By Harry Kelber

Labor Unveils Its Prescription To Heal Our Wounded Economy

Dissatisfied with both Republican and Democratic economic stimulusproposals, the AFL-CIO is offering its own “Blueprint for EconomicRecovery” in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Thelabor federation calls for direct financial assistance to the hundredsof thousands of laid-off workers who still have not received anyfederal aid; broader eligibility for unemployment insurance benefitsso that temporary and part-time workers are included; extending the26-week benefit period to 52 weeks, and raising benefits that varyfrom state to state but now average $250 a week.

The AFL-CIO also proposes that the federal government pick up the costof health insurance coverage for workers who have lost their jobs orbeen forced to work reduced hours. It requests full funding for jobtraining and retraining, as well as the restoration of cuts in foodstamps, child-care, federal housing assistance and other programs.Over the long term, labor wants the federal government to invest inbetter public health facilities, modernize the public school system,upgrade mass transportation and assist small businesses.

National Security

In the McCarthy era, Gordon Kahn wrote a book titledHollywood On Trial: The story of the ten who were indicted.Assuming that most of my readers know what and maybe even who the tenwere, they will also find the forward to the book interesting in lightof present events. Author Thomas Mann wrote: “I have the honor toexpose myself as a hostile witness. I testify that I am very muchinterested in the moving picture industry and that, since my arrivalin the United States nine years ago, I’ve seen a great many Hollywoodfilms. If Communist propaganda had been smuggled into any of them, itmust have been most thoroughly hidden. I, for one, never noticedanything of the sort.... I testify, moreover, that to my mind theignorant and superstitious persecution of the believers in a politicaland economic doctrine which is, after all, the creation of great mindsand great thinkers.... is not only degrading for the persecutorsthemselves but also very harmful to the cultural reputation of thiscountry. As an American citizen of German birth, I finally testifythat I am painfully familiar with certain political trends. Spiritualintolerance, political inquisitions, and declining legal security, andall this in the name of an alleged ‘state of emergency’. That is howit started in Germany. What followed was fascism and what followedfascism was war.”

EU enforces worker approval

By Shirin Wheeler, BBC/Strasbourg

New rules forcing businesses to inform and consult their workers aboutcompany developments have been approved by the European Parliament.The approvals come despite attempts by the British and Irishgovernments to block the proposals, on the grounds that they are tooinflexible. MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) hope thelegislation will get final approval from member states by the end ofthe year, but (some) are pushing for even tougher extra measures.Common rules: The plans are an attempt to create common rules as morecompanies in the EU set up operations across national borders. AFrench court has now ruled that the British company, Marks &Spencer, broke French labour law when it failed to consult workersbefore deciding to close its stores in mainland Europe lastspring.

Who’s better off this Labor Day? Numbers tell

By Derrick Z. Jackson, Globe Staff

To know whose labor was actually being honored on Labor Day, considerthe following facts, drawn from recent data from the Institute forPolicy Studies and United for a Fair Economy, the Economic PolicyInstitute, the American Sociological Review, and the new book Raisethe Floor, published by the Ms. Foundation for Women. If theminimum wage had risen at the same pace as American productivity since1968, it would be $13.80 an hour. If the minimum wage had risen at thesame pace as domestic profits since 1968, it would be $13.02. If theminimum wage had risen at the same pace as profits in the retailindustry, it would be $20.46.

Nearly half of the workers in the retail industry make less than $8 anhour. While 16.9 percent of America’s work force is in the retailindustry, 35 percent of America’s workers who make less than $8 anhour are in the retail industry. If the minimum wage had risen at thesame pace as executive pay since 1990, it would be $25.50 an hour, not$5.15. If the average pay for production workers had risen at the samelevel as CEO pay since 1990, the annual salary would be $120,491, not$24,668.

Twenty-nine percent of American families make less than what theEconomic Policy Institute estimates is needed to meet basic needs—anational median of $33,551.

You cannot tell that children are our most precious resource by how wepay child-care workers. The median wage of child-care workers is $6.91an hour. The median wage of parking lot attendants is $6.89. Preschoolteachers average $9.43. Animal trainers average $12.39. Women make up28 percent of the work force in durable manufacturing but are 46percent of workers in that industry who make less than $8 an hour.Women make up 41 percent of the work force in communications but are58 percent of workers in that industry who make less than $8 an hour.

In 1978, 70 percent of workers in the private sector were covered byemployer-provided health insurance. By 1998, the figure had dropped to62.9 percent. In 1979, 40.7 percent of the lowest-income workers inthe private sector were covered by employer-provided health insurance.By 1998, the figure had dropped to 29.6 percent. In 1979, 60.9 percentof Latinos in the private sector were covered by employer-providedhealth insurance. By 1998, the figure had dropped to 44.6 percent.

The average compensation for the top health care executives at the top10 managed health care companies, not including unexercised stockoptions, is $11.7 million per year. African-American men in the highlypaid professions of securities and financial sales earned only 72cents for every dollar earned by white colleagues. African-Americanlawyers earned 79 cents for every dollar earned by white male lawyers.African American doctors and dentists earned 80 cents for every dollarearned by white male doctors and dentists.

Derrick Z. Jackson’s e-mail address is jackson@globe.com.

Part-Timers Exploited

For the first time faculty from all of the major faculty unionsand associations from the US and Canada, supported by their campusunion and student allies, have joined forces for an internationalcampaign to promote faculty activism.

Campus Equity Week, designed to educate the academic community, thepublic and policymakers, will focus attention on issues of fairnessand quality of education. Our message: “teachers’ working conditionsare students’ learning conditions” and “equal work deserves equalpay.” The week’s activities seek to emphasize the effects of thegrowing use of part-time, temporary and other forms of contingentlabor in colleges and universities. Increasing contingency is oneconsequence of a corporate management style now commonly employed byhigher education administrations. This “corporatization” of ourcolleges and universities causes negative impacts on the educationalexperience of students as well as the on the working conditions forfaculty and other campus employees.

Plans across North America are shaping up quickly. A new documentaryfilm A Simple Matter of Justice: Contingent Faculty Organizewill also debut.