Jobs

Growing Despair Amidst Insecure Economic Recovery

September 2, 2018 David Rosen, Counterpunch. Educate! Finance and the Economy, health, Jobs, Trump

It’s now almost a decade since the last fiscal crisis, launching what was dubbed the “Great Recession.” It wreaked havoc on the U.S. banking system and the housing market, leaving millions of Americans is desperate free-fall. While many conventional economic indicators suggest that the economy has rebounded, a significant portion of the American public feel stuck, their futures looking bleak. On August 6th, Pres. Trump tweeted, “Great financial numbers being announced on an almost daily basis. Economy has never been better, jobs at best point in history.”

Real US Wages Are Essentially Back At 1974 Levels, Pew Reports

August 26, 2018 Drew Desilver, Pew Research Center. Educate! Jobs, New Economy, Wages, Worker Rights

On the face of it, these should be heady times for American workers. U.S. unemployment is as low as it’s been in nearly two decades (3.9% as of July) and the nation’s private-sector employers have been adding jobs for 101 straight months – 19.5 million since the Great Recession-related cuts finally abated in early 2010, and 1.5 million just since the beginning of the year. But despite the strong labor market, wage growth has lagged economists’ expectations. In fact, despite some ups and downs over the past several decades, today’s real average wage (that is, the wage after accounting for inflation) has about the same purchasing power it did 40 years ago.

Imagining A World With No Bullshit Jobs

August 10, 2018 David Graeber And Chris Brooks, Roarmag.org Create! Class Struggle, Jobs, New Economy, Unions, Workers Rights and Jobs

In this interview about his latest book, David Graeber discusses the role of unions, the challenges posed by automation and “the revolt of the caring classes.” Is your job pointless? Do you feel that your position could be eliminated and everything would continue on just fine? Maybe, you think, society would even be a little better off if your job never existed? If your answer to these questions is “yes,” then take solace. You are not alone. As much as half the work that the working population engages in every day could be considered pointless, says David Graeber, Professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics and author of Bullshit Jobs: A Theory.

Immigrants Create Jobs for US Workers, Boost the U.S. Employment Rate

May 28, 2018 By Walter Ewing, Immigration Impact Educate! Immigration, Jobs, New Economy

When immigrants bring their skills to the U.S. labor market, everyone—immigrants and native-born workers alike—benefit from their company. Research has repeatedly shown that native-born workers are advantaged by the presence of immigrant workers in the labor market. A new report from the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) adds to this growing body of research. Specifically, the report finds that immigrants have no negative effect on the unemployment rate or labor force participation rate of native-born Americans. The presence of more immigrants in the labor force is associated with a small but undeniable increase in the labor force participation rate of natives, NFAP concludes. Likewise, more immigrant workers correspond with a small decline in the unemployment rate of the native-born.

100% Renewable Is Feasible And More Cost-Effective Now

November 11, 2017 Staff, www.energywatchgroup.org Create! Jobs, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Wind

By Staff for Energy Watch Group. A global transition to 100% renewable electricity is not a long-term vision, but already a tangible reality, a new groundbreaking study by the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) and the Energy Watch Group (EWG) shows. The study was presented on November 8, 2017 during the Global Renewable Energy Solutions Showcase event (GRESS) on the sidelines of the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP23 in Bonn. The results of the study are revealing: A global electricity system fully based on renewable energy is feasible at every hour throughout the year and is more cost effective than the existing system, which is largely based on fossil fuels and nuclear energy. A transition to 100% renewables would bring greenhouse gas emissions in the electricity sector down to zero and drastically reduce total losses in power generation. It would create 36 million jobs by 2050, 17 million more than today. ”There is no reason to invest one more Dollar in fossil or nuclear power production”, EWG President Hans-Josef Fell said. “Renewable energy provides cost-effective power supply.

