Bye-bye to America's Middle Class: Unions Are Basically Dead

[99th_Monkey]

Hey, even the IMF now admits that A STRONGER USA UNION MOVEMENT is a good idea !?!?!?!

How bad does this need to get before US voters elect a POTUS who KNOWS DAMN WELL where
their walking shoes are? HINT: they are still warm from the Verizon picket line.

~~~~~ * ~~~~~ * ~~~~~ * ~~~~~ * ~~~~~ * ~~~~~ * ~~~~~ * ~~~~~ *

Farewell to America's Middle Class: Unions Are Basically Dead
The U.S. is one of the only rich countries that has reached the (incorrect) conclusion that organizing workers is counterproductive
by TERESA GHILARDUCCI * OCT 28, 2015 * The Arlantic

For a group of presidential candidates who claim to be interested in the plight of the American worker, it was surprising that the five Democrats onstage for their first debate two weeks ago didn’t once say the word “union.” Well, technically, that’s not correct—Bernie Sanders did mention the watchdog group Citizens Union—but the point remains.

A raft of research—some new, some old—suggests that it’s a shame that unions were absent in Democrats’ most publicized recent conversation. Some of that research is coming from unlikely places; the International Monetary Fund, for instance, recommended reviving unions as a way for democracies to grow their economies and boost productivity.

In the U.S., where less than 9 percent of private-sector workers are organized, they could use a revival. The U.S. has one of the lowest unionization rates in the world, far behind Germany and Canada, and closer to Mexico and South Korea.

The U.S.’s low unionization rates come with consequences for its workers. US leads rich nations in low-wage jobs—more than 20 percent of jobs pay less than two-thirds of the median wage. And the U.S. ranks in the bottom third of countries in terms of its work-life balance. Americans work about 1,790 hours per year on average, but workers in most wealthier nations work less than 1,600. 11.8 percent of American adults work long hours; less than 1 percent of Dutch workers put in more than 50 hours a week.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/10/unions-are-basically-dead/412831/?utm_source=SFFB

[Live and Learn]

1. Thank you for this post.

I don't think people realize how important unions have been in getting us the rights we now take for granted.

[Skittles]

2. most of them have no clue whatsoever

they don't get that you did not have to be part of a union to have benefited from unions

they're starting to find out now what a work world without unions really means

[Live and Learn]

3. Like they are going to find why open carry was outlawed in the wild west?

I am beginning to think people really don't learn from history. Not sure why repugs even want to ban it from schools since no one seems to pay attention anyway.

[stillwaiting]

6. Conservatives work on eliminating labor and union history from curriculums.

To a large extent they have been successful.

Conservatives don't mind history as long as it's THEIR revised history that supports their ideals and world view.

In other words, no facts allowed. Heavy-handed conservative revision only please.

[pansypoo53219]

4. and they wonder WHY we have wage stagnation.

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

5. Thanks for reminding me.

My annual dues notice came in the mail, need to get that paid.

[a kennedy]

7. I cried when I saw a headline that Bernie wanted to bring back the 40 hour work week!!!!!!

people died for the 40 hour work week years ago. Blood was shed for the 40 hour work week.

Bernie Sanders Wants To Bring Back Your 40-Hour Workweek

WASHINGTON -- Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) thinks Americans may have forgotten about the 40-hour week.

"A hundred years ago workers took to the streets" to fight for 40 hours, Sanders told The Huffington Post. "And a hundred years have come and gone, we’ve seen an explosion in technology, we’ve seen an explosion in productivity, we have a great global economy, and what do you have? The vast majority of people are working longer hours for lower wages."

American workers with full-time jobs work an average of 42.7 hours per week, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Including part-timers in the calculation puts the average American workweek at 39 hours.

Sanders said he wants to appropriate the term "family values" from Republicans, who have historically used it to talk about social issues, and use it to promote legislation mandating paid vacation, paid sick days and paid parental leave for U.S. workers. Just 11 percent of workers had access to paid leave to care for newborns in 2012, according to the BLS.

"What the Republicans talk about when they speak of family values is to deny a woman the right to control her own body, to deny a woman the right to get contraceptives, opposition to gay rights and gay marriage," Sanders said. "I don’t think those are family values."

Last week Sanders introduced a bill that would require employers to give at least 10 paid vacation days annually to any employees who have worked at the company for at least a year.

Full article here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/06/19/bernie-sanders-paid-vacation_n_7614186.html

[Duppers]

9. Thank you for posting this.

[Starry Messenger]

8. They will be if we lose the USSC and NLRB.

[Duppers]

10. K & R +100