NewsTrust - Labor - Most Recent Stories: Opinion (Mainstream)

Older Tech Workers Oppose Overhauling H-1B Visas

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

All Things Considered - Feb. 19 (Opinion) - Overhauling immigration is complicated and controversial. There's been a proposed increase in H-1B visas. Those are the visas that allow companies to bring in skilled foreign workers for jobs that can't be filled by Americans.

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America’s Genius Glut

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Ross Eisenbrey - Feb. 14 (Opinion) - the bill would flood the job market with indentured foreign workers, people who could not switch employers to improve their wages or working conditions; damage the employment prospects of hundreds of thousands of skilled Americans; and narrow the educational pipeline that produces these skilled workers domestically.

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Why Boeing's 787 Dreamliner was a nightmare waiting to happen

Fri, 18 Jan 2013 00:00:00 -0800

The Guardian - By Dominic Rushe - Jan. 18 (Opinion) - Aviation debacle is a result of battery and outsourcing problems exacerbated by a relaxation of government oversight There is a burnt-out metal box at the National Transportation Safety Board's offices in Washington that once housed what may well prove to be the most expensive battery in history. The charred metal box housed a lithium-ion battery that once powered the auxiliary power unit on a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 Dreamliner. That plane, one of 50 in service of the 850 sold so far, caught fire at Logan International Airport in Boston earlier this month. The same kind of battery is thought to have led to the grounding of a Nippon Airways flight this week . That plane was forced to make an emergency landing after a burning smell was detected in the plane's cabin. Boeing's battery woes are the latest in a series of problems to have beset the Dreamliner. Such problems have led to a global grounding of the aircraft , including all US-registered 787s, and a wide-ranging Federal Aviation ...

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US economy depends on the success of Walmart workers' Black Friday strike

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:00:00 -0800

The Guardian - By Robert Reich - Nov. 22 (Opinion) - A half-century ago, America's largest private-sector employer was General Motors, whose full-time workers earned an average hourly wage of around $50, in today's dollars, including health and pension benefits. Today, America's largest employer is Walmart, whose average employee earns $8.81 an hour. A third of Walmart's employees work fewer than 28 hours per week and do not qualify for benefits. There are many reasons for the difference – including globalization and technological changes that have shrunk employment in American manufacturing, while enlarging it in sectors involving personal services, such as retail. But one reason, closely related to this seismic shift, is the decline of labor unions in the United States. In the 1950s, over a third of private-sector workers belonged to a union. Today, fewer than 7% do. As a result, the typical American worker no longer ...

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The pace we've come to expect

Sun, 06 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Economist - By G.I. - May. 06 (Opinion) - For the second month in a row, America’s labour market has disappointed, once again raising questions about whether the economic recovery is truly entrenched. Nonfarm payrolls rose just 115,000 in April from March. While the unemployment rate dipped to 8.1%, the lowest since early 2009, from 8.2%, it did so for the wrong reason: the labour force (those working or looking for work) shrank by 342,000. Private payrolls rose 130,000, but government payrolls shrank, something of a setback because the state and local government austerity that had created such a drag in the past two years had shown signs of easing this year. However, manufacturing payrolls did rise again, suggesting that the industrial sector, and exports in particular, remain a bright spot. Retail employment also recovered, suggesting the recent rise in petrol prices to around $4 a gallon has yet to take a big bite out of the consumer.

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The incredible shrinking labor force

Sat, 05 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Washington Post - By Brad Plumer - May. 05 (Opinion) - If the same percentage of adults were in the workforce today as when Barack Obama took office, the unemployment rate would be 11.1 percent. If the percentage was where it was when George W. Bush took office, the unemployment rate would be 13.2 percent. That helps explain a seeming contradiction in the unemployment numbers: The rate keeps dropping even though job creation has been soft. In April, the U.S. economy added a mere 115,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In a normal month, that wouldn’t even be enough to keep up with new entrants into the labor market. But in this economy, it was enough to drive unemployment from 8.2 percent down to 8.1 percent, the lowest point since January 2009. The reason why resides in a little-watched measure known as the “labor force participation rate.” That tracks the number of working-age Americans who are either holding a job or looking for one. Between March and April, it dropped. A lot. There were 342,000 fewer Americans sending ...

