Say goodbye to full-time jobs with benefits

[Better Believe It]

Say goodbye to full-time jobs with benefits
By Chris Isidore, senior writer
June 5, 2010

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Jobs may be coming back, but they aren't the same ones workers were used to.

Many of the jobs employers are adding are temporary or contract positions, rather than traditional full-time jobs with benefits. With unemployment remaining near 10%, employers have their pick of workers willing to accept less secure positions.

James Stoeckmann, senior practice leader at WorldatWork, a professional association of human resource executives, believes that full-time employees could become the minority of the nation's workforce within 20 to 30 years, leaving employees without traditional benefits such as health coverage, paid vacations and retirement plans, that most workers take for granted today.

"The traditional job is not doomed. But it will increasingly have competition from other models, the most prominent is the independent contractor model," he said.

Doug Arms, senior vice president of Ajilon, a staffing firm, says about 90% of the positions his company is helping clients fill right now are on a contract basis.

"Employers are reluctant to bring on permanent employees too quickly," he said. "And the available candidate landscape is much different now. They're a little more aggressive to take any position."


Read the full article at:

http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/01/news/economy/contract_jobs/index.htm?hpt=C2

[glen123098]

1. The corporations always win in the end...

[Better Believe It]

4. Not when we are well organized and have competent leadership.

Look at American history.

We need to organize on a massive scale and independently of the politicians. Don't wait for some savior or saviors.

[obxhead]

56. That will never happen again in this country unless we can

enact real election reform that imposes term limits, funding reform, and elimination of corporate influence through 'gifts' and donations.

[nadinbrzezinski]

76. Not quite, the organization, like in previous times

will have to occur OUTSIDE the political sphere. It is a political act, but it is not within the accepted terms of the known political system.

You think the US has never, ever been this corrupt? The 1880s come to mind, or for Christ sake, the Tea Pot Scandal.

Now if you are hoping for the political elites to come to save you... then you are correct, why you can never count on them.

[obxhead]

81. I'm not looking for them to save me...

I do want to see them work for our country though, not global corporations. IMO nothing else we push for matters one bit if we don't get election reform. All of it can be undone with a new administration, hell the current administration is working it's ass off to hand our money and soul to corporations. It must be stopped and I feel there is only a single road to get there, electoral reform.

[nadinbrzezinski]

83. Two words

GLOBAL UNIONS.

That is what it will take.

[obxhead]

89. I could get behind that.

it would be a great starting point if properly organized.

[Mojeoux]

181. 10 words Global Unions! Global Unions! Global Unions! Global Unions! Global Unions!

Workers of the Freaking World Unite!!

The $hareholder$'s bottom line will always rule the planet as long as they can exploit 3rd world poor people who have to work for lower wages, in unsafe conditions, with no benefits because they have NO choice.

[newspeak]

94. yes!

remember "little boots" attempted to break the dockworkers union during his first term. On another thread they're discussing capitalism and socialism. What disturbs me the most is some of the "too big to fail", behemoth global corporations. Some are so big, that governments have a hard time suing them without bankrupting themselves. These corporations wield a hell of a lot of power and circumvent democratic countries-for their power is felt in influencing governments, influencing acts of war for corporate interests-and we wind up paying for it with money and lives.

How do the proles gain political influence over such corporations? Some of these corporations today may say they are American, but they are global and
not for the common good for communities or the country, but for their own bottom line.

Some have become, to me, sociopathic monsters who'd poison or kill thousands for a buck. How do you reign in such big structures? They become bigger than countries and their influence is significant among politicians in all countries. I believe that the increasing power of some of these giant corporations who wield so much influence is Poppy's and Kissenger's definition of "new world order." Where corporations blend in with governments over the people, which would be Hitler's dream of fascism.

My solution would be to reign in that power, by tough regulations and break up those who are "too big to fail." Also, strict campaign reform and strip "personhood" from these corporations. California at one time, had a law that allowed the state to disband a corporation which harmed the community or did no good for the people or the community.

Usually, the people who hide behind their corporate status face little liability or consequences for the damage they commit. What is monetary compared to human life?

But, what I see the government wanting to privatize more and allowing the corporations more power over our lives with less representation for us. The corporate media with their blathering heads have repeatedly declared the meme that less government is good and government is incompetent. Yet the more prisons they privatize, the more we hear stories of abuse-like the judge in PA sending young people to corporate children's homes for doing hardly nothing. It's a very scary thought that for a buck, they can ruin people's lives in such a way. Those within the government have made it so that government is ineffectual for a reason. I'll take a good government program over a corporate run, for profit program everytime. For, like I said, the more something is privatized, the more you are not represented-more corporatization means less representation for the people.

[nadinbrzezinski]

95. Well fact is that people have no clue what they are arguing over

We live in a FASCIST, CORPORATIST system, not a capitalist one. And it is high time people stop being catholic about it and read the holy books... starting with Smith. Then they might get it, breaking them up needs to happen and IS very capitalist.

What disturbs me is that people don't have any clue what they are talking about.

[femrap]

109. Bust 'em up

...that's the American and Capitalist thing to do. Five banks control 90% of the derivatives. Bust them the fuck up.

We're totally Fascist...have been for a while. And I, too, am disturbed by the Willfully Ignorant.

Don't people remember the Robber Barons and Teddy busting up the monopolies?

Today Collusion is the norm of American Biz.

[nadinbrzezinski]

123. No people don't remember

people complaint as to how Stalin rewrote history... our right wing has been mighty busy. Nor do they remember of the tea pot scandal or the early days of the labor movement. That is verbotten for most.

[obxhead]

192. guilty as charged. nt

[Enthusiast]

145. Bust them the fuck up!

Right on!

[olegramps]

195. Absolutely. But lets start at home to build the necessary base.

The workers screwed themselves when the swallowed the managements propaganda and now they are paying for it big time. It will be absolutely impossible to reverse the situation until the workers realize that the only way they can get a fair deal is to organize. Until that happens they are screwed and the downward spiral will continue. When 36% of labor belonged to unions they demanded and got fair treatment not only for union members but for workers in general. Now that only 6% are unionized they are at the mercy of the corporations that are going to enslave them.

[abelenkpe]

210. +1 nt

[Ken Burch]

130. We will need not only Unions of the Unemployed(as we had in the Thirties)

But Unions of the Temporarily Employed. And we'll need to get EVERYBODY without a traditional full-time job with bennies into THOSE unions, because that will be the only way to stand up to the bosses and prevent them from using poverty to turn ourselves against each other.

We'll also need to develop, within those structures, means of materially helping each other-not just community gardens, but alternative food distribution and production, free medical care, and people's communication systems.

[nadinbrzezinski]

183. We've done that in the past

usually takes for things to get really bad though for the propaganda against all this to no longer work. I think we might be getting there... we are also getting to the point of civil war division, that is what worries me.

[Mojeoux]

184. Great Ideas. Unions for the "Independent Contractors."

The "independent contractor" deal is bullshit.

[rurallib]

70. "I can hire one half the working class to kill the other half" Jay Gould

Pretty much says it all.
and our government would give Mr. Gould a tax break for this endeavor.

[Better Believe It]

75. But that didn't work out so well during the last depession .... did it now?

It took almost five years before the working class and middle class began to fight back and win against corporate and Wall Street power.

Five long years!

But, it happened.

And yes, it was radicals who led that charge!

[Ken Burch]

137. And that's why they kept our war machine massive AFTER 1945 and had the "Red Scare" repression.

The ruling class learned from their near-defeat.

[ProudDad]

174. And the phony "war on terra(tm)" and the phony "war on drugs(tm)" (n/t)

[femrap]

111. Geez...I hadn't seen

that quote. But look at LA today....the oil drillers vs. the fishing industry.

Same thing in WV....the miners vs. their neighbors who want clean drinking water.

ETA: I think TPTB are setting up a fight between the young and old.

[crikkett]

45. Especially since we keep on buying their crap. n/t

[Optimistic]

55. Unemployment will go down to 1%

The plan is when the Tea Party (er Republicans) along with President Palin win in 2012 is to eliminate Social Security and Medicare for all
Reduce the Minimum wage to .50 an Hour and eliminate all taxed on Corporations and anyone malking more than $250,000.00 a year

This way all businesses will lay off all Full Time Employees except for the Board of Directors and one person per site
Then for example my place has 120 workers with 60 Full Time, They will reduce the Full Time to 1 person, (The Store Manager)
and they will reduce the hours of the part time people from 20 Hours per week to 5 hours per week, so then they can have 240 Workers and the Full Timers will go from 40 hours to 10 Hours and then that will have the company with 240 Workers at 10 Hours,

So then that means the operation will have 480 workers instead of 120 Workers,

So with one place adds 360 jobs, multiply that by many thousands of businesses means millions of jobs will be created.
Of course the average income will be about $400.00 a year but hey The Tea party (er Republicans) will say they are looking out for the little people, all 300 Million of them.

[Go2Peace]

90. That's the danger. When they see people organizing they just throw a little false prosperity out

and give people a few crumbs and get them complacent again while they further destroy the middle class behind the scenes.

[bl968]

93. Just look at BP for confirmation

Yes Just look at how gas prices falling, to keep people from wanting to tar and feather BP...

