Tag: Jobs

Assault On The American Worker

The events of the past few days have made clear that a proposed $25 billion bailout of the US Big Three auto companies is being used to intensify the ruling class offensive against auto workers and the American working class as a whole.

In an entirely cynical manner, the media and politicians of both parties are issuing pseudo-populist denunciations of General Motors, Ford and Chrysler while seizing on the near-collapse of the companies as an opening to rip up union contracts and destroy workers’ pensions, health benefits, wages and working conditions. This is to be the centerpiece of a ruthless restructuring of the industry, involving the closure of more factories and the destruction of tens of thousands more jobs. The aim is to provide, in the form of a far smaller and more highly exploitative industry, a source of profitable investment for Wall Street bankers and speculators.

The destruction of auto jobs and gutting of all that remains of the gains won by generations of auto workers since the mass sit-down strikes of the 1930s will be used as a precedent for similar attacks on workers in every sector of the economy and every part of the country. As with the Chrysler bailout of 1979-80, but on a far broader and even more brutal scale, mass unemployment will be used as a weapon to bludgeon the working class.

Whether through the bankruptcy courts or a bailout bill conditioned on unprecedented concessions—which the United Auto Workers (UAW) will accept and help impose—the workers are to be forced to labor for near-poverty wages and be stripped of basic health and retirement benefits.

President-Elect Barack Obama, for his part, has solidarized himself with demands for sweeping contract concessions, declaring that any auto bailout be contingent on the industry’s future “viability.” Among his chief economic advisers is Paul Volcker, the former Wall Street banker who was appointed chairman of the Federal Reserve by Democratic President Jimmy Cater and engineered a massive rise in unemployment, which was used to break the power of the unions and undermine the resistance of the working class to layoffs and wage cuts. The Chrysler bailout was carried out during his tenure at the Fed.

There is only one way to save the workers from the assaults they are sure to face.  And that is?

There is only one policy that can defend the interests of auto workers and the working class as a whole. That is a socialist policy of nationalizing the auto industry and transforming it into a publicly owned enterprise under the democratic control of working people. This must be carried out in conjunction with the nationalization of the banks under public control, so that economic life can be based on the principle of production for human need, not private profit.

The design, engineering and manufacture of automobiles involve tens of millions of people around the world and vast natural, financial and human resources. The only way to guarantee decent living standards for all workers and to end destructive national competition is to unite auto workers internationally on the basis of a socialist program.

I know Irene…not what you want to hear, but put yourself in the place of an autoworker….what would you do to preserve your job?

Jobs For Americans

A slogan of the Palin/McCain ticket.  A promise of more joibs created if they are elected.  Nice slogan, but where will thew jobs come from?  Oh yeah, tax cuts will produce more jobs.  Thinking……we have had tax cuts for about 8 years and the unemployment rate keeps climbing to where it is now, at 6.1%.  When Bush took office it was in the 4% neighborhood.  So now explain how the tax cuts will create Jobs, if you please.

In April he said:

In addition to rapid and targeted help for those families hurt by the mortgage crisis, it is essential to reduce the burdens on businesses and workers by lowering taxes, streamlining regulation, tackling health care costs, opening markets to American goods and helping those workers in need. Today’s news also underlines the need to focus on innovation, which grows the economy and creates an urgent need for effective worker re-training.

Basically, this is his message after every jobs report….tax cuts and incentives will create 2 million jobs in the years to come.

From Obama’s , The Blueprint For Change, there are the usual sub-texts about job creation and poverty.  But as with McCain there is NO direct confrontation for the creation of jobs, only vague crap about this program will create “x” amount of jobs, but nowhere do they give specifics.  Like I said just vague promises that may or may not be successful at creating needed employment.

Green Collar Jobs

If Obama is elected he has promised to create upwards of 5 million green collar jobs.  A noble endeavor, but in case one is interested there are places to go for them now.

So where do you start your green job search? We’ve collected some of the best websites for job listings and other resources for a new earth-focused career.

  • Grist Job Board: Environmental groups from around the country post their jobs here. Also, Grist’s Kevin Doyle has a series of articles about the green job market.
  • TreeHugger Job Board: Dozens of green business and organizations list their openings here. Subscribe to the RSS feed for the latest updates.
  • Jobs With the National Park Service: Love the great outdoors? You could work anywhere from Hawaii’s volcanoes to Yellowstone’s geysers. The park service has 16,000 permanent employees and another 10,000 seasonal employees each year.
  • World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms: If you’re interested in the fast-growing field of organic food (no pun intended), you could volunteer on a farm to get experience. This site connects volunteers with farms around the planet.

Another green tip: Many companies encourage applying online these days, so you can email your resume. But if you have to print it, look for high-quality paper made with recycled fibers. No point killing trees when you’re applying for an earth-friendly job!

