Working Life

   Some people get it about Wal-Mart: But interviews with New Yorkers shopping here on a recent day revealed some surprising views: even some of Wal-Mart’s loyal customers would rather drive to the bargains than risk bringing those low prices — along with the crowds and competition that may come with them — closer to […]

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   This is an example of what we will see in louder tones in the coming year (this in today’s Wall St. Journal): Cities across the nation are raising property taxes, largely citing rising pension and health-care costs for their employees and retirees. In Pennsylvania, the township of Upper Moreland is bumping up property taxes […]

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   We have a huge crisis in the country. The private pension system is collapsing. The public pension system is on the brink of collapse, and people are being pitted one against the other. But, what we often fail to do is connect the dots: between the collapse of the public pensions system and the […]

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   Letting people know their rights–that is a very bad thing in America. Just ask those people who wrote the Constitution, who rebelled against a King. Well, today, the King sitting on the throne is corporate America–the folks who can write massive checks to buy politicians thanks to Citizen United.    And the King today […]

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   You all know, just by looking over here to the right, what I think about the phone deficit-debt scam. And, trust me, you ain’t see nothing yet when it comes to hyperbole and nonsense. A whiff comes in today’s Wall Street Journal: Sens. Saxby Chambliss and Mark Warner said Monday they would introduce legislation […]

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   Let’s face it. Companies don’t care about you anymore: Despite a surge this year in short-term hiring, many American businesses are still skittish about making those jobs permanent, raising concerns among workers and some labor experts that temporary employees will become a larger, more entrenched part of the work force. This is bad news […]

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Here we are living at a time of the greatest class warfare in at least half a century. It is almost impossible to form a union legally in the U.S.–corporations have all power in the workplace. We have the greatest divide between rich and poor in 100 years. And now comes some clear evidence of […]

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   I almost choked on my breakfast this morning–it turns out we still have a Secretary of Labor: President Obama will welcome 12 labor leaders to the White House on Friday for yet another meeting. The purpose of the meeting, which Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will join, is "to discuss strengthening our economy, spurring growth, […]

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   We weren’t invited to the CEO summit with the president (you missed chicken and fish for lunch, by the way). But, I think there is a huge point being missed: The White House has been pursuing a charm offensive with the biggest U.S. employers in recent weeks, hoping to convince them to plow some […]

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   Excuse me, knock, knock–are you one of these people? Apparently, one-third of these people live in California and New York. I know I’d get laughed out of my building: Wealth-X estimates that there are 700 Americans with a net worth of more than $750 million, 400 with $500-$750 million, 3,200 with $200-$500 million, 6,400 […]

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