Failing to Deliver: Manufacturing Wages Aren't What They Used to Be

[ctsnowman]

Though nine out of ten Americans perceive blue-collar jobs as "good jobs" and policymakers tout the benefits of expanding the country's manufacturing base, the truth is that factory wages now rank in the bottom half of those for all jobs in the U.S., according to a new study from the National Employment Law Project (NELP).

The report, Manufacturing Low Pay: Declining Wages in the Jobs That Built America’s Middle Class (pdf), reveals that while the manufacturing sector has experienced a rebound in recent years, in fact "the quality of too many of the returning jobs is low and fails to live up to workers’ and the overall public’s expectations."

"Manufacturing jobs are... highly sought after by our federal and state policymakers," write co-authors Catherine Ruckelshaus and Sarah Leberstein, "lauded as 'advanced industries' that generate investments, create a high number of direct and indirect jobs, enhance worker skills, and generate additional economic activity in related industries."

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2014/11/21/failing-deliver-manufacturing-wages-arent-what-they-used-be

[merrily]

1. Union busting and offshoring have consequences.

[ctsnowman]

2. Yup.

Even my right leaning brother admits we need unions again. There is hope, but I don't think I'll live to see it. Then again a lot of the people who made unions a reality didn't live to see them come to fruition.

[merrily]

3. Here's hoping you live to see it for two reasons.

1. That you will have a long life, longer than you expect.

2. That unions will become strong again sooner than you expect.

[ctsnowman]

4. .

[TBF]

5. Industrial Workers of the World

The more sedate AFL-CIO has more than 13 million members, but they to my knowledge have never been named a subversive organization by the US Gov't. In my view that means IWW is the union we should be focused on supporting. Not only is it a radical group but it is international in scope which is where we need to focus given the reach of global capital. The owners are international, and unions must meet that power head on.

Notable members of the Industrial Workers of the World have included:

Lucy Parsons
Helen Keller
Joe Hill
Ralph Chaplin
Arturo Giovannitti
Ricardo Flores Magon
James P. Cannon
James Connolly
Noam Chomsky
Jim Larkin
Paul Mattick
Big Bill Haywood
Eugene Debs
Eugene O'Neill
David Dellinger
Elizabeth Gurley Flynn
Sam Dolgoff
Monty Miller

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World