Employment-At-Will vs Right-To-Work

The phrases “employment-at-will” and “right to work” are often heard in conversations regarding employment and/or dismissal. But what do these phrases mean? These two phrases are sometimes mistaken as having the same or similar meanings, but they are entirely different.

Employment-at-will means that an employer or an employee can end the working relationship at any time for basically any reason. If you quit, or are fired, no notice or reason is required. Most states are employment-at-will states, and there are a few exceptions to employment-at-will law.

For example, employers are forbidden from firing anyone for any reason protected by federal legislation: age, sex, religion, etc. If a company’s employee manual states that certain procedures be followed before firing an employee, and those procedures aren’t followed, that can be an exception to the employment-at-will laws. Additionally, an agreement with a union or intentional infliction of emotional distress may prove to be exceptions.

Right to work laws do not cover quitting or being dismissed from a job. Roughly half of the states in the United States are right to work states, meaning that job seekers have the right to work for a company without being required to join and/or financially support a labor union. In these states, it may still be required that a union represents an employee in grievances and negotiations. Railway or airline employees are sometimes not protected by right to work laws, even if they reside in a right to work state. Federal enclaves may also be exempt.

Conversely, those who do not live in a right to work state could be required to join or financially support a union as part of employment. “Unionized” jobs in these states often include railway or airline employees, for example.

In a nutshell, employment-at-will laws refer to whether reason or notice must be given if an employee is fired or quits. Right to work laws make residents of certain states exempt from being required to join a union in order to work.

Obama Tries Populism

Democrat Barack Obama pledged Wednesday to create millions of union jobs in alternative energy and end tax breaks for companies that move jobs overseas, using tough new populist language to convince voters that he, not rival John McCain, is best positioned to lift the limping U.S. economy.

Obama stuck mostly to economic themes during his appearance, adopting a pitch that sounded much like Hillary Rodham Clinton in the waning days of her primary campaign. The former first lady defeated Obama in eight of the last 13 primaries using populist language that strongly resonated with rural and working-class voters.

Obama said it was wrong that the Iraqi government has been sitting on billions of dollars in oil revenue while the U.S. spends billions to rebuild the country.

As for tax breaks to companies taking jobs overseas, Obama said: “We sure as heck don’t have to give them incentives to move. … We should give companies tax breaks that are right here.”

Obama made an appeal for votes that sounded much like the closing pitch Clinton would offer in similar settings.

Iraq’s Private Sector–It Sucks!

Yes, Irene, the surge can be said to be working, but unfortunately it has not help the private sector to resurrect.

Hampered by years of violence, a decimated infrastructure, a lack of foreign investors and a flood of imports that undercut local businesses, Iraq’s private sector, particularly its small non-oil economy, has so far failed to flourish as its American patrons had hoped.

In its absence, the Iraqi government has been sustaining the economy the way it always has: by putting citizens on its payroll. Since 2005, according to federal budgets, the number of government employees has nearly doubled, to 2.3 million from 1.2 million.

The impetus is not only economic: In exchange for abandoning the insurgency that plunged the nation into civil war, many of the 100,000 members of civilian patrols known broadly as the Awakening movement have been promised jobs in the security forces or in reconstruction, though many Sunni Muslim members complain it is not happening quickly enough.

But this growth has not come without problems. Already, a huge wage increase to government workers that was instituted — but then suspended because of fears that it was pushing up inflation — has underscored the difficulties of being far and away the largest employer in an unstable country.

Like so much else in Iraq, getting a job is complicated by politics and sectarianism. While the minority Sunni Muslims run a handful of ministries, they are all but barred from some others. The policy of de-Baathification, aimed at rooting out loyalists to Saddam Hussein after the American-led invasion, resulted in a de facto purge of high-ranking Sunni bureaucrats, a purge that continued informally in certain offices that were permeated by Shiite militias.

Obama’s Emergency Economic Plan

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Friday announced an “Emergency Economic Plan” that would give families a stimulus check of $1,000 each, funded in part by what his presidential campaign calls “windfall profits from Big Oil.”

The first part of Obama’s plan is an emergency energy rebate ($500 to individual workers, $1,000 to families) as soon as this fall.

“This rebate will be enough to offset the increased cost of gas for a working family over the next four months,” Obama said. “Or, if you live in a state where it gets very cold in the winter, it will be enough to cover the entire increase in your heating bills. Or you could use the rebate for any of your other bills or even to pay down debt

Separately, Obama’s plan includes a $50 billion stimulus package that his campaign claims would save more than 1 million jobs.

Half of the money would go to state governments, which are facing big budget shortfalls, and half would be used for national infrastructure, including replenishing the Highway Trust Fund, rebuilding roads and bridges, and repairing schools.

