Newsweek: Have American Workers Had Enough? Employees are tired and disillusioned with employers

[Better Believe It]

Have American Workers Had Enough?
Surveys show employees are tired and disillusioned with their employers.
by Nancy Cook
August 6, 2010


As companies cut a higher-than-expected 131,000 jobs in July, you can't blame the American worker for seething. Wages remain stagnant and unemployment is at 9.5 percent, even as employee productivity is at levels not seen since 2002. Much of the workforce has endured pay cuts, furloughs, and a loss of benefits. During the same time frame, corporate profits have rebounded, according to the Standard & Poor's 500 Index. Main Street may not be adding jobs, but Wall Street went on a hiring binge, and according to a recent report by Obama's executive-compensation czar, banks paid $1.58 billion in bonuses at the end of 2008, just days after receiving federal bailout money and dangerously close to the nexus of the financial collapse.

Is it any wonder the average employee is in a bad mood? "There's more of a divide in terms of compensation between senior executives and the average worker now," says Thomas Kochan, a professor of management at MIT. "This will have a lasting effect and lead to lower trust and lower confidence in management." If this environment lingers, it could lead to a profound cultural change in the way Americans view work.

Could this signal the return of workers' confidence and attitude—enough to ask for long overdue raises or the return of benefits that were taken away? New Yorker Ilana Arazie feels this change, even as she searches for a new full-time job. The 35-year-old lost her position in digital marketing at the Associated Press in November 2009. Since then, she survived through a mix of freelance writing and unemployment checks while launching a blog called Downtown Dharma. Five years ago, she dreamed of climbing the corporate ladder. Now she dreams of finding a position that does not consume her life. "I think people are less apt to take jobs that stick them in a cubicle," she says.

As the recession drags on, academics and executive coaches say workers have become disconnected from companies. Eighteen percent of large companies recently surveyed by Towers Watson said they had cut or eliminated the matching money they contributed to employees' retirement plans, starting in September 2008. Even when profits came back, those benefits often have not. Companies have been slow to hire new workers, even though corporations, apart from financial firms, have $837 billion in cash, an increase of 26 percent since last year.

After enduring grueling work schedules for several years, many people, for the first time in several years, feel empowered to ask for more—be it money, time off, stock options, bonuses, promotions, or the ability to work from home. The CEO of an outplacement firm says he has seen this firsthand. "It's not that workers feel entitled. It's that they feel like they've earned it because there's a little more room out there," says John Challenger of Challenger Gray & Christmas Inc. And, if employees feel like companies are not responsive, the high performers eventually will leave. "A lot of it will be psychological, like they need to get away," says Virginia Mathis, an organizational-development consultant.

But will asking for more actually get employees anywhere? The recession has irrevocably shifted the labor market. While top performers and those in hot industries such as tech or finance may still be able to negotiate generous compensation packages, ordinary workers may not see the cash. Employees may change jobs, only to find out that the same problems exist at new offices. Worse, workers will simply become accustomed to this new reality and feel a dampening of ambition: a sense of gratitude for any job. "It just becomes a way of life," says Robert Sutton, a professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. For employees to really gain the upper hand again, they may need to wait until unemployment drops back to the 5 to 7 percent range. Unfortunately for everyone, that isn't expected any time soon.

Read the full article at:

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/08/06/are-fed-up-american-workers-getting-their-gumption-back.html?gt1=43002

[villager]

1. When they finally wake up and have a general fucking strike, we'll know

n/t

[TBF]

2. Rec for this post - general fucking strike is needed immediately

has been for some time. It's the only thing they understand.

[Synicus Maximus]

32. A general strike sounds good but what are we striking for?

Striking for the sake of striking will accomplish nothing. A strike must have some goals and the goals must be obtainable.
Say we strike for jobs. What kind of jobs? Who will provide the jobs?

[TBF]

41. Demands from the left -

A friend of mine wrote these demands several years ago, and they remain a good list today:

DEMANDS:

1) Universal Single Payer Health Care

2) Promotion/Development of Local Food Systems

3) Government subsidized heating programs

4) 90% Reduction In Military Budget

5) Immediate Development Of Nationwide Mass Transit System

6) Immediate Withdrawal Of US Troops From All Parts Of The Globe

7) Triple The Taxes For Anyone Making Over $75,000/ Year. Sliding Scale Tilting Upwards

8) Immediate Dissolution Of All Federal Banking Systems followed by Creation Of Local Currencies

8) Elimination Of Rent/Mortgage

10) Fair Trials For All Members Of The Senate

11) Open Borders For People, Closed Borders For Bananas

12) Elimination of all Free Trade Agreements

Naturally when I skip into my polling place and look for these issues on the ballot I'll be aroused and gleeful to pull that lever "in favor of" but lacking that I’d say it’s time for direct action.
____________________________________________________________
HOW TO DO IT:

- Massive boycotts and a general strike.

