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Guns Guns Guns
Guest
The distribution of economic rewards is driven by the jobs people hold, and we have allowed job quality to deteriorate for far too many for far too long.
At the bottom of the labor market, 20% of adults in the U.S. today work in jobs that pay poverty wages, wages that would not raise a family of four above the poverty line, even with full-time, year-round work.
Farther up the ladder, jobs have been disassembled. It used to be that a skilled job, either white- or blue-collar, paid decently, provided reasonable benefits and offered security. We left that reality behind long ago. Only about half of jobs in the U.S. today provide pensions.
Job security has eroded; many who are laid off face a substantial risk of falling into poverty.
Even if laid-off workers are lucky enough to find new jobs, they are forced to take a 20% pay cut, according to my calculations using Census surveys. Being skilled no longer earns decent pay, benefits or security.
Today's minimum wage is more than $3 below its value in 1968, after accounting for inflation.
Today, too many employers avoid paying overtime to employees who have earned it, and effective enforcement of the law to avoid this wage theft is important.
A stronger voice for workers, such as unions, can improve economic outcomes, but the law today is stacked against union organizing.
For people still clinging to decent jobs, the challenge is more complicated. We need a new social contract -- between employers and employees.
In the past, when many American firms did well, they shared profits and productivity gains with their employees.
That is no longer the standard.
In the past, CEOs were praised if they showed a commitment to their work forces, if they saw human capital as their key competitive asset.
That, too, has changed.
There are plenty of examples of firms that respect their work forces, from Southwest Airlines to SAS software, and their model should be emulated.
But it would be naïve to think that purely voluntary action and exhortation will turn the tide. For a real shift, we need real policy initiatives.
These include increased public support for deepening training, investments in the human capital of the work force, which can come via the tax code and well-designed public-private training programs.
Also important are modernized regulations that would make it difficult for employers to use subcontractors in occupations such as building cleaners or security guards and by doing so avoid responsibility for employees who work at their site.
Even in the current economy, we can afford to make these choices, and if we want to rebuild a strong middle class, we cannot afford to postpone them.
The inequality that has steadily grown over the past three decades can't be solved with a quick fix. But until we focus on job quality, we cannot expect any significant progress.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/28/opinion/osterman-jobs-inequality/index.html
At the bottom of the labor market, 20% of adults in the U.S. today work in jobs that pay poverty wages, wages that would not raise a family of four above the poverty line, even with full-time, year-round work.
Farther up the ladder, jobs have been disassembled. It used to be that a skilled job, either white- or blue-collar, paid decently, provided reasonable benefits and offered security. We left that reality behind long ago. Only about half of jobs in the U.S. today provide pensions.
Job security has eroded; many who are laid off face a substantial risk of falling into poverty.
Even if laid-off workers are lucky enough to find new jobs, they are forced to take a 20% pay cut, according to my calculations using Census surveys. Being skilled no longer earns decent pay, benefits or security.
Today's minimum wage is more than $3 below its value in 1968, after accounting for inflation.
Today, too many employers avoid paying overtime to employees who have earned it, and effective enforcement of the law to avoid this wage theft is important.
A stronger voice for workers, such as unions, can improve economic outcomes, but the law today is stacked against union organizing.
For people still clinging to decent jobs, the challenge is more complicated. We need a new social contract -- between employers and employees.
In the past, when many American firms did well, they shared profits and productivity gains with their employees.
That is no longer the standard.
In the past, CEOs were praised if they showed a commitment to their work forces, if they saw human capital as their key competitive asset.
That, too, has changed.
There are plenty of examples of firms that respect their work forces, from Southwest Airlines to SAS software, and their model should be emulated.
But it would be naïve to think that purely voluntary action and exhortation will turn the tide. For a real shift, we need real policy initiatives.
These include increased public support for deepening training, investments in the human capital of the work force, which can come via the tax code and well-designed public-private training programs.
Also important are modernized regulations that would make it difficult for employers to use subcontractors in occupations such as building cleaners or security guards and by doing so avoid responsibility for employees who work at their site.
Even in the current economy, we can afford to make these choices, and if we want to rebuild a strong middle class, we cannot afford to postpone them.
The inequality that has steadily grown over the past three decades can't be solved with a quick fix. But until we focus on job quality, we cannot expect any significant progress.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/28/opinion/osterman-jobs-inequality/index.html