[sasquuatch55]

97. Actually benefit jobs have been rapidly declining for years just as full time jobs!

nt

[GoddessOfGuinness]

159. Thank you...

That's precisely what I was thinking.

I remember babysitting for a man who earned his living as a grocer in the neighborhood Safeway. Granted, his wife worked too, as a receptionist in a dental office. But between the two of them, they were able to save enough money to own a modest home, get their kids through college, and take a vacation every year. That's not a career path anymore, unless you're shooting for a management position.

[Enthusiast]

144. And they will until we have

ACTUAL campaign finance reform or publicly financed elections. And we must overturn the insane Citizens United SCOTUS decision.

[Skittles]

2. a conservative wet dream

[Mari333]

3. as long as people allow themselves to be fcked they will be fcked

until they rise up, there wont be change.

[Digit]

5. I am glad I am in my 50's.

I have had about enough of this shit.
Pardon me, I am pissed.

[Hempathy]

14. You must have a secure job.

Once you hit 50, and lose your job- getting another one is that much more difficult.
My wife, 52, has been unemployed since September.

[Digit]

16. Nope, just found one after almost two years of looking.

It is not secure at all and is 1/2 of what I last made.

I count myself lucky to have a job at all.

[tango-tee]

17. I'll be 58 years old this month

and have a brand new immediate supervisor, a Senior Vice President. He's 41 years old, only six years older than my son. I'm one of the few women in a traditionally male field and hope, after several good conversations, that our new Senior VP won't kick me to the curb. I'd be royally screwed and might as well resign myself to picking up trash in the city park for a pittance.

[Go2Peace]

91. Too much competition for that picking up trash job

even getting a job at a burger joint is no longer an option. They have so many applicants they won't touch anyone with any other background.

[tango-tee]

202. There are no words, friend.

How could we have reached this point? I simply don't know what to say. Feeling helpless in the face of what is happening to so many.

[Faygo Kid]

124. My girlfriend will be 59 in July, and she lost her job Jan.1.

Actually, it was stolen from her. They brought in an "adviser" to her association. The "adviser" advised firing my best friend and hiring her instead. At $150,000 per year, plus full benefits.

I am the same age, and will cling fiercely to my job for another seven years. It's just hell out there for the older unemployed.

Hell.

I hear you. Do what you need to do to remain employed. And all the best.

[tango-tee]

201. Faygo, you won't believe it...

... but New Boss seems to be one of "us". He's been sitting down with us (including the cleaning lady), discussing our viewpoints of what is going well and not so well within the company. He's asking for suggestions to solve problems. Shit, am I in the wrong movie, or what? A leftie disguised as Senior VP?

Our field is its own little world, where people know about one another not only within the country but internationally, and after asking around a bit I've heard good things about this guy. His job went the way many other jobs have within the industry, but perhaps we'll be fortunate to have him with us. Wouldn't that be great?

A person *can* hope?!

[lavenderdiva]

47. You're right

my dh was terminated in January and still hasn't found another position. He's had 1 interview in all that time. He's 60. Once they see his age, they move on to the next (& much younger) candidate.

[newspeak]

99. yes, my hubby lost his job that he had for almost thirty years

many managers in their fifties were laid off. And the company wanted them to sign a legal paper stating that they wouldn't sue them for laying them off-if they didn't sign, they didn't get a severance package. It was funny because his area was touted as the example the tops wanted the other areas to emulate-so while thinking he was going to get promoted or a high five, instead he got laid off.

I bet there have been a lot of people in their fifties and sixties who have been laid off.

[moriah]

6. I'm in a contract position, but with the same benefits as full-time employees

I'm not through an agency, I'm a "Limited Term Employee" hired on directly with the company, and renew my contract every year. My boss is trying to get me into a full time requisition, but it's hard to get permission from corporate to hire people on as FTEs. This July will be the start of my fifth year with the company as an LTE. My benefits are the same as FTEs, at the same cost to me, but I do not qualify for the severance package if there are layoffs. I still qualify for short and long-term disability, group term life, new parent leave, funeral leave, etc.

They also were very, very helpful when I had to take FMLA leave to take care of my father in the last month of his life -- and after he did pass away I got a week of paid leave.

Edit to add: I'm hourly, and I am scheduled to work 40 hours a week, I often have opportunities for overtime, also have paid holidays and 3 weeks of paid vacation a year, and 6 paid sick leave days.

[TheDebbieDee]

11. Sounds like a great contract position...........

The only other contract positions I have heard of suck! No holidays, no paid time off, no benefits whatsoever!

[moriah]

13. It is.

We do have agency contractors in the office as well, it's like a trial period before they get hired on either as LTE or FTE. That agency offers 6 paid holidays (NYD, Christmas, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving Day -- as an LTE or FTE we also get President's Day, Martin Luther King, Jr Day, the Friday after Thanksgiving, a company designated floater -- this year it'll be New Years Eve as Christmas Eve is a Friday, and that's our Christmas holiday -- and an employee designated floater) but no paid sick days, and they do have an insurance plan but it's rather crappy. The only reason I would ever buy one like it is so that I could have continuous insurance coverage in the case of a pre-existing condition -- so that if I got new insurance it wouldn't exclude that condition for a year.

But isn't the proposed health care reform supposed to stop that year exclusion with most policies? I hope so. If that is the case, the "insurance" they offer is useless.

I was an agency contractor for six months before being hired on as LTE.

[SocialistLez]

161. My part-time job is like that. No paid time off, no benefits, etc.

I wish the place I could be doing the same job at was hiring.
They pay more per hour AND just about everyone (even part-time people) get benefits.

[pattmarty]

30. You forgot to add: "I am also extremely lucky to have this job in.............

...........this environment". Two of my sons have limited education and have been unemployed for some time and are basically FUCKED.

[moriah]

40. Yes, I'm damn lucky.

I'm a computer tech, pretty much self-trained. I had two years of college but they were studying psychology. No certs, no classes, mostly on the job training.

I did internet tech support as a summer job in college, then after working through agencies doing transcription, got hired with Dillards doing help desk work for their stores. The Towers fell while I was there, and shortly thereafter my now ex-husband and I moved to NYC. Worked for an ISP through a temp agency in Long Island while we lived in Queens. The marriage fell apart and I moved back home, and a friend told me about a very temporary job traveling to California to help install machines in a very detested retailer's stores.

After that job, I moved up to Detested Retailer's home area in Northwest Arkansas. I had to work my way through several years of contract work -- not independent contractor, but through temp agencies -- before I got this job. Most were projects, that varied between a few weeks and several months of work. I was lucky to be told up front my by friend who mentioned the first job that there were many dry spells, so I didn't blow all of the money I got at once and lived frugally. After working in Detested Retailer's environment for nearly four years, I got hired on with the IT company I work for now.

I like to say that I haven't sold my soul, I've just rented it out for awhile. But the IT company I work for is a very good company and there are opportunities for me to move on, either in-state or out of Arkansas.

It sucks there are so few full-time direct-hire jobs in this country, but experience really does make your resume look better than even a college degree. Temp agencies give people that experience and let them prove themselves -- and make a pretty penny doing it. (We joked that one agency, the first one I worked for up here in NWA, was called "Robert Half" because they took half of your pay, but there was a lot of truth in the joke.) It is a struggle, but if the agencies didn't exist I think we'd have much worse unemployment than we do, and fewer opportunities for people to actually get the experience that would make a company hire them on full-time.

I hope health care reform makes agencies start offering real health insurance instead of the crap they offer now. It'd be nice to see a minimum standard, because it would most likely be an improvement.

[Art_from_Ark]

67. Hello, moriah

So are you still in Detested Retailer's home base? I know all about that place, and have many family members who live in that area. I myself did some work at DR's No. 6 warehouse for a while, and half of my graduating class seems to have worked for them at one time or another.

[moriah]

191. The warehouses are definitely a better gig than the stores.

I still support their servers, but I don't work in their buildings. I've been trying to get a transfer to the Conway office since it'd be closer to home. :)

[Art_from_Ark]

193. The warehouse did seem to be pretty laid back

especially the night shift. But the pay wasn't much to brag about-- a little less than $800/month, back in the late '80s.

I know someone who was supporting their servers. Interesting. :hi:

[ProudDad]

176. Then you're not in a "contract position" according to IRS

You're just another employee except you know the date of your potential termination unlike nearly every other employee (wage slave)...

[moriah]

190. There's a difference between "Independent Contractor" and "contract position"

I am in a year long contract that has the potential to be renewed.

I've also been in contract positions through agencies where I might not have had an exact termination date, and others where the contract stated exactly how long the project would last. But they all paid employment taxes and gave me W2s, which is the difference between a "contractor" and an "independent contractor" who does not get a W2 and has to pay self-employment tax. I was also eligible for UI when an assignment ended.

It's still not a permanent full-time job, and the contract I sign states that they can fire me at anytime if they have to lay people off, if the account I support loses money, or the customer, for whatever reason, decides they don't want me working on their systems anymore (and that has happened in the past to people for "offenses" that did not meet the definition of employee misconduct). Hell, in one of the jobs I had through a temp agency, me and 41 other people got canned the same day because one of the executives at the agency was having dinner in a restaurant and badmouthed a director of the Detested Retailer we were supporting, and a friend of that director was at the next table.