- A huge 'None of the above' vote-reform campaign

[TomClash]

46. I've been saying this for years

Illegal or not - the general strike would send them all into a tizzy.

However, you will get few supporters here.

[skepticscott]

54. So how would you triple taxes

for people making more than $75,000? Someone at that level is already having about 40% of their paycheck taken out. Do the math.

And WTF does "Elimination of Rent/Mortgage" mean?

[tallahasseedem]

57. I agree...

Those two demands are absolutely ridiculous.

[ElboRuum]

69. The guy who wrote those demands makes $74,999.

As far as the elimination of rent/mortgage, you got me. No clue about that one.

[skepticscott]

72. Heck, if they tried to enact that

and I made $80,000, I'd go to my boss and beg him to cut my salary by $6000.

[seafan]

6. A national strike is one of the few tools we the people have left against our oppressors.

To date, nothing else has gotten their attention.

.....

The recession has irrevocably shifted the labor market. While top performers and those in hot industries such as tech or finance may still be able to negotiate generous compensation packages, ordinary workers may not see the cash. Employees may change jobs, only to find out that the same problems exist at new offices. Worse, workers will simply become accustomed to this new reality and feel a dampening of ambition: a sense of gratitude for any job. "It just becomes a way of life," says Robert Sutton, a professor of organizational behavior at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. For employees to really gain the upper hand again, they may need to wait until unemployment drops back to the 5 to 7 percent range. Unfortunately for everyone, that isn't expected any time soon.

---LINK

Refusing to unload container ships arriving at our ports, crammed with cheaply made foreign products, would be a good place to begin.

[glitch]

13. Think Globally, Act Locally

Global Strike.

[Lorien]

17. We need to take a tip from the French; shut down the Nation. Park farm equipment

and trucks in the middle of the highway and bring everything to a grinding halt. Over there the government fears it's citizens, so they try to keep them happy. Here we fear our government, so we continue our downward spiral.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

19. Has there ever been a national strike in the USA? -nt

[Starry Messenger]

20. Shut it down. +1

[readmoreoften]

28. +1

[AnArmyVeteran]

43. The book WORK ABUSE describes how employers abuse their employees

It's a great book that will validate all the feelings you have about how your company's leaders abuse workers. I bought two copies of the paperback version. Corporations are the worst offenders but abuses aren't limited to any industry or profession.

If you're interested in reading the review of this book go to this link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0870471104/ref=mp_s_a_1?qid=1281204416&sr=8-1

[Ricochet21]

48. I agree

I agree

[Ricochet21]

49. I agree

I agree

[olegramps]

64. The answer is unionize.

The workers fucked themselves when they bought the management's propaganda that unions were their enemy and management would take good care of them. They took care of them. When union membership had gone from 36% of American workers to 6% the management had no organized opposition to outsourcing their jobs, cutting the pensions and canceling their health insurance. This was all done with the assistance of the bastards that the dumb-ass workers elected to congress who are on the corporate payroll. They are more than willing to serve their masters with Free Trade Agreements that have destroyed hundreds of American industries and thrown tens of thousands out of a job or bail them out with billions of your tax dollars when their mismanagement results in their bankruptcy.

There is only one solution to the dilemma that workers find themselves in: Unionize! It is the time proven way and only way that workers can demand a fair share of the fruits of their labor. It is the only way that workers can make their representative actually represent their interest. You want to stop outsourcing, then unionize; you want universal health care, then unionize; you want to stop the management from receiving outrageous compensation for outsourcing your job; unionize. Otherwise just sit back and take what crumbs they will throw you.

[bluethruandthru]

68. +1000 and quit buying the republican propaganda that unions caused our problems.

I still meet people who think unions are evil...but in the same breath they'll bitch about how their employer is cutting their salary, taking away their benefits, etc. sheesh!

[erodriguez]

73. Truth!

[Brickbat]

3. Organize!

[tabasco]

5. Astonishingly appropriate cartoon.

All the utopians rejecting sensible action.