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The Vanishing Workers

Sat, 05 May 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - May. 05 (Editorial) - The economy turned in another lackluster month for job creation in April, with 115,000 net new jobs, 130,000 in private business (less 15,000 fewer in government). The unemployment rate fell a tick to 8.1%, albeit mainly because the labor force shrank by 342,000. This relates to what is arguably the most troubling trend in the April jobs report, which is the continuing decline in the share of working-age Americans who are in the labor force. The civilian labor participation rate, as it's known, fell again in April to 63.6%. That's the second decline in a row and the lowest rate since December 1981. That's right—more than 30 years ago, longer than Mark Zuckerberg has been alive. The nearby chart shows the disturbing round trip the workforce participation rate has taken since 1980 and the precipitous drop in the last three years.

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Income inequality does matter

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

USA Today - By Philip Meyer - Mar. 27 (Opinion) - Despite its emergence as a concern in the 2012 presidential campaign, the issue of income inequality does not bother most of us. Maybe we haven't thought about it enough. A recent Gallup Poll found that only 46% believe it "extremely important" or "very important" for the federal government to enact policies that would reduce the gap between rich and poor.

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Busting Mr. Daisey

Sat, 17 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Reuters - By Jack Shafer - Mar. 17 (Opinion) - This week, the highly regarded public radio show This American Life learned a lesson that many journalists, including me, have learned the hard way: It’s almost impossible for an editor to fact-check a contributor who lies. The show, hosted by Ira Glass, just retracted its Jan. 6, 2012, episode, “Mr. Daisey Goes to the Apple Factory,” adapted from Mike Daisey’s popular one-man show, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, which is about working conditions in a Chinese factory that makes Apple products. Daisey’s deceptions were uncovered by Rob Schmitz, a China-based reporter for Marketplace. This American Life will air an hourlong explanation and re-examination this weekend, featuring both Glass and Daisey, about the circumstances behind the retraction. Glass and the show are to be commended for their quick response, and everybody who cares about real journalism owes a debt of gratitude to Schmitz.

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Gingrich has it wrong about the poor

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0800

CNN - By LZ Granderson - Dec. 13 (Opinion) - This country isn't great in spite of the poor. It is great because of the poor.

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Hit the Road

Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Economist - By K.N.C. - Aug. 02 (Opinion) - The lack of child care was at one point an intentional policy choice—made by the nearly all-male political, bureaucratic and business elite—based on the belief that keeping women at home would support traditional values.

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Congress should reject proposed trade agreements and insist on better policies

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Seattle Times - By Lynne Dodson, Kathleen Ridihalgh - Jul. 27 (Opinion) - The proposed U.S. trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia and Panama would continue to undermine the American economy, write guest columnists Lynne Dodson and Kathleen Ridihalgh. Washington's congressional delegation should reject them in favor of better policies.

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BMW layoffs exemplify the evisceration of the middle class

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Michael Hiltzik - Jul. 05 (Opinion) - The company doesn't concede that it's outsourcing the Ontario plant to save money on wages. It says it brought in outside logistic contractors at Ontario and four of its other five parts depots nationwide because it prefers to focus on its "core expertise" of engineering and making cars. Of course, nonunion workforces generally receive lower pay and benefits than union — that's the power of collective bargaining — so the math is hardly a secret.

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Against Learned Helplessness

Mon, 30 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Paul Krugman - May. 30 (Opinion) - Someone needs to say the obvious: inventing reasons not to put the unemployed back to work is neither wise nor responsible. It is, instead, a grotesque abdication of responsibility.

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AFL-CIO President Addresses Unions and 2012 Campaign

Sat, 21 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

CSPAN - By RIchard Trumka - May. 21 (Speech) - Why is our national conversation in such a destructive place? Not because we are impoverished. We have never been richer. The American economy has never produced as much wealth as it does today. But we feel poor because the wealth in our society has flowed to a handful among us, and they and the politicians who pander to the worst instincts ….. America's real deficit is a moral deficit…Powerful political forces are seeking to silence working people—to drive us out of the national conversation.