The focus of the article was not just independent contractors, but people who were working in contract and temporary positions, whether they be with an agency as the intermediary or not, and regardless of tax status. ICs doing the same type of work I do would make at least twice as much per hour as I do, and even insurance and self-employment tax aren't half of a person's income in my field as an IC. Yes, I'm a computer tech. ICs net more money than I do, but don't have UI. It's a bit riskier but if they don't own a home or have a family yet, the benefit of the extra pay can be worth the risk if they save up.

[ProudDad]

200. I guess the IRS has really loosened up

We had to be VERY careful (one of my "clients" got hammered by IRS because we did all our work on-site with his equipment)...

Had to be MY hours, MY computer, etc. to be an "independent"...

But capitalism's capability to exploit knows no bounds and the corporate tools in Congress and the White House for the last 35 years have been more than compliant...

As I said down below...

--------------------------------------------------------------------

What we really need are full time benefits...

in a sustainable steady-state economy built to fulfill human needs and live in concert with Mother Earth...

We just gonna get more of this shit from the capitalist masters...and their death culture...until they destroy the Earth as a hospitable environment for large air-breathing mammals.

[New Dawn]

7. We leftists warned the nation that the individual mandate is a terrible idea.

That will only enrich the "health" insurance conglomerates.

[Lasher]

8. Yes we did.

I don't know what's so hard about following the Medicare example.

[AnArmyVeteran]

41. Political Whores stopped that idea. A corporate whore by any other name is still a corporate whore.

It doesn't matter if they are republican or democrat. To get elected you almost have to sell out to get the money you need to win. We need publicly financed elections to stop the revolving door of prostitutes going to Washington. And we need to eliminate campaign advertising and only have public debates that the media would be FORCED to air in primetime. They are OUR airwaves, not theirs. We need to take back what belongs to us and that includes our airwaves, our elections and our government. Only then will we see change. But until that day occurs we will have one political prostitute after another going to Washington.

Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. So why do so many people mindlessly vote republican or democratic and not even look at third party candidates? The level of ignorance and stupidity in American voters is staggering. And those on the right have brought ignorance to a level probably never reached in the history of mankind.

People are so damned STUPID!

[awoke_in_2003]

72. +1000. nt

[liberation]

98. The curse of the liberal: being correct almost all the time...

... only to be ignored every damn time.

Neo-liberals and neo-conservatives have a better gig though: they are almost always wrong, but they feel entitled to the benefit of the doubt no matter what.


Oh, well... c'est la vie, I guess.

[harun]

134. +1.

[cherokeeprogressive]

9. Can you say NAFTA, WTO, or Most Favored Nation?

And to think Ross Perot was a laughingstock for talking about "that sucking sound".

[avaistheone1]

194. +1,000,000

Exactly. the writing has been on the wall for some time now. Yes, Perot was right.

I guess that is why corporate media had to diminish and disempower him. Perot was giving the game plan away.

[RC]

10. We still need to campaign for Single Payer, Universal Health Care.

Get the parasitical middleman insurance companies out of the equation.
Business should not have to have anything to do with health insurance.

[dotymed]

44. +1000000

That has to be obvious to everyone. Yet, the monied elite somehow keep the downtrodden convinced otherwise. I saw a "SOS" bumper sticker the other day...it said "Stop Obamas Socialism"....? It was on a black mans pick-up truck. Obamas Socialism???? All I've seen is corporatism (Fascism) from all of them.

[peace frog]

66. [phone]

Fucked again. :evilfrown:

Health care reform legislation passed earlier this year, which will create a mandate for employers to provide health benefits for employees but not contractors, will also feed the trend.

"Once you have an employer mandate in place, you create an incentive for employers to get around that mandate", said Susan Houseman, a senior economist studying labor issues at the W.E. Upjohn Institute.

[Lorien]

92. Yep. Decent health care is out of reach for those of us who are already contract workers. nt

[defendandprotect]

131. Certainly agree --

The right wing created their own T-Party protesters, financed them --

We can't even get the Democratic Party to call out their ready made protesters!!

Anti-war -- Anti-torture -- Anti-MIC bankrupting Treasury --

Medicare for All -- Social Security -- Full employment --

[Enthusiast]

147. Absolutely correct!

This horrible health care system is the source of many of our problems.

[G_j]

12. these bills have been made ultimately ineffective by design and intent

Hold BP, Halliburton and TransOcean Fully Responsible For The Gulf Oil Catastrophe


The President offered the excuse the other day that the reason why
there was inadequate environmental vetting for what has become the
Deep Horizon oil disaster was that a provision of law had passed
which only permitted 30 days for such a review, making it a practical
impossibility. Of course, that is precisely why corporate lobbyists
for the oil industry inserted into law this crippling of any
attempted regulatory oversight in the first place.

So too with the liability limitation of million on corporate
responsibility for wreaking havoc on our environment. Again, this was
just another corporate irresponsibility safety valve, so they would
not have to even concern themselves about putting all the rest of us
in grave danger. And so they did. It is even being reported that
Transocean made a whopping $270 million profit on the destruction of
their over-insured drilling rig.

Each and every one of these corporate "get out of jail and liability
free" cards must be immediately rescinded, starting with passage of
the "Big Oil Bailout Prevention Liability Act of 2010", S. 3305.
Republican Senators like Murkowski (from Alaska, home of Exxon
Valdez) actually had the gall to argue that "smaller" oil companies
should not be held liable at all for destroying our planet.

Hold Oil Companies Accountable action page:
http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum1046.php

The action page link above will send your personal message to all
your members of Congress and President Obama too, by blast fax. You
do not need to have your own fax machine. Just submit the action page
and our server will automatically send all your faxes for you to be
delivered electronically.


The fact is that the oil catastrophe in the Gulf is just the first of
many planetary scale cataclysms coming within decades, unless we have
fundamental and profound energy policy change starting NOW. Just as
we now watch scientists and engineers helpless to stem the tide of
the Deepwater Horizon oil blow out, it will likewise be even more so
if and when the melting of the polar ice caps becomes irreversible.

You might think, as the sickening waves of gloppy crude start
smothering beaches and wetlands from Louisiana to the Florida keys,
that some of the "Drill, baby, drill" crowd might be doing some
serious soul searching about the end path of current energy policy.
But mostly they are just hollering for the federal government to come
rushing in to bail them out. But who's going to bail out the state of
Florida when half of it is under water from rising sea levels?

Well, the federal government has done plenty, for many decades,
through the grandstanding corporate owned shills that they keep
electing to Congress, to pass precisely the laws that made such a
disaster so inevitable ... again. In point of fact, the 75 million
dollar liability limit was inserted into the original so-called
"reform" bill in the aftermath of the original Exxon Valdez disaster,
just as every other reform bill as far back as the eye can see has
been made toothless because of pressure from corporate special
interests. And so now we see the result of a failure to impose
decisive and real reform, an even bigger calamity.

Recently, the credit card reform bill, the health care reform bill,
and soon to be the finance reform bill and the energy reform bill,
have all been worthless and cruel jokes on the hopes of the American
people for real change. Each and every one of these bills have been
made ultimately ineffective by design and intent, driven by the
corporate dictators that members of Congress now serve exclusively.

And NOTHING is going to change, not a damn thing, we are just going
to keep reliving bigger and bigger disasters, UNTIL enough of you
folks open your mouths, stop giving the corporate cronies in your own
party a pass for partisan reasons, and start demanding legislation in
the interest of the people and ONLY the people from now on.

[nadinbrzezinski]

15. Hate to point this out

but this did not start now. This has been the trend for the last at least 20 years. It has just picked up speed.

In some sectors (technical writing for example) this was already the reality over five years ago.

IT has had this kind of a reality for over ten.

CNN just noticed now...

[seabeyond]

36. "been the trend for the last at least 20 years". yes it has. and

regardless how we recognize how it will hurt all of us, we ontinue moving forward on this path.

[newspeak]

102. You're right

We're like the frogs in the pot of water-now it's starting to boil.

[Blue_Tires]

155. +1

[Donnachaidh]

18. oh yeah, convenient to blame it on healthcare reform

When in actuality it's Shock Doctrine. Naomi Klein called it.

All the free trade elites WANT the American middle class to be disarmed and disabled, to the point of serfdom. Welcome to the third world folks - brought to you by corporations AND politicians from BOTH parties.

[Maccagirl]

19. +1000

I really don't see what we can do to stop it.

[pattmarty]

31. My belief is that for the people that can afford to move to another...............

............country that doesn't treat the MAJORITY of it's citizens like fucking shit. As far as the rest of us with no resources or educational backing, we are FUCKED.

[rucky]

33. with all the teacher firings going on

we're fucked for at least another generation.

[pattmarty]

34. You forgot to add privatization. Our education system is another.............

..........cause for the rest of the world to fucking laugh at us. Where does the US "fall" now in the world as education goes? Probably somewhere between Mexico and Uganda.

