show "why we still need the Second Amendment" to defend ourselves with firearms.

Who are these supposed threats to America? No, not Osama bin Laden followers, but labor unions made up of millions of workers -- janitors, teachers, firefighters, police officers, you name it.

Bashing organized labor is a Republican pathology, to the point where unions are referenced with terms reserved for military targets. In his 1996 article, headlined "GOP Readies for War With Big Labor," conservative columnist Robert Novak cheered the creation of a "GOP committee task force on the labor movement" that would pursue a "major assault" on unions. As one Republican lawmaker told Novak, GOP leaders champion an "anti-union attitude that appeals to the mentality of hillbillies at revival meetings."

The hostility, while disgusting, is unsurprising. Unions wield power for workers, meaning they present an obstacle to Republican corporate donors, who want to put profit-making over other societal priorities. Think the minimum wage just happened? Think employer-paid health care and pensions have been around for as long as they have by some force of magic? Think again -- unions used collective bargaining to preserve these benefits. As the saying goes, union members are the folks that brought you the weekend.

Entire Article:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/09/04/EDG3BKSCQI1.DTL

Workers feel the squeeze
By ROBYN E. BLUMNER

With Labor Day approaching, it is time to assess the nature of work in this burgeoning Information Age. Are American workers better off than they were a couple of generations ago? Will they be better off in the future?

I can't imagine that many middle-class workers feel much optimism. America's middle class is being squeezed by soaring energy prices, rising health care costs and, here in Florida, insurance rates that are doubling and doubling again. The housing bubble is rapidly losing air, making the one asset that most Americans own less secure, while wage stagnation is making us poorer.

President Bush has been touting the health of the nation's economy, pointing to its vigorous productivity gains of 16.6 percent from 2000 to 2005. But what he doesn't say is that those gains have accrued exclusively to Bush's people - the owner class and other top dogs. While corporate profits are through the roof, the real median income of households headed by someone under 65 - the country's working families - has actually fallen 5.4 percent through the Bush years.

The question is whether this reversal for Joe Lunchbox will continue or whether something will come along to rescue America's middle class. Workers' fortunes have always been buffeted by two forces: technology and government.

Entire Article:

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/09/03/Columns/Workers_feel_the_sque.shtml

Another year, another wage loss
By Robert Kuttner

LABOR DAY was created by the machinists union in New York in 1882 as a ``workingmen's holiday." Unions all over America adopted the idea. By 1894, Congress passed legislation making Labor Day an official holiday. The day also celebrated the act of organizing, politically and in the workplace, to improve livelihoods and lives. Today, the politics have largely been leached out of it. Labor Day is a long weekend that marks summer's end. And that extra day of rest is needed more than ever. Government statistics show that the typical family works about 500 more hours a year than families did 30 years ago, because it takes two incomes to make it. Even so, family incomes are failing to keep pace with the cost of living...

This past week, these items have been in the news:

**** The Census Bureau reported that median incomes for working-age families were down again, for the fifth straight year. Real median income for households under age 65 is down by 5.4 percent since 2000, even though the economy has grown every year. All of that gain has gone to upper-bracket people and corporate profits.

**** The Pew Research Center released an extensive survey on public attitudes about the economy. Pew reported, ``The public thinks that workers were better off a generation ago on every key dimension of worker life -- be it wages, benefits, retirement plans, on-the-job stress, the loyalty they are shown by employers." And, statistically, the public is right.

**** The Globe recently reported that chief executives of nonprofit hospitals now routinely make more than $1 million. University presidents are not far behind.

**** The Economic Policy Institute (on whose board I serve) has released its annual, encyclopedic report, ``The State of Working America." Among its findings: The economy's productivity increased by a remarkable 33.5 percent between 1995 and 2005, but real wages have declined since 2000. Employer-provided health coverage declined from 69 percent in 1979 to 56 percent in 2004. The top 1 percent's share of interest, dividends, and capital gains has risen from 37.8 percent in 1979 to 57.5 percent in 2003.

Politically, it's evident what is occurring. Those in a position to capture astronomical incomes are awarding themselves an ever-larger share of the national economic pie. Meanwhile, ordinary incomes, job security, health security, and retirement security are eroding. The political mystery is why everyone else is not kicking up a fuss. After all, as the Pew report suggests, it's not as if people are unaware of what's happening. Here's a clue to some of the puzzle: Polls show that people do want more reliable wages, pensions, and health insurance. But too many people have given up on the idea that the political process can be used to restore the American dream.

