labor

Proposed new Unemployment Rate number- U7

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The BLS reports today that January lost 598,000 jobs in the United States, pushing U3 to 7.6%.  This isn't a very scary figure, which is why they report it in the news.  U6 is much scarier- 13.9%.  But I contend that neither of these tell the real story from a "the economy should provide first level Maslow needs to the people" point of view.

Instead, I propose that the real story is answered by the question, what is the ratio of dependents (non-labor people) to workers (people with jobs).  This includes, of course, sole-income investors (those who rely on dividends from investment as their sole source of income), stay-at-home parents, the disabled and sick, and children all as dependents.  It also includes all the unemployed as dependents, if you don't have income from a job then you're living off of the income of other people in one form or another for the most part.

Buy American

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By now you would have to live in a cave to not experience the blow back in the simple act of buying U.S. steel. This is the Buy American provision in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

This is not even the real issue. The question really should be why are not U.S. taxpayer funds to be used first and foremost to create jobs for U.S. workers?

Banks receiving massive U.S. taxpayer funds are firing U.S. workers while keeping temporary foreign guest workers. Why? Because they are an important conduit to offshore outsource and they are cheaper.

Is this the Winter of our Discontent?

During the winter of 1978-1979, the suspension of the right to collective bargaining by British labor unions lead to what was called the Winter of Discontent. Gas deliveries ground to a halt leading to shortages, blackouts became common, and in London trash sat uncollected for months. The labor activism of that period ended with the election of Margaret Thatcher, and the hollowing out of trade union power. God forbid that labor, the working class, have even a half of the power granted to capital, the men and women who live by the labor of others. Adam Smith was right:

How the GOP Won the Working Class

Earlier this week David Sirota wrote what I think is the best column I've ever seen on an important topic in American politics: the role of class in American politics and how the GOP has been able to capture the votes of working class whites.  Let's be clear, it wasn't grand strategy by the Republicans that resulted in the white working class exiting the New Deal Coalition.  It was the utter arrogance of the gang of liberal elitists that have seized the mainstream party of the American Left from the working class.

Friday Movie Night

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hot buttered popcorn

It's Friday Night! Party Time!

Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!

This week's star is Senator Byron Dorgan. Now I happen to really like Dorgan. He has that Midwest sensibility and more importantly, a MBA, a background in corporate taxes and economics and is chair of the Democratic Policy Committee.

One of the things Dorgan is known for is incredible floor speeches with large graphs and images. Believe me, with him on the floor other Senators have no excuse to claim they didn't know a bill or policy was hurting US workers. You can't ignore Dorgan.

Here he says there is no real representation in Congress for the American Worker:

Why You Should Be Thrilled the WTO Doha Talks Collapsed

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There is something stinky in the the WTO trade agreements. Very Stinky.

The United States is trading away American jobs. This isn't by proxy, this is literally trading away American jobs to be done by foreign guest workers.

You've probably never even heard about it. There is this little something called GATS, mode 4 under WTO trade rules. What is GATS mode 4 you ask? Well, click on the link where I overview it. In a nutshell the WTO thinks it's a grand idea to trade education and services. Services means people. Yup, trading people.

Friday Movie Night

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hot buttered popcorn

It's Friday Night! Party Time!

Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!

This week, I found some original reports on worker displacement through insourcing from the 2003-2004 time frame. Insourcing is when corporations bring over cheaper labor via guest worker Visas and displace US workers. In other words, the jobs exist, US workers are simply swapped out for cheaper counter parts. I think to believe it, and get your head around this practice, you just plain have to see it.

This story rarely gets out but when you see the real people this is happening to, it makes the unbelievable real. It is real.

News Flash - Women are Equal to Men - in Terms of Losing Their Careers!

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One of the more amazing spins of the day is how the term diversity has been cast to mean global labor. The original term was for United States Domestic diversity. In other words, giving equal opportunity in a nation to all of her citizens.

Well, there are now damning reports coming to light on what is happening to a large segment of the American Professionals and that is women.

The Joint Economic Committee of Congress released a report entitled Equality in Job Loss: Women Are Increasingly Vulnerable to Layoffs During Recessions.

According to the JEC:

Manufacturing Monday: Guess whose making the Prius now? Oh and VWs too!

Call it a positive effect on the falling US Dollar. Along with an increase activity by domestic manufacturers, foreign companies are now expanding their operations here in the US. Now, yes I understand that ultimately the money goes back overseas, but they are hiring folks who needed jobs. To me, that last part is what counts.

It's official, Toyota will make the Prius in the US!

Age Discrimination So Brazen, It's Documented in the New York Times

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You know something is brazen when the New York Times can publish an article where corporations admit to not hiring anyone over 40 years of age.

The biggest obstacle, experts say, is that most companies are reluctant to retain or hire older workers. At the top of the corporate ladder, executive recruiters are routinely told not to seek anyone over 50, notes Peter Cappelli, director of the Center for Human Resources at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

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