[Nevernose]

64. It ranks as one of the best in the world.

Because we educate everybody through high school (unlike Europe, where kids are filtered into alternative programs, or China/Asia, where high school isn't free), our scores appear low. But if you compare America's top 20% to any other nation's top 20%, they rank quite well. Those country rankings are apples and oranges, and really should be taken with a big grain of salt. For what it's worth, my SO has taught in Asia and France, and because I have two master's degrees and once expressed a tentative interest, we bothe get weekly calls/emails from educational headhunters all over the world. China, mostly, followed by Taipei, Korea, and Vietnam, with a smattering of German and Italian schools, and really pushy Middle Eastern recruiters. The fufnny thing is, we work at a school where I occasionally have to disarm someone. The point being that they know our teachers and our education system is superb.

[liberation]

101. You seem to be confusing "college" with "high school"

Actually in Europe kids are not "filtered" into "alternative" programs, that is a very disingenuous framing for their technical and trade education system.

And what the fuck do all those "head hunters" for your wonderful "master degrees" have to do with the reality of the K-12 educational systems in this country? 80% of your post was nothing but tangential personal anecdotes, in fact that reflects rather poorly in your knowledge of statistical realities.

[pattmarty]

122. In the larger cities in this country it's shit and you know it. As far as............

............Europe goes I have read and no people that have been educated there. Don't try to bullshit a bullshitter. In the "richer" suburbs around the country it is still good. In the poorer areas (remember the local real estate tax is the majority of funds for PS) it fucking sucks and privatization according to the latest studies is making it worse.

[Enthusiast]

150. It continues to suck in most

rural areas also.

[sam sarrha]

21. we are foreclosing in about 3 months

[proudohioan]

23. I am so very sorry to hear that....

May I extend a :hug: ?

[sam sarrha]

86. thanks..

[Donnachaidh]

25. oh damn -- sorry to hear that. {{{{{{{{{{{{sam}}}}}}}}}}}}}

Any possibility that there might be a rock or two still unturned in terms of help? I'm serious now -- when we were going without to keep a roof over our heads I called ANY organization that might *possibly* help us out. As you probably already know, you can act pretty damn shameless AND fearless if you have nothing to lose.

Don't give up without a fight. Seriously. Call United Way, Salvation Army -- anyone out there. Go to church? Go bang on the pastor's door. Previously gave to a local charity? Call THEM and ask for help and/or advice as to what to do and what's available. I've made more contacts just talking to groups that couldn't help - they almost always knew someone who could.

Good vibes and good thoughts speeding your way. Keep us posted here.

[sam sarrha]

85. house got devalued 20%, unsellable, wife got a good job 120 miles away, i have to stay 90 days to

get her insurance as a am disabled..i might get some help with the union getting a job near Raleigh. just have to get another place to live before we ruin our credit forever. we are both 60..not in great health. we got ripped off on this house, it is a wreck with good paint in a goo location. i lost my hand and just cant fix it up.. i lost my hand fixing this mess up.!!

[femrap]

113. I'm

glad your wife got a good job. Hope you have better luck in the new area.

So sorry to hear of your troubles. Take care.

[rucky]

32. Exactly!

The same people blaming "gubmit run healthcare" for this are also for disarming the collective bargaining power of unions.

How can every other advanced economy in the world seem to manage having a workforce that can earn a living wage, receive health coverage and much larger period of paid vacation + paid leave, but we can't?

This is a sorry excuse to preserve our top-heavy distribution of wealth - rivaled only by the world's most corrupt third-world nations.

[sam sarrha]

87. here is the present distribution of wealth here, bottom 80% has 7% of financial wealth.!>Link>>

this report is really disturbing.. you cant have an economy looting the people who are the economy..

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html

[femrap]

114. I read, but don't have

the link....the Walmart Family has more wealth than the lower 50% of the population.

WTF can these people do with that money? How many homes do they need? How many cars? I actually think that Daddy Walmart is turning over in his grave to see what has happened to the working people of this country.

[liberation]

104. Hey... we don't have corruption in the US

... and when we do, we legalize it and it "disappears" ;-)


It is the genius of the American system... out of sight, out of mind, move on.

I am yet to find anyone who can tell me, with a straight face, how exactly lobbying and corporate campaign donations are not a form of 'corruption.' For example...

[Enthusiast]

152. It is one ugly situation.

And those shouting the loudest about how the U.S.A. is the greatest country in the history of the world are directly responsible for our decline.

[Greyhound]

20. They left out two vital words, "In America".

Other people are smart enough to demand their due.

We're sheep.

[Initech]

22. Pitchforks and torches.

[proudohioan]

24. I said good-bye to a full time job with bennies

About 4 1/2 years ago. A lot of folks said good-bye shortly after 9/11.... and said hello to "do you want fries with that?".

Where the eff has CNN been?

[moriah]

26. Your job gave you bennies?

I always thought helpdesks would run better if they gave out Valium (one when we clocked in and 2 when we clocked out) but hadn't thought about bennies. Then again, the free sinus medication at my old job working for Dillards in their helpdesk was probably pretty close..... *duck*

On the serious... The economy is in the shitter, and you're right, it's not "new"s. I'm damn lucky in the position I'm in, but I'm working for a Fortune 10 IT company taking care of another Fortune 10 company's servers (It's a retailer, if you didn't guess from me being in Northwest Arkansas). This is about the only area of the state that has any job growth, but my company did open a new call center in Conway, Arkansas, close to my home town of Little Rock, supporting home users (no more calling overseas for printer support!). It's shamefully bad in the more rural parts of the state. And Arkansas hasn't been hit nearly as hard as Ohio.

[proudohioan]

27. Not to mention a Jack & cola at lunch break!!!

LOL! Bennies; I LIKE that idea! Hell, if they can't offer any other benefits, they might as well pry open the wallet and offer bennies. It would be easier and cheaper than having disgruntled employees revolting with torches and pitchforks!

This is a seriously shitty economy!

[moriah]

43. The sinus meds...

.... were pretty close -- of course they don't do that anymore because now pseudoephedrine is behind-the-counter in my state. There was a huge box of cold remedies, sinus remedies, ibuprofen, tylenol, aspirin, naproxen, and pills of mixes of those... all in little individual dose packets.

But I think the Valium might work better to prevent torches and pitchforks revolts, not to mention the individual worker going postal...

Better living through chemistry?

[proudohioan]

57. Yes, the sinus meds...

One of my favorite 'sleep aids'.

Better living through chemistry? You bet!

:rofl: :toast:

[Scuba]

28. The only thing the corporations like more than cheap labor is slave labor.

[pattmarty]

29. This is nothing new. This so called "independent contractor" has............

...........been increasing since the 80's. The 40 hr work week has been going away for just as long. Most of the New Deal protections are now gone. My advice, if you can afford to and have "some" education or advanced skills is to move to another country. No shit, you really won't want to live here in another 10 yrs unless you are wealthy or have a "super" skill/job like doctor, lawyer or financial wiz. The golden age for America for the working class was the 50's after the war and before Europe and Asia recovered from the war. Those days are gone forever I believe. My wife and I have been thinking Spain. At this point I am 63 receiving early SS and pension (I'm one of the FEW lucky ones) and don't think it is worth it at this point in my life. But who knows, if things get any worse here I may just make the jump.

[jp11]

37. I'm glad I'll soon be in a position to pickup and leave for wherever not that far in the future,

just gotta spend some time learning a couple other languages.

[dotymed]

46. All of the

residential carpenters I know (except Union) are "independent contractors." Of course they don't have to furnish the big tools or have any benefits...most do not speak English and are basically slave labor. This has been happening since the 1980's....yet the masses still will not rise up. They stay propagandized by MSM and bosses... They get used up and tossed aside.

[moondust]

58. Good advice.

Servitude in a trashy, oil-drenched, feudal paradise for greedy corporate bastards is not my idea of a good time. I, too, would strongly advise younger people to explore their options in more liveable countries where greed does not dominate every aspect of human existence.

It wouldn't surprise me if the U.S. did away with Social Security, Medicare, and the minimum wage sometime in the next few decades.

[Juche]

169. Spain has a terrible employment situation

The US has problems, but western europe does too and Spain is one of the worst when it comes to employment. They fear/respect their citizens better (virtually every wealthy country does) and offer more socialized benefits. But finding a job in Spain isn't easy from what I know of it.

I am personally considering a place like China or the middle east, but am not sure how to break into those areas. My degree is in biochemistry and I am looking for lab tech work. But am not sure where to start.


But yes, the future looks bleak here in the US.

[NNN0LHI]

35. Rush Limbaugh said to boycott American auto companies

And plenty of Americans said that sure sounded like a great idea to them.

Now all those jobs are gone. Good paying jobs. The kind of jobs that supported a family.

And now everyone is asking where are all the jobs?

We are surrounded by idiots.

Don

[Jeffersons Ghost]

38. K&R

[county worker]

39. What do we hope to gain by having a country with no middle class?

Who is going to support all the retail establishments when you can barely afford to eat? I saw this in Costa Rica some years back. There were three classes of people. There was the wealthy ruling class who lived in walled in communities with guard houses on the corners, the educated - English speaking middle class which was a small percentage of the "not wealthy" and the poor.

I'm afraid that is were we are headed. I am 64 and I can't tell myself too often that I'm glad I lived in the time that I did. I fear for the future of this country.

