Common Sense Economics

by Billie Washington

Some facts for you to think about:

The recent economy is reported to have been the strongest in decades, but there are still workers who can’t make a decent living wage.

In 1999, the average pay for CEOs of America’s largest corporations was over $5,300 per hour. One newspaper stated that it’s getting harder to tell CEO paychecks from lottery payouts, except that CEOs expect to win big even when the company loses.

Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor finished at the top of their classes in law school, but were offered typist jobs when they applied to top law firms.

“Until we get real wage levels down much closer to those of the Brazils and Koreas, we cannot pass along productivity gains to workers’ wages and still be competitive.”
That quote by former Goodyear executive Stanley J. Mihelick dramatically illustrates just how far the corporate agenda is willing to go to maximize profits without regard to the impact on workers and their families.

In 1983, when 20% of the workforce held Union membership, things were good. But by 1999, the workforce changed. Although the number of Union members nationwide has grown, the percentage of the workforce that is unionized has declined. There are 17 states with Union membership at nine percent or less.

Four of the 10 occupations that have added the most full-time jobs recently (retail sales, cashiers, teacher’s aides and personal care aides) pay at or below the poverty level of $327/week.

As Union members, we should be concerned about the growth of full-time jobs that pay at or below the poverty level and work together to increase the number of full-time jobs that allow a decent standard of living.