[Brickbat]

7. I love it so much.

That Wobbly is so frustrated. He's going to kick some ass in a short minute.

[Jim Sagle]

9. +1000 for the only answer that might work

[Donnachaidh]

4. yup yup -- oh yeah! kick and rec n/t

[marmar]

8. Moribund wages and "more with less" workloads will do that.....

nt

[The Gunslinger]

10. Personally, I'm getting sick of hearing this....

"at least you have a job" Working 10 hours a day 7 days a week.."well that's job security" We need unions more than ever . Too bad they have been vilified to the point that workers would rather take this crap and stab each other in the back just for security or a promotion than stand up together.

[Better Believe It]

11. Perhaps several thousand angry workers should show up in Washington for the demonstration on Oct 2.

It's a start.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=8892453&mesg_id=8892453

[Mariana]

12. I've seen it happen, in a way, and it's a beautiful thing.

A company I worked for in the 1990's had been running the plant Monday through Friday and decided to start running production seven days a week. They said they were going to hire a weekend crew, but in the meantime production workers were required to work 12 hours of overtime every second weekend. This didn't affect me because I was in maintenance, not production, and we already worked 24/7 (with adequate personnel to do so).

This went on for more than a YEAR with no sign of a weekend crew materializing. People's home lives were wrecked and they were exhausted all the time. Then someone brought in a note from her doctor saying she could only work 40 hours a week for medical reasons, and the company, as per its policy (and no doubt after consulting the attorneys) honored it. No more overtime for her.

Within a few weeks more than half of the workers had seen their doctors and brought in similar notes either prohibiting overtime or restricting it. The company had to shut down the line on Sundays. Morale improved immediately because people felt they had some control over their lives again. Even the people who chose to continue working lots of overtime felt better because it was THEIR choice. They knew they could end it at any time.

Pretty soon after this the company hired a weekend crew.

Would it have been better to organize and demand a contract with restrictions on mandatory overtime? Certainly. But, that was unlikely to happen in that place and that time and you use what you can when your employer is abusing you.

[Jackpine Radical]

14. Well, employers have had it with workers too,

what with their incessant demands for wages and benefits and whatnot. That's why so many of them are going overseas for labor that will work for 20 cents an hour and doesn't expect to be coddled with survivable working conditions.

[Better Believe It]

15. There are many more of us than there are of them.

And we need more whatnot!

[Lorien]

18. My main client is going to Canada and paying them the same wages

but because of the Canadian health care system my client saves 20-30% from not having to pay for insanely expensive insurance. Lack of a sensible universal single payer system is driving jobs for skilled labor out of this country.

[Raster]

44. Don't look for sensible universal heathcare in this country anytime soon...

...the powers that be make way too much money off of the pain and suffering of others.

National General Strike NOW!

[AllyCat]

60. +1

here is an issue that if addressed rationally, would save American employers HUGE sums of money.

[Lorien]

63. Those who fret about the loss of insurance industry jobs don't seem equally concerned

for the millions of us to have lost our jobs to skilled workers in Nations with universal health care.

[Dinger]

21. "coddled with survivable working conditions"

Perfect. K & R

[hootinholler]

39. I'm sure the tax advantages of offshoring don't hurt them either. n/t

[Odin2005]

16. We don't need the parasitic investor class.

Lets get rid of them.

[Kingofalldems]

22. K and R----- Unionize America

[otohara]

23. Perhaps NBC's "Outsourced" Will Cheer Us Up

ha, ha, ha,....I used to have that job.

[Skittles]

47. what kills me is

you can actually understand the Indian folk in that clip - in reality, most outsource Indian folk I talk to make no sense at all

[MrsBrady]

53. a had an Indian recruiter call me

I just simply could not understand a word she was saying...and I have a good ear for understanding people even when they have heavy accents.

Finally I told her that she needed to speak more slowly as I couldn't understand her English. I still could not understand half of what she was saying.
I guess she didn't believe me when I told her to speak slower.
Finally, I just told her to email me the information and I hung up on her.

I figured that was that. If I had hung up on an American recruiter, I would have never heard from them again.

She actually emailed me the information about job.

I wasn't even qualified for the job she emailed me about...so I don't know what in the heck they are doing.