The only thing that can stop it is a deep sense of caring for each other and I see in the tea baggers and the right just the opposite. The more time the right has in power the faster we are headed toward life like Costa Rica. Countries like Costa Rica are moving from a nation of all poverty to one with a growing middle class, though it will not be a large part of the population. And we are moving in the opposite direction. The future is a world with a a Wealthy class, a very small middle class and the poor who work for their daily bread.

[Enthusiast]

156. There are forces in

this country that have always worked to this end that you describe. And they now have all the power. Like you, I'm not very optimistic about the future of this country.

[Brickbat]

42. Blah blah, unions aren't relelvant anymore, blah blah, they were good for factory workers BUT, blah

blah blah blah blah...

[dotymed]

48. Unions

are the only hope that America has. America is now trying to ruin the Unions in the European countries to "prove" their point. All of these decades, those Unions have created and maintained a thriving middle class (like they did here). The power of combined worker negotiations for rights (and pay) in the workplace should be something that every person strives for. Only through strength (numbers) can ordinary people hope to earn any type of decent living. "Their" current goal seems to be join the military or starve. Now, "they" crave the economic destruction of countries whose citizens demand (usually through Unions)a decent (civilian) life.

[Brickbat]

49. Yup.

[socialist_n_TN]

50. This is what I've been living for 3 years now

My income has been 1/2 to 2/3 of what it was before and I feel ungrateful for even whining about it. I now have to pay my own part of SS and have very few benefits. Luckily, I've finally got a contract job back that I left for more money over a year ago and it's actually better now than it was then, but it's still a contract job. And I'm on a probationary period with it. I won't know if it turns into a "permanent" contract position till August.

It's a fucked up, but until we get a little old fashioned "socialism", it won't change. Even FDR style socialism would be appreciated at this time.

[HippieCowgirl]

51. Pure unadulterated Bullshit

I know it's a rhetorical question, but do you have no memories?

The media has been trotting out this exact same story every ten years or so. In the 1970's recession, the 80's crash, the 90's tech crash, and now the '09 crash.

It's bullshit. It's the fat white guys at the top managing the expectations of the little people so they will be happy with the crumbs thrown to them.

[Populist_Prole]

63. I agree with HippieCowgirl

I've heard this sort of "news" for 30+ years. While the trend has been anti-labor, the sort of "Things are going to get worse...and you'll LIKE it..." crowing by the media, especially the financial media, being corporate shills is glaringly obvious. Designed to intimidate and subjugate. Expectation management. Exactly right.

The media's "batting average" sucked then, and sucks now. They're never called on it.

[newspeak]

108. yeah, well, I can remember the 1980's

back then, it was Japan workers are more industrious. Americans are lazy-gotta get with the program. And, when an auto factory in America out produced, the company sent it out of the country. Also, in the eighties was the meme that companies are going to be competing for American workers. So workers are going to be able to pick and choose where they want to work. Because, they're going to be in such demand. See, unlike in the past, workers won't be loyal to a corporation, they'll be able to move freely around, instead of staying at one company for years until retirement. All of the bullshite to hide real corporate motives. They've always had their memes and sell them mainly in college business classes. And then there's, "downsizing," "rightsizing", "outsourcing," "restructuring."

And just the other day, I believe it was on CNN, they had two talking heads discussing the POWER of the unions. I had to laugh, since unions have lost so much power in the last thirty years. Yes, it was the dilemma of the public unions. Those nasty unions are just destroying this country, ya know. And, yet how many union member's are there today, is it at eight percent-when at one time it was well over thirty percent and had influence and representation for labor. The media has turned into a fekkin joke.

[Enthusiast]

158. "The media has turned

into a fekkin joke."

It was all part of the plan to achieve this mess. What kind of a country do these people want to live in? I don't understand their motives.

[Hannah Bell]

103. +100.

[OhioChick]

52. K&R n/t

[LibDemAlways]

53. People with no perceived job stability have a harder time

establishing credit, buying a home, a car, etc. US employers are shooting themselves in the foot with this shit.

[liberation]

105. You are still thinking US employers are looking for their employees' best interests

They are not, they are looking at their bottom line and only that.

If US employers were interested in the welfare of the common American employee, they would not have outsourced anything that was not nailed to the wall 8000 miles away.

People with no perceived job stability is very easy to manipulate, abuse, and exploit. Thus the reason why few people are ending up with perceived job stability.


Not really that hard concept to get really. Wake up...

[LibDemAlways]

126. Of course employers don't give a

shit about their employees, but I'm assuming those with something to make or sell want to be able to find someone to make or sell it to. If every employer decided to hire people only on a part-time or contract basis no one would have the money to buy a house, a car, a vacation, or anything else, and the whole house of cards would fold. That isn't good for any company's bottom line, but apparently the morons who run the show don't seem to understand the potential domino effect.

[SocialistLez]

160. Maybe they'll end up relaxing the requirements...and we'll be back in the same mess again. NT

[liberation]

180. Exactly...

You and I have common sense, and heck... even Mr. Capitalism himself Henry Ford, understood that paying living wages was in the best interest of his company (good workers which could afford the products they were making).

We're now in the Walmartization of our economy. Where we get all our cheap shit from China, because workers can no longer afford anything that does not have 10 different toxic ingredients in it and will break with a slight wind gust. It is simply not sustainable, because as your common sense told you: at some point people won't be able to afford anything, so where the heck are corporations going to get the profit from?

But that is not the point for them, the average CEO only looks a single quarter in the future. Why? Because if their asses get canned, they stock option obligations are due in a quarter, and thus that is as much as they care so they can cash in, get out and leave the hot potato for the next dumbass. They are no better than a parasite, in fact they are not even that good as parasites... because most parasitic species are "smart" enough as to not suck the host dry enough to kill it. These people are full blown psychotic, they are really that driven by greed. Some of these CEOs and financiers are so delusional, that I am sure they really think they can "buy" their way out of a system which is going to make our planet uninhabitable.

It is myopic greed. It has been institutionalized and made systemic by the higher learning institutions and their worthless MBA factories. It is insanity at a grandiose global scale. Besides being inhumane.


We need to come to grasp with the fact that the economy is ruled by a few people who are for all intents and purposes a bunch of sociopaths. If we're trying to apply normal logic and common sense, which are "clouded" by human empathy, we are going to never understand their MO. They simply do not operate in the same realm as you or I do, they are the least human (empathy together with wisdom being the main definitions of what means to be human) among us... ironically they have the most power.

[abelenkpe]

215. My employer has one goal

to provide a good place to work for his workers. It is a privately owned studio. Workers get up to 11 weeks pto a year based on seniority and great health care benefits. He's been in business for 25 years and supports single payer. Somehow the place stays in business. So while what you say is true for most (sadly) it is not true for all.

Perhaps it is easier to accomplish for a company that is not publicly owned and concerned about shareholders? I've long wondered if the stock market is more of a detriment to creating a stable business and worker environment?

[BuelahWitch]

121. Yes, who will buy their products? They're thinking short term profits

If they thought the economy was bad before, just wait. We consumers can't consume without a little green in our pockets (and I don't mean MOLD).

[LibDemAlways]

143. I'm no economist but common sense would dictate that unless

people have money to spend, they can't buy anything. My husband has been out of work since January. Needless to say we have been limiting ourselves pretty much to necessities since then and I suspect that's the case for many others. Only good job growth will get things back on track, and unfortunately, I don't see it happening.

[Juche]

170. We can't have kids either

Not that I want kids, but the kinds of parents who you want to become parents tend to wait until things are financially secure before having kids.

[burnsei sensei]

54. Add to that no compensatory

government benefits and we have created a third-world system.
Maximum protection for corporate masters, no protection for the people.

[blueworld]

59. But where are the tax deductions? Only for businesses.

I've worked as both an employee & an independent contractor over the years. Either is fine with me. I understand the conservative schtick that employers aren't our parents & can't provide everything yadda yadda.

But the only way health expenses (or other expenses) are tax-deductible for working stiffs is if we can itemize, which most can't. That makes me angry. These take a huge chunk out of family income which is not reflected in higher wages for contractors. So the workers get average wages, much higher expenses & no tax breaks.

Businesses get to opt-out of providing health care because of "expenses" & "profitability" & get tax deductions for every paper clip. That's fine & status quo, but what about the struggling families? Any politicians out there who care about family profitability?

edited for grammatical error.

[scentopine]

60. That's our trickle down stimulus at work. Thank the DLC whose

objective is to continue to strip away all human dignity from workers until we are all working in a free market seat shop, living in cardboard shacks.

To ensure this objective our democratic government is giving their full cooperation to wall street.

Afghanistan - its the stimulus opportunity for those not lucky enough to be working on wall street.

[grace0418]

61. I'm a freelancer and doing way better than I ever did as an employee. Even if I had to purchase

my insurance (which I don't because my husband has insurance through his job), I'd still be doing better than I was at my last job. I have more freedom, more control, more respect (clients treat you like a savior instead of just another disposable employee) and more money. I can stay out of all the stupid office politics and rarely have to attend pointless meetings (funny how when they're paying you by the hour they really don't want to waste your time).

I know this wouldn't work for everyone but for me it's a dream come true.

And really, what is job security anyway? At my last job, for the last 4 years I was there it wasn't a matter of "if" I'd get laid off but "when". It's much harder to look for work when you're stuck in an office all day. Now I have lots of freedom to meet with prospective clients and don't have to worry about getting fired for doing so.

