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‘partnership’ with the boss”. In this article he is writing about the
‘bitter fruits’ from this ‘partnership with the boss’ and the the
betrayal of the working class due to this “‘partnership’ with the
boss’ brokered by the Democratic Party.— R.S.)
What does the drama in Washington over the “fiscal cliff” have to do
with strikes and work stoppages among America’s lowest-paid workers at
Walmart, McDonald’s, Burger King, and Domino’s Pizza?
Everything.
Jobs are slowly returning to America, but most of them pay lousy
wages and low if non-existent benefits. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
estimates that seven out of 10 growth occupations over the next decade
will be low-wage — like serving customers at big-box retailers and fastfood
chains. That’s why the median wage keeps dropping, especially for
the 80 percent of the workforce that’s paid by the hour.
It’s also part of the reason why the percent of Americans living below
the poverty line has been increasing even as the economy has started to
recover — from 12.3 percent in 2006 to 15 percent in 2011. More than 46
million Americans now live below the poverty line.
Many of them have jobs. The problem is these jobs just don’t pay
enough to lift their families out of poverty.
So, encouraged by the economic recovery and perhaps also by the
election returns, low-wage workers have started to organize.
Yesterday in New York hundreds of workers at dozens of fast-food
chain stores went on strike, demanding a raise to $15-an-hour from their
current pay of $8 to $10 an hour (the median hourly wage for food service
and prep workers in New York is $8.90 an hour).
Last week, Walmart workers staged demonstrations and walkouts at
thousands of Walmart stores, also demanding better pay. The average
Walmart employee earns $8.81 an hour. A third of Walmart’s employees
work less than 28 hours per week and don’t qualify for benefits.
These workers are not teenagers. Most have to support their families.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median age of fast-food
workers is over 28; and women, who comprise two-thirds of the industry,
are over 32. The median age of big-box retail workers is over 30.