It is Labor Day. All of these holidays are starting to look the same nowadays. Backyard cookouts and fireworks made it feel like The Fourth of July! It is a good time for all of us to look at the state of labor in this country. We are not doing very well. Working people are struggling and poverty is increasing. Labor Unions have been virtually powerless since President Reagan hired scabs to disempower Air Traffic Controllers in 1981. Big business has done well and employers are unafraid to overwork and to underpay. The results have been catastrophic.Nearly one-fifth of all children (17.6%) live in poverty; about two thirds have one or more working parent. Since 1992, the share of poor children with at least one parent working full-time has increased by 60 percent.
According to the Current Population Survey conducted by the Census Bureau in 2005, nearly 16 million people had incomes below half of the poverty level: less than $9,903 for a family of four or $5,080 for an individual. The poverty threshold in 2005 was $19,971 for a family of four or $9,973 for an individual in 2005. According to a report by McClatchy Newspapers the percentage of people living in severe poverty has reached a 32-year high. The analysis found that the number of severely poor people has grown by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005.
In 2005, 24 percent of all workers had year-round, full-time work that did not pay enough to keep a family of four above the poverty threshold. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has calculated that the share of jobs requiring a high school diploma or less will remain virtually stable in the next 7 years at around 47% percent. Although more jobs will be created in those years, according to the Bureau of Labor Standards, 18 of the 30 fastest growing job categories pay low or very low wages and are the least likely to provide employer-based benefits such as health care, sick leave, day care benefits, and educational benefits.
At the 350 largest public companies, the average CEO takes one hour and fifty-five minutes to earn the annual pay of a full-time minimum-wage worker.
So as we celebrate with Labor Day Sales, Jerry Lewis and the closeness of family and friends today let's honor the people who work by promising to deliver real change this year. We have a voice. We have the right to vote.
So as we celebrate with Labor Day Sales, Jerry Lewis and the closeness of family and friends today let's honor the people who work by promising to deliver real change this year. We have a voice. We have the right to vote.