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Obama's Silence on Boeing Is Unacceptable

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - Apr. 29 (Opinion) - The actions by the NLRB are nothing less than a direct assault on the 22 right-to-work states across America. They are also an unprecedented attack on an iconic American company that is being told by the federal government—which seems to regard its authority as endless—where and how to build airplanes.

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There Is No Male-Female Wage Gap

Wed, 13 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Wall Street Journal - By Carrie Lukas - Apr. 13 (Opinion) - Recent studies have shown that the wage gap shrinks—or even reverses—when relevant factors are taken into account and comparisons are made between men and women in similar circumstances. In a 2010 study of single, childless urban workers between the ages of 22 and 30, the research firm Reach Advisors found that women earned an average of 8% more than their male counterparts. Given that women are outpacing men in educational attainment, and that our economy is increasingly geared toward knowledge-based jobs, it makes sense that women's earnings are going up compared to men's.

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Janitor Justice Arrives Four Years Early

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Bloomberg - By Margaret Carlson - Apr. 07 (Opinion) - If only those in power could remember that you can do almost anything as long as you are perceived by the public as fair. Need to balance out-of-control budgets? Spread out the hurt, and let everyone who works have a decent life. Don’t lean so heavily in favor of the haves, who, after all, have the world, the tax code and the marketplace leaning heavily in their favor already.

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The collapse of Detroit

Sun, 27 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Los Angeles Times - By Scott Martelle - Mar. 27 (Opinion) - Imagine for a moment that every single person living in the city of San Jose, plus another 150,000 or so, just up and left. Vanished. Poof. Gone. Leaving their homes, business buildings and factories behind. That is, in effect, what has happened to the city of Detroit, according to 2010 U.S. Census data released this week.

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Key to job growth, equality is boosting tradable sector of economy

Sun, 13 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Steven Pearlstein, Michael Spence, Sandile Hlatshwayo - Mar. 13 (Opinion) - What ails the U.S. economy is primarily a structural problem, not a cyclical one that can be effectively dealt with through the magic of short-term Keynesian stimulus. Unless we find a way to dramatically increase the size and scope of the tradable sector, Spence says, we're in for an extended period of slow job growth and rising inequality. And make no mistake: at the heart of this problem is globalization.

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What happened in Wisconsin tonight

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Ezra Klein - Mar. 10 (Opinion) - Here's what just happened in Wisconsin: The rules of the state's Senate require a quorum for any measures that spend money. That's how the absence of the Senate's Democrats could stymie Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget law -- it spent money, and thus it needed a quorum.

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Degrees and Dollars

Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Paul Krugman - Mar. 07 (Opinion) - The hollow promise of good jobs for highly educated workers.

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The Wisconsin union fight isn't about benefits. It's about labor's influence.

Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Washington Post - By Jacob S. Hacker, Paul Pierson - Mar. 06 (Opinion) - The battle between Republicans and labor unions in Ohio, Wisconsin and other states is ostensibly about public workers' pay, benefits and bargaining rights. What is really at stake, however, isn't labor's income. It's labor's influence - not just in the American workplace but in American politics.

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Why our writers are on strike against the Huffington Post

Sat, 05 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Guardian - By Bill Lasarow - Mar. 05 (Opinion) - With the $315m AOL deal, the veil hiding labour exploitation is torn away. The author of Third World America must know better For the better part of the last year, Visual Art Source reposted a number of the articles that we publish in our monthly digest, ArtScene , as well as in our Visual Art Source weekly newsletter and on our website to a nationally branded website owned and operated by the author of a book published last year entitled Third World America: How our Politicians are Abandoning the Middle Class and Betraying the American Dream . That author is Arianna Huffington, the website in question being the Huffington Post. After reflecting on and discussing with our writers and editors the array of professional and ethical issues implied by that affiliation, we have made the decision to suspend any further contributions of our writers' work. Accordingly, we published a strike notice . Two central concerns have troubled us from the start: is exposure to Huffington Post's extensive ...

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Wisconsin governor is waging 'jihad' against unions

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Hill - By Mark Mellman - Mar. 02 (Opinion) - Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) jihad against public employee unions is about 30 years late and likely to make Republicans even less popular with voters, who endorse collective bargaining rights for public employees — professionals for whom they have abiding respect.

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