One last note...Universal healthcare would be so amazing because nobody would have to feel tied to jobs they hate for the benefits. I think my husband and I would both go freelance if that were a reality.

[Hoyt]

73. I'm in a similar situation and like it.

Just avoiding office politics and not getting sucked into "pointless" meetings is worth it to me.

I also agree that Universal Health would be great, as would the easy availability of other benefits.

I realize this is not for everyone, but I'm fine with doing work for one company/client today and another tomorrow. You kind of end up being a part-time employee for companies/clients. They like it, and so do I.

[grace0418]

138. Yeah, office politics and pointless meetings were sucking the life out of me. Even if I could've

been promoted at my last job, I wouldn't have wanted it. It just would've meant more politics and more meetings. So not worth the tiny pay raise in my book. I sometimes think about my old boss and smile to myself a bit. I'm not even two years out of that place and already making more money that she is with way less stress and way more freedom. That poor woman was terrified of losing *her* job and she constantly took it out on us.

I think that once you show a client that you're capable and on the ball, you really end up with a great working situation. I get to come in and "save the day" for them on a pretty regular basis. I'm not doing anything extraordinary, just getting done what they didn't have time to do. If I were on staff, they'd be throwing twice as much at me and expecting me to get it done, and complaining if I couldn't. That's the thing that has (pleasantly) surprised me the most about being a freelancer. I realize that I've been lucky to get good clients, but I've gotten way more praise, positive reinforcement and pats on the back than I did in all my pre-freelance working years combined. It's puzzling really. I don't say it to them but I always think "well, you *are* paying me by the hour, so the more you want to futz around with every detail of this project, the more money I make." It's really the salaried employees that should be getting pats on the back, because they don't make any more money when they stay late.

[davidwparker]

84. Your last statement is so true and probably why there is no universal health

care. It would give the peasants too much freedom and an exodus from large companies.

[grace0418]

141. You may be right. That's why I have mixed feelings when I read articles like the OP.

The exact reason you gave.

[SocialistLez]

162. SOME companies ARE against UHC

because they believe it will affect their ability to pick top talent.

What I'd like to see is a single-payer system that covers "the basics" and employers can offer supplemental health insurance if they want.

I SORT of like the German system. There is a good public system for lots of people and an even better private system for the rich. The Germans see the private system as a way to relieve system on the rich. Besides, the rich can always afford to go elsewhere for health care or have private doctors who they will pay top dollar. C'est la vie.

I know Wal-Mart was against UHC which I don't get at all.

[ProudDad]

177. One of the main reasons we don't have single-payer universal health care (n/t)

[JNelson6563]

62. Yeah, I work for a millionaire

and I get no benefits. I do have a leased parking space so, on days where people don't think that "don't park here, we'll have you towed" sign actually applies to them, I get free parking. That's it.

Julie

[TheFarseer]

65. yes, an alarming trend

"Health care reform legislation passed earlier this year, which will create a mandate for employers to provide health benefits for employees but not contractors, will also feed the trend."

Why can't Democrats ever think one move ahead! The unintended consequences of their bills are often almost as bad as the Republicans intentionally screwing us.

[undeterred]

68. I've been working as a contractor for years -

and most of the positions let you work as a W-2. Benefits are not as good, but I've always been eligible for unemployment between positions.

[krabigirl]

71. I actually prefer it, working as a freelancer.

[Better Believe It]

78. Your description means you're not a independent contractor by the usual definition and the one

used in the article.

It seems like your somekind of of a hybrid.

Can you be terminated without cause?

[undeterred]

154. They call us contractors

and usually they give us the choice of W-2 or I-9. Yes, I could be terminated without cause at any time, but so can a permanent employee in my state.

[Better Believe It]

196. Sounds like you're in a "right-to-work for less" state.

[L0oniX]

69. Doesn't matter. We're going to run into peak oil problems and over population.

Check out "What A Way To Go ...Life At The End Of Empire". Unless the entire world makes a great turn away from oil we are doomed.

[earth mom]

74. Saw this coming ever since Reagan.

Bastards! :grr:

[niceypoo]

79. The demise of unions

[liberation]

110. The demise of human decency is more like it...

Reagan is exactly what this country of selfish pricks deserved.

I know that there are plenty of great human beings in our country (just like everywhere else in the world). But now I am of the opinion that they are a slight minority (just like everywhere else in the world). Let's not forget that Reagan won by insane majorities. Even after his first term, and heck...he has had plenty of time as Gov of California to display his stripes in full blown Technicolor glory. So even as early as 1980, people voting for Reagan... knew exactly what they were getting, and fuck if there were not plenty of the so called "Reagan democrats" around.

In fact, the 12 yrs of Reagan-Bush bullshit were only "broke" by 8 years of a Clinton administration which in most of its policies was to the right of Nixon. And then we elected the idiot son of an asshole for another 2 terms, yeah... we can mentally masturbate with the fact that he may or may have not stolen the election. I don't care, no one... not a single damned national organization, much less the Dem party, decided to rise and revolt against that fact.

We're all complicit of our own demise. Me included. :-(

In the end, whether we like it or not, I am beginning to think people always end up getting what they deserve. If we chose to act like complacent sheep, we should not complain wen when get molested by the shepherds and eaten by the wolves.

[Catshrink]

77. Meanwhile CEO salaries and benefits will continue to increase

as their tax rates decrease. Leona Helmsley was right: only the little people pay taxes.

[earcandle]

80. Employers will feel the heat when the IRS audits and discovers the contractors don't pass the test

of being contractors, and they will have to pay back payroll
taxes and penalties and interest if these contractors don't
file a Schedule C.  

[TransitJohn]

82. And now we're mandated to give what little we have to for profit health insurance companies!

It's win-win-win all around. :sarcasm:


I wish the Party were better at playing chess. :sarcasm:

[AngryAmish]

88. I've had jobs. They suck.

Bosses expect you to both show up and be sober when you do show up. I certainly do.

But that really isn't for me. So I became a boss.

[Capitalocracy]

100. Thing about chess is, the pawns always lose.

Even if the guy in charge wins, generally the pawns get a shitty deal.

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Twitter: @bpballotpoison

[Hannah Bell]

96. isn't it great how the owners can just unilaterally "decide" that most of the population will be

insecure?

[femrap]

106. They have to pay

BOTH the employee and employer SS taxes???? :wtf: Plus, one's health care insurance? Is there any money left to pay rent? Or do we now just go live in tent cities?

[southernyankeebelle]

107. Wal Mart wants to replace full time people when they leave with part-ime. What's new?

they are trying to force fulltime people out.

[SocialistLez]

163. Yep. They have already capped the pay for full time people. NT

[flor-de-jasmim]

112. Another good argument for health care for all (not through employer)

[keep_it_real]

115. Health care reform legislation passed earlier this year . . .

. . . which will create a mandate for employers to provide health benefits for employees but not contractors, will also feed the trend.

~~from the article

[Jkid]

116. Wonderful, we get to have competitive workplaces ala Japan and Korea.

Not really that wonderful at all...

[DCBob]

117. Yep. I just did it.. Took a part-time, temporary consulting job..

It pays good but no benes. Not ideal but beats the alternative. Getting healthcare has been a pain.. but I finally got a policy from Keiser Pernanente.

[backtomn]

118. How about this story for a kick in the teeth....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/04/disturbing-job-ads-the-un_n_600665.html

Now we have companies that don't want applications and resumes from the UNEMPLOYED, no matter how it happened. They only want to tranfer from one company to another. I guess these people (including me) are lepers.

[Faygo Kid]

125. All the best to you.

It's a nightmare out there. This can't continue.

[backtomn]

199. Thanks.....I appreciate the good wishes.

I am hanging in there....which is certainly than some other very unlucky folks out there. This is starting to turn surreal. Who would think of NOT hiring the unemployed??!!

[wial]

119. part of this is because boomer generation unions and management

inadvertently conspire to stick it to the gen x,y etc young -- e.g. where I worked the rule for layoffs was the senior boomers would have their positions cut, which did suck for them, but they would have the right to "bump" the person at the bottom of their classification and take their job. That person would be someone younger (e.g., me) who had been recently promoted thanks to good performance. The union set it up that way because they thought that would discourage management from layoffs, since they'd lose their best people.

I had the choice of in turn bumping another recently promoted employee at the bottom of his classification, or accepting layoff. That guy was a friend of mine with a young family. I had options so I took layoff, studied for some professional certifications, and became a contractor, and now make a lot more money but with lousy benefits. Meanwhile, the organization where I worked has lost a lot of its talented people and kept the aging boomer window sitters. Since it is an organization that is supposed to serve the public, this is not a good thing. I guess it's a kind of welfare for the window sitters, but I'd think there were ways less harmful to the common good of achieving that.

As for me, I of course lost faith in the idea of job security, at least for my non-privileged generation. And I don't get to serve the common good anymore. But at least I make more money.

[saras]

120. National general strike

When the subject of this post inspires eighty percent of Americans, instead of revolting most of them, we'll have the power to change things.

The working and middle class can completely stop corporate powers from doing anything whatsoever, by simply not showing up and doing it for them.

