Working Life

Yesterday, I wrote that the president’s proposal to hike the minimum wage from $7.25 to $9 was a meek proposal. And that it was pure rubbish to argue, as he did, that that hike would help people get ahead. Just to add today a bit more.

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Well, bravo for the president for going to fight for a rise in the minimum wage. But, let’s be clear — this isn’t going to do much to raise people out of poverty.

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It’s not surprising that a growing number of workers around the globe are losing faith in political leaders. After all, the economic debate often seems completely divorced from the realities of workers’ lives, whether it’s blaming workers for national budget squeezes actually caused by bankers or CEOs imposing mass layoffs to cover up obscene executive compensation at the heart of bottom-line revenue shortfalls. The debate in the United States is a good example.

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Two sides of the planet. Two different systems. Two different realities for workers—and, therein, lies the lesson: economies are about power, and values. Over in the U.S., if you are a waiter in the food industry, you are screwed, as Mark Bittman outlined in his column a few days ago, on the backs of a […]

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   See, this is a good example of how the conventional wisdom we hear day after day warps the brain. More people are, in fact, being pushed into minimum wage jobs: The number of workers in New York state earning minimum wage has increased sharply since the start of the recession, one of the driving […]

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   Something positive to look forward to today: President Barack Obama on Monday will announce he has chosen Princeton University labor economist Alan Krueger to become the top White House economist, a White House official said.    It isn’t simply that Krueger believes in government action to create jobs. It’s that he is the co-author […]

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    Over the next 18 months, brace yourself for a lot of hand-wringing about the economic crisis we’re in. Every so often, we’re going to be told the "recovery" is just around the corner.  Oh, let’s be clear: the worries will have NOTHING to do with what is actually happening to PEOPLE. It will have […]

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It is still very grim out there for those people who want decent paying work. Not just a job–but a job that pays a fair wage. Today’s numbers make even more clear–we need a Job Party.   I’ll talk about the Job Party a bit more. But, first, let’s look at the numbers: While the […]

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   Today is a day to celebrate–no kidding. The so-called "free trade" deal with South Korea is dead in the water–at least for now. There are a whole host of reasons these deals stink from top to bottom. But, little attention is ever given to this reason: the phony promises made about enforcing labor and […]

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There isn’t any other way of putting it: last night was a disaster for the labor movement and for its members and all working people. When the working class "hero" John Boehner choked up in recounting his humble roots, I said aloud, "will you remember that when you unleash Big Business to press its boot […]

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