After Generations In Coal, West Virginians Finding Jobs In Solar

September 14, 2017 www.blog.ucsusa.org Create! Coal, Jobs, New Economy, Solar Energy, West Virginia, Workers, Workers Rights and Jobs

By Jason Margolis for PRI - Nobody from his graduating class is working in coal, says Swiger. “[They’re] honestly working in fast food, or not working at all.” Not Swiger. He has a job installing rooftop solar panels. He says his family is delighted with it. "They’re excited that I’m actually doing something different,” says Swiger. “A lot of people ain’t doing this in West Virginia, a lot of people are against it actually. A lot of people want to go back to coal. “I ain’t against it, I love solar. It’s way better than coal, I think.” Solar panels can save people money on their electricity bills and cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, which fuel climate change. With battery storage, found in some home set-ups, solar can also allow people to continue to power their homes off the grid during power outages. Swiger is working as an apprentice with Solar Holler, which was founded four years ago by 32-year-old Dan Conant. Conant doesn’t see solar energy and coal at odds with each other. “The way I think about it, as a West Virginian, is that West Virginia has always been an energy state, and this is just the next step. It’s the next iteration,” says Conant. West Virginia’s economy has long been reliant on coal. Metallurgical coal, which is found in the state, is used in the steel-making process.

1,500 Groups Urge Budget That Invests Health, Jobs & Future

July 12, 2017 Staff, www.chn.org Resist! Budgets, Coalition, health, Jobs

By Staff of CHN - As Congress begins its work on the FY 2018 budget, we are writing to urge you to ensure that funding is adequate to meet the needs of all people and communities. The undersigned are organizations from across the nation representing millions of Americans, including faith groups, human service providers, labor and civil rights organizations, and advocates and policy experts concerned with improving our nation’s health, protecting our environment, supporting families, reducing poverty and hunger, strengthening our communities, and investing in economic growth and prosperity for all our people. Our message to you is clear: there is no way to keep the promise of prosperity for all Americans, including families with children, women, seniors, people with disabilities, communities of color, and others who are being left behind in the 21st century economy, without significantly increasing investments in public education, affordable housing, health and nutrition, public transit, roads and bridges, clean air, clean water...

New Study: Artificial Intelligence Will Alter Humankind In 10 Years

June 12, 2017 Lee Camp, www.rt.com/redacted-tonight Resistance Report Elections, Electric Vehicles, Environment, Jobs, Marijuana

By Lee Camp for Redacted Tonight. Redacted Tonight host Lee Camp has the latest on an impending crisis robots are causing. As jobs are rapidly becoming automated, what will it mean the society of workers made of flesh and blood and not controlled by a processor? Robots are climbing the ladder and will soon take over more mortal jobs. Though it may not be hard to imagine that cashiers will disappear, with self check out already around the corner, there are also white collar jobs at risk. With this imminent job loss, what on Earth can we do as a society to take on skyrocketing unemployment? Lee gets into why the growth of artificial intelligence doesn't necessarily mean the end of the world if we harness these changes the right way. Then to Europe.

Restoring The Heartland And Rustbelt

May 12, 2017 Steve Ongerth, www.ecology.iww.org Create! Clean Energy, Climate Change, Jobs, Oil and Gas

By Steve Ongerth of the IWW Environmental Unionism Caucus. The world faces a crises of enormous proportions. Global warming, caused by the continued burning of fossil fuels, threatens life on Earth as we know it, and yet, those most responsible for causing the crisis, the fossil fuel wing of the capitalist class, seems hell bent on doubling down on business as usual. One might think, given all of these situations, that…well, to put it mildly…we’re doomed. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, in spite of the bleakness of these circumstances, a deeper look behind them reveals that fossil fuel capitalism is in terminal decline, that their hold over the our lives hangs by a thread, so much that we the people, the workers and peasants of the world, have the ability to transform the human existence to one based not on plundering the Earth and exploiting the masses for the profit of a few, but one based on true grassroots democracy, free of suffering and want, and one that exists in harmony with the Earth.

Clean Energy Employs More People Than Fossil Fuels In Nearly Every U.S. State

March 29, 2017 Natasha Geiling, www.thinkprogress.org Educate! Clean Energy, Fossil Fuels, Jobs

By Natasha Geiling for Think Progress - Nationally, clean energy jobs outnumber fossil fuel jobs by more than 2.5 to 1, according to a new Sierra Club analysis of Department of Energy jobs data. And when it comes to coal and gas — two sectors President Donald Trump has promised to bolster through his upcoming executive order on energy regulation — clean energy jobs outnumber jobs dealing with those two fossil fuels by 5 to 1. “Right now, clean energy jobs already overwhelm dirty fuels in nearly every state across America, and that growth is only going to continue as clean energy keeps getting more affordable and accessible by the day,” Sierra Club executive director Michael Brune said in a statement.