Entire Article:

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/09/02/another_year_another_wage_loss/

If economy is growing, why aren't workers' wages growing?
BY RALPH MARTIRE

Just in time for Labor Day, the federal government released some good news about the economy: It's growing, continuing a five-year trend. Incomes across all households are up, while corporate profits hit their highest point since the 1960s. And to whom do we owe this apparent good news? Why, the American worker. Continuous increases in worker productivity (along with inflated consumer spending financed by credit card debt and mortgage refinancings), has driven economic growth. Recognizing the importance of workers to our economic well-being, the U.S. Department of Labor's Web site says Labor Day allows us ''to pay tribute . . . to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership: the American worker.''

Noble sentiments, those. The problem is, sentiments don't put food on the table or pay rent -- wages do. And, despite the rosy economic news, workers have been completely excluded from the recent prosperity gains, even though they're largely responsible for causing them. The truth is, as corporate profits surged, wages for the vast majority of Americans stagnated or declined.

What about the fact that average income is growing? That's true enough, but misleading. Average income increased overall solely because incomes at the very top exploded. For 80 percent of workers, incomes actually declined on an inflation-adjusted basis since November 2001. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities notes this is the only time income for most workers declined during any four-year-long economic recovery, going back 40 years. Think about it this way: If Sally police officer and Joe plumber are sitting at a bar, their average income would be, well, average. Now if Bill Gates Jr. joins them, the average income of our three bar patrons suddenly increased astronomically. Still, only one of the three can afford to buy drinks for the house.

Even the seeming bright spot that median household income finally grew after four years of decline, if by a meager 1.1 percent, masks reality for working families. Once you eliminate households headed by those over age 65, median income for everyone else dropped. It's especially troubling that incomes declined as worker productivity increased. Sylvia Allegretto of the Economic Policy Institute noted, ''Traditionally, a mature recovery combined with growing productivity leads to wage gains, not losses. Workers aren't sharing in benefits created by their improved productivity.''

Meanwhile, the value of the national minimum wage has dropped to its lowest point in 50 years. Wages and salaries now constitute only 45 percent of the country's economy, a historic low. An additional 1.3 million Americans became uninsured last year as health-care costs continued to escalate at rates three times greater than wage growth. All of which makes many policy debates seem grossly off-point. For instance, why, during a time of skyrocketing corporate profits and worker productivity, is it controversial for Congress to increase a minimum wage that's at historic lows? Why shouldn't Chicago consider a living wage ordinance? And since all the data demonstrate how essential a high-quality education is to both getting hired and earning a decent wage, why doesn't Illinois finally get around to school funding reform, so every kid has the skills to get a good job?

Entire Article:

http://www.suntimes.com/output/martire/cst-edt-mart02.html

Lessons for Labor Day
Katrina vanden Heuvel

CEO's in the oil and defense industries are making out like profiteering bandits. Wages for American workers are declining while their productivity is rising. Recent polls show that workers feel pessimistic about their economic prospects. And a new US Census Report reveals growing poverty, especially among children.

Happy Labor Day.

The 13th annual "Executive Excess" report from the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) and United for a Fair Economy indicates that "the CEO's at the top 34 military contractors have enjoyed average paychecks that are double the compensation they received in the four years leading up to 9/11."
George David, CEO of United Technologies – the maker of the Black Hawk helicopter – pocketed $200 million since 9/11, explaining, "Obviously, military was a big bang for us in the post-September 11 period." UTC is currently suing the Pentagon to stop the release of documents pertaining to Black Hawk quality-control problems.

These 34 defense CEO's have been paid nearly $1 billion since 9/11. As soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, the average army private earns $25,000 per year while the average defense CEO makes $7.7 million.

As IPS's Sarah Anderson writes, "Imagine how it must feel to be risking your life every day on the front lines in Iraq, knowing that military contractors are getting grotesquely rich in the comfort of their executive suites? No wonder we're seeing the US Marine Corps having to force their reservists back to the battlefield."

Entire Article:

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?pid=117962

Going For Broke
Elizabeth Warren discusses how ordinary families wind up bankrupt and why new legislation could be hurting those at risk.
By Karen Springen

Last year, the number of personal bankruptcies ballooned to two million as people rushed to beat last deadline for a new law that made it harder and more expensive for consumers to declare themselves broke. The increase was followed by a slump, with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reporting this week that personal bankruptcies for the year ending June 30 fell to 1.45 million—the lowest level in five years.

Does that mean Americans are in better financial shape? Not quite, according to bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren, a professor of law at Harvard University and co-author (with her daughter) of "The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers Are Going Broke" (Basic Books; September 2003) and "All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan" (Free Press; March 2005.) NEWSWEEK's Karen Springen spoke with Warren about why she thinks the current legislation helps lenders at the expense of ordinary Americans and how the nation can get out of a debilitating cycle of debt.

Q & A follows at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14604090/site/newsweek/?nav=slate