Obama announced his plan 27 minutes after a Labor Department report showed unemployment hit a four-year high of 5.7 percent in July — the highest rate since March 2004, when it was 5.8 percent.
McCain reacted to the surprisingly dour jobs report with a two-paragraph statement: “Across this country, Americans are hurting and today’s job numbers are just the latest reminder of the economic challenges we face. … Unlike Sen. Obama, I do not believe that raising taxes is the answer to our economic problems. There is no surer way to force jobs overseas than to raise taxes on businesses.”

Obama announced his plan for a windfall profits tax on oil companies on June 9 in Raleigh, N.C., as he launched a two-week economic tour after clinching the Democratic nomination.

Friday’s proposal says Obama “is proposing to offset the cost of his emergency energy rebates over the next five years by enacting a windfall profits tax on big oil companies.”

“Obama simply asks that big oil companies contribute a reasonable share of the windfall profits they receive from high oil prices over the next five years to pay for emergency assistance for families right now,” the campaign says.

Shut Up You Damn Whiners!(Sarcasm)

THis I first read on MSNBC’s First Read:

In an interview with the Washington Times, the McCain economic adviser downplayed the economy — despite it having been the top issue of concern to voters in public polling for months. Gramm goes so far as to call the economy a “mental recession,” says that “We have sort of become a nation of whiners” and blames much of the hand-wringing on the perpetual scapegoat — the media.

” ‘You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession,’ [Gramm] said, noting that growth has held up at about 1 percent despite all the publicity over losing jobs to India, China, illegal immigration, housing and credit problems and record oil prices. ‘We may have a recession; we haven’t had one yet.’

” ‘We have sort of become a nation of whiners,’ he said. ‘You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline’ despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy, he said.

” ‘We’ve never been more dominant; we’ve never had more natural advantages than we have today,’ he said. ‘We have benefited greatly’ from the globalization of the economy in the last 30 years.

“Mr. Gramm said the constant drubbing of the media on the economy’s problems is one reason people have lost confidence. Various surveys show that consumer confidence has fallen precipitously this year to the lowest levels in two to three decades, with most analysts attributing that to record high gasoline prices over $4 a gallon and big drops in the value of homes, which are consumers’ biggest assets.

” ‘Misery sells newspapers,’ Mr. Gramm said. ‘Thank God the economy is not as bad as you read in the newspaper every day.'”

Gramm has since step a bit back but says he meant everything he said.  But he tried to clarify it by saying that he was speaking about the nation’s leaders.  But to me he was talking about the people of the nation.  Very nice, a millionaire calling me a whiner……so keep that in mind Mr and Mrs Voter, your situation is nothing to whine about, so says a multi-millionaire.

What Is McCain Really Saying?

“America’s better days are not behind her–they are a head”

That is a cute do nothing little slogan that will impress uninformed voters.

Ask the auto industry who spend their time trying to break unions and screw workers to see the Japanese sneaking up from across the water.  They have fallen way short in the innovation thing.  Ask the homeowner–if they are better off now.  He/she will give a disappointing negative answer to that question.  Ask the single mom that is trying to feed and clothe her children and she will most likely say that there is no bright skies foreseen in the future.

However, McCain was right about something, during the primaries he toild the voters in Michigan that their jobs would not be coming back from overseas.  That was his only truth about the economy so far.

McCain is giving false hope to the voter.  His gas tax proposal is a vote getter–nothing else.  He is gonna be a friend to corporations and the bane of the worker.

Starbucks……..Can we Say Anymore?

Starbucks Corp. may rise in Nasdaq trading today after the coffee retailer, which has doubled in size since 2004, announced plans to retrench, including cutting 7 percent of its workforce and closing 600 stores.

Seventy percent of the stores to be shut are less than three years old, the company said. Starbucks Chief Financial Officer Peter Bocian said the stores were taking 25 percent to 30 percent of sales from nearby locations.

The closings will hurt long-term revenue projections while helping the company achieve its profit goals, Bocian said on a conference call yesterday, without elaborating.

Other Starbucks stores may recapture $180 million to $360 million of the roughly $600 million in sales lost from the closures, DiFrisco said.

Starbucks’ sales and earnings have declined as cash- strapped consumers facing record gasoline prices cut back on gourmet coffee and other luxuries. The company still plans to open 200 other company-owned stores through September 2009.

Most of the 600 stores set to close were opened in late 2005 and 2006, Bocian said on the call with investors and analysts. During that time, more than 50 percent of the new stores had drive-through service, he said.

Consumers are driving less because of gasoline prices that have soared to more than $4 a gallon, according to separate surveys in the past two weeks by Mastercard Advisors analyst Michael McNamara and JPMorgan Securities Inc. analyst Himanshu Patel.

Since some of Starbucks has been unionized, just how many of the layoffs and closures will effect those in the new union?  Since Starbucks has fought the unions tooth and nail, I would guess that those units with the unions will be the first to get the ax.