[defendandprotect]

127. All the more reason for MEDICARE FOR ALL, labor unions, Social Security ....

[defendandprotect]

128. ... and making corporations pay for costs of unemployment insurance ....

Not sure what they did to the unemployment system --

but probably great negatives --

is there a lifetime limit on unemployment now?

Rather than these elites dictating to the entire nation and controlling our

government, they should be in jail!!

[Ken Burch]

129. Ah, the "Independent Contractor Model"...

Which we SHOULD call the"Work Until You Die" model instead.

Or "Dilbert's Boss' Wet Dream".

[defendandprotect]

135. Quite different from a Halliburton contract with MIC/government, I imagine !!!

eh . . . no caps on costs of those, as I recall!!

Also interesting contract which gives private individuals like BP control over

our natural resources -- !!

:evilgrin:

[Ken Burch]

136. And they make sure the "Independent Contractors" aren't issued guns.

n/t.

[defendandprotect]

132. And not so long ago, we were talking about a 4 day work week - national child care --

longer vacations -- 5 hour work day which almost anyone can handle -- whatever . . .

Took the right wing a long time to reverse the New Deal and begin to move us into

third world status --

What are we hearing about our homeless and long term unemployed from this Democratic

administration these days?

Not much, it seems!

I still believe in all of this -- with the right leadership we could have full employment --

what we need to rid ourselves of is corporatism which is not only destroying the environment,

planet, animal-life/humanity -- but is completely suicidal!!

[Beacool]

133. Thank you Democrats for passing a watered down, eviscerated and compromised to death healthcare bill

"Much of the change is due to employers' desire to limit their costs. Stoechmann equates the shift to the one seen in retirement plans, in which employers moved away from the traditional pension plan toward defined contribution plans, which passes more of the burden onto the employee.

Demographic factors are feeding the shift as well. Stoechmann said many younger workers are more open to the idea of not tying themselves to a single employer.

And as baby boomers reach the age when they are eligible for Medicare and not dependent upon their employer for health insurance, many are more open to contract work.

Health care reform legislation passed earlier this year, which will create a mandate for employers to provide health benefits for employees but not contractors, will also feed the trend.

"Once you have an employer mandate in place, you create an incentive for employers to get around that mandate," said Susan Houseman, a senior economist studying labor issues at the W.E. Upjohn Institute."

;(

[WinkyDink]

151. A Dem Pres with a Dem Congress should have KICKED ASS. Did BUSH COMPROMISE??

[Beacool]

153. No, and he got his way more often than not.

Even when after 2006 the Democrats controlled Congress.

Pathetic.........

;(

[raccoon]

198. You refer to those boomers who are lucky enough to have health insurance through their employers.

"And as baby boomers reach the age when they are eligible for Medicare and not dependent upon their employer for health insurance.."

This one doesn't and hasn't since the early 1990's.

[Still Waters]

139. The tipping point

I wonder if (when) the U.S. will meet the tipping point. I think right now there are still a lot of people doing well and think anybody who isn't is just dumb or lazy. In my area there are tons of current and retired civil service with either good paying jobs w/benefits or have defined benefit retirement. This area is also home to one of the major shipbuilders with lots of government contracts (of course, good luck getting a job there unless you have family or friends to get you in.) Most of these people have no empathy, no sympathy, they got theirs and could care less if you and your family are on the street. It is sad to think that corporations pay people bonuses to figure out how to screw the workers over--get rid of people before they can vest in retirement, or how to work them so they aren't eligible for benefits, or how insurance companies will gladly take your premiums but will scheme any which way they can so as not to pay your claim. This should be unthinkable and illegal and is now the norm. How many jobs that used to have a guaranteed 40 hr wk are now paid by the job (such as mechanics, appliance repair techs, etc.) or have some ridiculous, practically unmeetable quota.

I think that is one thing that is different from the Great Depression era--I believe back then people did care; perhaps that was because almost everyone was personally touched by the hard times. Plus the great Repub propaganda machine, especially Fox and Rush, have truly zombiefied half of the populace. If they are told only the lazy and incompetent can't make it in the greatest nation on earth, by golly, that's what they believe no matter what.

The other thing that scares me is what really can we do? What leverage do we have with these corporations? The jobs are just drying up, evaporating. If I can barely get by on $15 and haven't had a raise in 4 years, someone else would be glad to do the job for $12. Someone else will do it for $8 and no benefits. It's a terrifying race to the bottom. How can we threaten the corporations with striking or unionizing, when they will laugh in our faces and send the jobs overseas?

When will someone address this issue--where are the jobs? Where are the jobs for our future? Where can one get a job in a post-industrial society? The retail jobs are going; I think eventually we will only have Wal-Mart. The call centers are gone. Education is being gutted. There will be a swath of people who will still be able to get good jobs, but what happens to the rest of us, young and old? There was light at the end of the tunnel for the Great Depression era, but I really don't see one for us.

[hay rick]

175. Welcome to DU and

welcome to America. I wonder about the same thing- if and when. If scares me.

I think we are rapidly heading into the next scoop of the much-predicted double-dip recession and I think this will be the test. I think depression-era hard times are right around the corner and I wonder how our society will handle it.

You would think that at some point politicians would start talking about rolling back trade agreements and resurrecting The WPA, CCC, etc. You would think they would have started already...

[GreenTea]

140. Corporations getting their way - No unions to fight for workers......

No fair pay, health care benefits or worker safety nor retirement. When unions were at their strongest most families medical was paid for, sick, pay, vacation pay and retirement was the normal as well as just one parent usually had to work.....

Then the greedy corporations began to blamed union for everything in that was bad the world and were able to mount campaigns pounding it in, year after year... so many workers who were paid well because of unions stupidly believed it just like poor uniformed teabaggers & workers who stupidly vote republican now....unions were purposely made weaker and destroyed with each republican president & administration, no exceptions....and corporations were deregulated and allowed to offer less and now -

Corporations can offer almost nothing to perspective employees because their are no unions - So many workers desperate and begging for jobs just the way the corporations like it and republicans always give them when their in power and the greedy corner-cutting collusive corporations have no mercy, their only concern is massive profits for the few at the top, with no unions to speak up for the workers, workers have to take what they are offered or thousands of others to choose from......this is a republican and corporate tactic to destroy unions, has been since republican union-busting Reagan came to power.

[DFW]

142. Wrong--my daughter just got exactly that

Just graduated law school, and got about $110,000 to start with six weeks paid vacation and full
medical and dental coverage.

Oh, I should probably add: in GERMANY.

[SocialistLez]

164. Niiice. Aren't the 6 weeks paid vac. standard in most European countries? NT

[DFW]

189. No. Germany is one of the most generous in that regard

Better yet, her firm MAKES newcomers take the whole six weeks to avoid burnout in an otherwise stressful job.

[Kievan Rus]

216. Good for her. I look forward to the day I can leave this country for Europe.

Anybody who believes this is the greatest country on Earth, I've got a bridge in New York to sell you.

[treestar]

146. So you are entitled

to other people going into business and being successful enough at it to offer you the full time job with benefits that you are entitled to?

[marmar]

157. WTF?

The Neoliberal spin machine is on overdrive.

[jp11]

166. Not at all,

It is just a shame that this country went from having corporations that thought it was a good idea to 'take care' of their employees both as the 'right thing to do', a way to keep and foster good employees (reliable, steady workforce, content employees) and of course working with unions who demanded those things for the betterment of employees where corporations held all the cards to one where corporations are fixated on more profits, more growth, and minimizing the power of workers.

Corporations succeed by the will of good ideas, strong leadership, innovation etc AND the people who work for them, making them happy and taking care of them benefits the corporation. The contribution of content employees is trivialized in a society that wants more and more, that says it isn't enough we make 74 cents on the dollar we can make 85 and we grew our business by 5% last year this year we need to do the same or better. That posits reducing employee overhead, pensions/benefits is good for business, that turning regular employees into temporary ones or contract employees saves them the trouble of giving them things, saves them money, which makes their companies stronger. Cash is king and that is what they see, that attitude can lead them to find their company isn't as good as it was, as it could have been and may even weaken them when clients/customers/partners find they aren't dealing with the same people week to week, month to month and year to year, that the quality of the business isn't consistent. The relationships in the business world can break up and hurt or just stifle the 'good will' that might otherwise have been gained overtime working with the same people over facing a new contact periodically who might not have the connections to get things done as an 'older' employee might.

How is it going to work when people don't know who the 'new guy/gal' is they have to deal with, not just who they are but are the competent, are they reliable, so much for business relationships between colleagues and customers right? All the while employees are 'taught' they have to get theirs, so the loyalty companies used to have is non-existent except from those precious few 'regulars' they keep on as tokens for whatever reason.

If that is the way it has to go then fine, all that will have to follow is that the people should push for socialized benefits, vacation time, sick leave, paternity leave, medical insurance, etc. because barring that or a resurgence of unions they aren't going to get them.

[treestar]

204. That's all true

And thank you for the polite response.

On DU you get all this bashing of "corporatists" and "elites" yet the same people are entitled to jobs with benefits from these same entities, and somebody has to start the business for it to be able to offer work.

It is not to the benefit of the company to have just contracted employees - employer's know that.