Solar Accounts For 1 In 50 New U.S. Jobs In 2016

February 8, 2017 Avery Palmer, www.thesolarfoundation.org Create! Jobs, Solar

By Avery Palmer for The Solar Foundation - WASHINGTON, D.C., February 7, 2016 — The American solar workforce grew at a historic pace in 2016, a year when one out of every fifty new U.S. jobs was in the solar industry, according to the new National Solar Jobs Census 2016, the seventh annual report on solar employment issued by The Solar Foundation. The National Solar Jobs Census 2016 found that solar industry employment growth outpaced the overall U.S. economy by 17 times as it increased by over 51,000 jobs, for a total of 260,077 U.S. solar workers. The solar workforce grew by 25 percent over 2015, the largest annual growth percentage since The Solar Foundation’s first National Solar Jobs Census was released in 2010.

Jobs, Justice, and the Clean-Energy Future

September 25, 2016 Jeremy Brecher, www.dollarsandsense.org Create! Climate Change, Jobs, Renewable Energy, Solar Energy, Wind

By Jeremy Brecher for Dollars & Sense. A series of reports by the Labor Network for Sustainability (LNS), and partners provides good news: The U.S. can meet the targets for greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction that climate scientists say are necessary while also creating half-a-million jobs annually and reducing the cost of energy to consumers. The reports, gathered in the LNS Climate, Jobs, and Justice Project, also show that protecting the climate in a way that maximizes the benefit for working people and discriminated-against groups will take deliberate public policies and action by unions and their social movement allies. The Clean Energy Future will create a substantial number of new jobs. The increase in jobs created, compared to the business-as-usual scenario, will start around 200,000 per year in 2016–2020 and rise to 800,000 a year in 2046–2050. The average job gain compared to business-as-usual scenario is 550,000 per year for the entire period.

Food Banks Brace For Long Lines As Thousands Lose Benefits

April 24, 2016 Brynne Keith-Jennings, www.cbpp.org Educate! Austerity, Budget Cuts, Food and Agriculture, Jobs

By Brynne Keith-Jennings for Center for Budget and Policy Priorities. United States - Across the country, food banks and other organizations that serve the needy are preparing for long lines as childless adults begin losing SNAP (formerly food stamps) benefits due to the return in over 20 states of a three-month time limit for able-bodied adults. Federal law limits adults aged 18-49 who aren’t raising minor children to three months of SNAP out of every three years unless they’re working at least 20 hours a week or participating in a job training program at least 20 hours a week. More than half a million people will lose SNAP over the course of the year due to the time limit. The time limit is “going to increase hunger among some of the most vulnerable Mississippians,” says Matt Williams of the Mississippi Center for Justice.

Take Action To Stop The TPP This Year

April 16, 2016 Staff, www.flushthetpp.org Resist! Democracy, Jobs, TPP, Trade, Workers Rights and Jobs

By Flush the TPP. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is an international agreement that was negotiated in secret by the Obama administration with the help of hundreds of corporate lawyers from 2009 to 2015. It was signed by the twelve member countries (Australia, Brunei,Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, Vietnam) on February 4, 2016. It must be ratified by the member countries within two years of signing. Currently, Congress does not have the votes to pass TPP legislation. But, the TPP is a high priority for the Obama administration. White House staff and representatives of Big Business, such as the US Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable and National Association of Manufacturers, are lobbying members of Congress heavily.

“Gig Economy”; Another Vicious Attack On Ordinary Working Slobs

April 8, 2016 Mike Whitney, www.counterpunch.org Educate! Finance and the Economy, Jobs, Workers Rights and Jobs

By Mike Whitney for Counter Punch - “Contrary to the rising-tide hypothesis, the rising tide has only lifted the large yachts, while many of the smaller boats have been dashed on the rocks.” Joseph Stiglitz, economist American plutocrats and their political lackeys in congress have implemented a plan that’s putting pressure on wages and further decimating the already-battered middle class. By sustaining high levels of unemployment over a long period of time, US elites have “restructured the labor force”...

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