dagblog - Comments for "Labor in America: Those were the Days - (A Repeat)"

Labor Day double

MrSmith1 — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 02:44:12 +0000

In reply to Labor in America: Those were the Days - (A Repeat)

Labor Day double haiku:

Forty hour work weeks,
Safety and child labor laws ...
a minimum wage.

Unions, walk outs, strikes,
picket lines, arbitration ...
Which side are you on?

Many, many thanks, Bruce.

Ramona — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 00:07:15 +0000

In reply to So beautifully written and

Many, many thanks, Bruce. For the comment and for all you do out there in laborland. Detroit, as we're all too aware, needs all the help it can get.

Happy New Year. It'll be a lovely week.

So beautifully written and

Bruce Levine — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 16:46:04 +0000

In reply to Labor in America: Those were the Days - (A Repeat)

So beautifully written and expressed Ramona, thanks. Been getting involved in a little matter in Detroit these days that's been keeping me a tad preoccupied, but I did want to compliment you for this.

I'm not sure if you know this, but the Jewish New Year (Rosh Ha Shana) begins at sundown on the 5th of September, the Wednesday after Labor Day. Feels extra special to have both observances so close together like this.

Happy Labor Day Ramona, and I am throwing you a big hug for this blog. All the best to you and yours.

Bruce

Pretty sad. Workers of the

Ramona — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 13:46:06 +0000

In reply to Learned today that Germany is

Pretty sad. Workers of the world, unite!

Or voters will finally have to understand the power of the vote. If we're a truly representative nation (We wish!) then the power lies in the people, and the majority are workers. So why do we elect representatives who won't even raise the minimum wage? Or reps who work to abolish workplace protections? Or reps who work to destroy unions?

Why do we elect the very people who promise to screw the workers? Until that changes everywhere, I see no hope for any of us. Not even the super-rich and super-greedy, who will eventually run out of people to screw. And then what?

Learned today that Germany is

artappraiser — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 08:16:31 +0000

In reply to Labor in America: Those were the Days - (A Repeat)

Learned today that Germany is not all it's cracked up to be on the jobs front, that there's been a dirty ~~little~~ big secret, and it was created by yes, a Social Democrat, Gerhard Schroeder:

Low-paid Germans mind rich-poor gap as elections approach

With no national minimum wage and a fifth of workers in insecure mini-jobs, critics say German prosperity is being built on exploitation of the downtrodden

By Kate Connolly and Louise Osborne in Berlin, theguardian.com, 30 August 2013

[.....] Radical reform of the jobs market launched a decade ago has left around a quarter of the workforce in low-paid, insecure and part-time employment, belying the impression of an economic miracle with a flawless jobs success story that has become the envy of the world [.....]

A survey for the European Central Bank in April showed that Germany's median net household worth was much less than that of Greece. In terms of GDP per head, Germany is faring reasonably well. But, contrary perhaps to popular belief, it is only just above the eurozone average. According to the Institute for Employment Research, the research arm of the federal employment agency, 25% of all German workers earn less than €9.54 (£8.15) per hour. In Europe only Lithuania has a higher percentage of low earners – those earning less than two-thirds of the national average wage.

The situation has fuelled a growing poor-rich divide as well as increasing resentment among those who see German prosperity being built on the exploitation of the downtrodden.

Daniel Kerekes, a 26-year-old student of history and religion at Ruhr University Bochum, is among the one-fifth of Germans dependent on a so-called mini-job. "I work at a supermarket for around 16 hours a week for €7.50 an hour on a very restrictive contract. Shifts aren't guaranteed, and if I don't do everything my boss asks of me he can cut my shifts, or give me the worst ones."

With his earnings – in addition to a small amount working in digital journalism – he struggles to pay his bills, including the €280 monthly rent for his 36 sq m (387 sq) flat plus obligatory health and liability insurance payments.

Sometimes referred to as McJobs, mini-jobs are a form of marginal employment that allows workers to earn up to €450 a month tax-free. Introduced in 2003 by the then Social Democratic chancellor Gerhard Schröder as part of a wide-ranging labour market reform when Germany's economic doldrums earned it the title "sick man of Europe", they keep down labour costs and offer greater flexibility to employers. [.....]

A fifth of their jobs are these part-time, low paying jobs with apparently few protections! And before this program, if you recall, they had a terribly chronic and long term high unemployment problem.

Great post for Labor

Richard Day — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 17:12:03 +0000

In reply to Labor in America: Those were the Days - (A Repeat)

Great post for Labor Day.

Thank you.

I would hope that Mich can reverse the sins committed by the repub government.