[hay rick]

179. Thank you Howard Roark. nt

[liberation]

186. As a Democrat...

... you make a great Republican.

I am disappointed you did not talk about welfare queens though... come on, that's sloppy!

[abelenkpe]

209. If you can't run a business that treats its workers

well then don't start a business at all. You are not entitled to treat workers like shit.

[northofdenali]

148. I am so lucky. I got the job, and the benefits.

I despair for my daughter who, at 28, has a degree in accounting (Masters) and is pregnant with my first grandchild. She's scared - no work available. She has income from a few clients that she manages from home.

My grandchild.

God, I am scared for her.

[WinkyDink]

149. This is old news. And IIRC, younger workers thought moving from job to job was a peachy idea. And

unions? Let's give them the heave-ho, those worthless old organizations!

[abelenkpe]

211. Um, no we didn't.

But if it makes you feel better about leaving lower standards of living to the next generation then go ahead. The voting block has always been heavily swayed by the boomer generation. It still is. If you want to live in a fantasy world where it's those damn kids fault you are only fooling yourself.

I have always supported unions, but they've bargained away benefits for younger, newer workers in favor of two tiered systems where older workers retain benefits and younger workers get none. Corporations have captured the system. You know that. And it happened long before millennials were even able to vote much less compete for jobs. And genX is just caught in the middle....but no one knows why they are so apathetic? Get real. Those generations inherited an insecure job market with little or no benefits where they pay more for all the necessities of life: education, health care, energy and housing. Elisabeth Warren did a great lecture on that subject full of graphs to prove that very point.

Now before you think I'm blaming boomers for everything I'm not. I feel for older workers who are just now realizing what's been plaguing the rest for so long. A big part of the disconnect between the generations has been caused by the two tiered system that has left younger workers scrambling for the scraps of what past generations benefited from. Instead of fighting over fault we should be fighting to preserve the benefits the boomer generation had and finding ways to make sure younger generations enjoy the same. The answer is not slashing benefits and public programs. It's taxing the fuck out of the rich and making corporations pay their fair share of taxes. They want us to fight amongst ourselves. Don't feed that fire. Turn it back on them.

[hay rick]

165. Competition from other models.

"The traditional job is not doomed. But it will increasingly have competition from other models, the most prominent is the independent contractor model."

I expect that sooner or later the independent contractor model will have competition from the slave model.

[jp11]

167. In today's world it is called the intern position, often said interns must be college students who

may even have to *PAY* to be interns by registering for an 'intern' course allowing them to receive credit and no pay for said position.

[malletgirl02]

168. Related article

"A summer job drought for youth"

http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/06/news/economy/summer_jobs/index.htm?postversion=2010050814

[annabanana]

171. Howzabout a Union of Contract Workers?

just sayin'

[Better Believe It]

172. It would have to be done outside the NLRB. Which is OK

This would require some really unique and innovative methods of organizing.

This needs to be discussed by labor activists.

[tazme]

187. unions made sense when people had skills

that were hard to replace in the event of a (economic) strike. Strike or even try to organize at Sears or Lowes and in 5 minutes they will have reviewed 500 applicants for your replacement. Unlike us the union fatcats are still living large too, just like the corporate CEO's.
Its a new age....time to accept the change just as when the industrial age replaced the farm communities. No one owes me anything and I'll figure out how to make ends meet, just like my immigrant parents did. If I have to drive school bus, mow lawns or wash cars...I will, before my kids go hungry. I'm not going to wait on the government to fix it for me...they won't, they don't care, they are clueless and as broke as I am. This is just the start of a new reality, I see real tough times ahead for most of us.

[newspeak]

197. "like your immigrant parents"

It is not a new age. Have you done any reading about the nineteenth century robber barons and why unions formed? About unsafe work condition. It's a new age--I gotta laugh at that one. All I have to do is see the unsafe mining conditions-we're going backwards not forwards. There was a time that people like Hershey cared about the people, cared about his community. That's why he started his company. But these corporations have globalized and many they care nothing about communities, people or this country. But, you go on and apologize for them. "no one owes you anything", but when corporations poison your water or regulation becomes so bad, they poison your food, do they owe your family for decent products or your life? If you can't even see that there is a disparity of wealth, and the owners have decided that you as a plebe don't even deserve that decent education, or health care, and since your no use when your older-you are expendable-maybe you'll see the real reality. This is not the new age--it is the old age, same kind of robber barons wanting the whole pie without even paying. And, I see you make no mention of the illusion of the "American dream", at least you didn't throw out that canard.

[ProudDad]

173. What we really need are full time benefits...

in a sustainable steady-state economy built to fulfill human needs and live in concert with Mother Earth...

We just gonna get more of this shit from the capitalist masters...and their death culture...

www.transitionus.org

[abelenkpe]

212. +1 nt

[timefortherevolution]

178. CNN ran a story about whether vacation pay is a right or a privilege...

Just goes to show how much the corporotacracy rules over all of us.

Unbelievable.

I expect to take a bullet early on when the revolution eventually takes place.

The complacency of the American public is mind-numbing.

[Name removed]

182. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[hay rick]

185. paid, paid for, whatever...

Spelled "yeah" right. Time to find new worlds to conquer.

[newspeak]

188. It seems that they only way out of the dilemma

is up to us, the people. Maybe those of us who still have a little left, pull our resources together and start our own businesses-employee owned businesses. People directly trading with those businesses in other countries without the middlemen. I believe that's what Jim Hightower was talking about. Allowing farmers to directly trade, and other businesses. Maybe, it's a pipe dream, but it seems that WE are the ones that can make the difference.

We are the ones who are concerned if this country stands or falls-if communities thrive or become ghost towns. With our government siding more and more with global corporations, our only way is to work together.

If the economy keeps diving, then what I see for survival-is more close knit communities. Community gardens and community businesses-maybe even more bartering between people. But I don't see why there can't be a "people's corporation." Again, businesses owned more by employees, with employees together making the decisions. Even having a logo showing the item made or services rendered proudly by a pro-labor, environment friendly company.

I believe there is more freedom of innovation in such an environment. If you have a corporation who is going to wring a buck from the last drop of oil-do you think they are going to be more open for alternative innovations? If you have a corporation who wants to sell every family a vehicle, are they going to be more approving for mass transit. I say a corporation who thinks it must compete with a new innovation, they will attempt to squelch it.

[gulliver]

203. Unregulated capitalism combined with "anti-socialist" propaganda...

Whisk in four gallons of ignorance for each 4.01 gallon serving. Divide into little baking cups based on race, religion, and sexual orientation. Toss in fire.

[BanTheGOP]

205. Ban corporations as they exist today

We need to nationalize private corporations that control payrolls of over 50 people to start, and break them up to manageable, sustainable units. In addition, we need to mandate that corporate boards be made up of progressive financial experts who rightly consider the rights of workers for that of profits. This is just a start.

Of course, NONE of this happens until we BAN the republican party. That is key.

[blindpig]

206. Capitalism has nothing to do with people's wellfare

Kill Capitalism

[abelenkpe]

207. This has been the trend for the past 15 years

It has accelerated as a result of the financial crisis. It has been pretty common for the under 45 set. It sucks.

[SOS]

208. Twenty years ago

A very wise friend said to me "The future of American labor is seven bucks an hour, no benefits."
He's now departed, but our current state of affairs would have made him feel quite prescient.

[KamaAina]

213. Do independent contractors even have the right to organize?

the way that actual employees can call for a union election?

If not, this way, the corps won't even have to resort to their usual union-busting scare tactics. :eyes:

[Hugabear]

214. This is just what Conservatives want. Return to the "good old days"

Maybe in another 20 years, most of us will be living in corporate shanties, spending our meager paychecks in the company store, going to the company doctor for "medical care".

[NNN0LHI]

217. Maybe in another 20 years we will be going to the company doctor for "medical care". ???

http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/toyota-leads-trend-employers-bringing-healthcare-onsite/2010-03-31

Toyota leads trend of employers bringing healthcare onsite

March 31, 2010 — 11:12am ET | By Debra Beaulieu

With healthcare reform placing greater onus on employers to provide insurance to their workers, a growing number of companies are bringing health and wellness services right to the workplace. Among recent businesses to do so, car manufacturing giant Toyota has invested $150,000 in a new 1,200-square-foot clinic residing just outside its Buffalo manufacturing plant.

Toyota is not a newcomer to the onsite health trend. With the highest healthcare costs of all 14 production sites in North America, Buffalo executives worked for the past six months to duplicate the clinics Walgreens-run Take Care Health Systems already operates at Toyota facilities in Georgetown and Erlanger, Ky., and San Antonio, Texas.

The modern facility, which runs much like an urgent care clinic, is open to Toyota employees, family members and retirees, 73 percent of whom live within a 30-mile radius of the plant, Mike Lutz, the plant's general manager of administration, told the Charleston Daily Mail.

Toyota's Buffalo clinic is open nine hours a day, five days a week, with a physician onsite four hours a week and a full time registered nurse and nurse practitioner also on staff. A full-service pharmacy is right across the hall. Clinic visitors incur just a $5 copay and can fill generic prescriptions for free, with other in-network physician visits and higher-end prescriptions costing no more than $30. "Toyota is hoping for a long-term payback," Lutz said.