[Skittles]

58. they talk way, WAY too fast

and they NEVER modify - I have to tell the same Indian folk over and over to SLOW THE FUCK DOWN :mad:

[snot]

24. K&R'd

[snot]

25. [self-delete -- computer hiccup]

[snot]

26. Let me add, if you haven't seen Adam Curtis's "Century of the Self," SEE IT --

It goes a long way toward explaining the atomization (lack of organization) among US workers.

This brilliant documentary made for the BBC is viewable for free at viewable at http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/features/century_of_the_self_episode_1.shtml .

[madrchsod]

27. 30 years of neo-conservative-neo-liberal economic theories has ruined america

the only thing that changes is the amount of crumbs we are allowed to have

[alfredo]

29. ORGANIZE!!

[laughingliberal]

30. K & R nt

[ck4829]

31. The average American employee is willing to work more hours, and for less pay, but...

The average American employer is unwilling to hire because they're afraid it will tap into their massive bonuses.

Marxism didn't result from one guy waking up one day and saying "Communism is better", it was because this guy saw the employers taking advantage of their workers, treating them brutally, and making them work long hours for little pay.

Wall Street and the government needs to take note of that.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

33. Right now would be the perfect time to organize............

There are a bunch of folks out here with NOTHING left to lose. If the labor and trade unions can get out onto the streets, knock on doors and show the unemployed folks that there's a better way through collective bargaining, we could beat back the tide of oligarchy and give labor the strength it used to have. But the effort can't only be a grass-roots one, the national unions need to go for broke and PUSH.

[raouldukelives]

34. I think we'll see those suicide nets put up here

Before we see any national strike.

[femrap]

35. Well, I guess

I'll become a mortician. Cuts down on listening to assholes.

[scentopine]

36. Wall Street is trying to kill us off so they can exploit unregulated labor

markets in India, China and elsewhere. They are literally choking us to death. The centrist neo-lib/neo-con (neo-dem) is only supplying the rope, instruction manual, financing and encouragement.

Other than that, the centrist's invisible hand is clean. its all Bush's fault.

[roxiejules]

37. They don't need us anymore....

"During the 1980's when I was working to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons, I had a disturbing conversation with a corporate CEO. While we were dining one summer evening...he told me that from a business standpoint, nuclear war would not occur until multinational corporations had succeded in commercializing China. After than accomplishment, he said, there would be no more room on Earth to expand the market economy (which must always, of course, be in a state of expansion), and so there would be no more viable reason for human beings to stay alive. His opinion refelcts to growing ethos of both an expansionist technological system and an addicted psyche; use up whatever resources are here now; when you run out, do whatever you must to get more - - with no regard for the consequences."

- Chellis Glendinning, My Name is Chellis and I'm in Recovery from Western Civilization

[Hydra]

55. Excellent post

And a good insight too- many of us saw the writing on the wall when the crash was engineered. The obvious question was "Why? Why kill the middle class? They happily slave away for the perceived opportunity to become one of the 1%ers."

The answer was as you posted- they don't need us anymore, and would rather have a much smaller world all to themselves.

[roxiejules]

62. Yes, we are just consuming resources now...

pensions, social security, education, health care.

Imagine all the people who lost their jobs, but aren't old enough to retire & can't afford health care ~ how many people will just fade away and die?


PS - Sorry about my spelling errors in the original post, too late to edit.

:)

[Catshrink]

38. Time for this:

[Barack2theFuture]

40. Shutterdown

Gitterdun

[Overseas]

42. We are tired of corporate welfare. Subsidies to ship jobs overseas.

I'm listening to David Cay Johnston ask some very interesting questions again this morning.

Here's his talk about our country's subsidies to corporations--

http://fora.tv/2008/04/14/David_Cay_Johnston_Talks_About_Free_Lunch

[cornermouse]

45. They're increasing the amount of stress they put on people.

On top of everything else its getting close to unbearable.

[8 track mind]

50. Have American workers had enough? (profanity warning)

Gee newsweek, welcome to the fucking discussion. Glad you could finally join us..........

Hell yes i've had enough, thank you for asking. I started with a company at the bottom rung and worked my way up for ten fucking years. Made that company a shit load of money, and developed a lot of things for them that they still use today. Came to work one morning and it was over, one fucking day before my 11 year anniversary. They threw me a fucking piss ant severance that barely covered the bills for one fucking month. Think i was living beyond my means? Guess again. I bought a cheap house and drive used cars that are paid for. I had to go on unemployment for the first time in my life, and no i didn't sit on my ass and watch reruns of the Dukes of Hazzard while i was getting assistance. I raided the internet every damn day until I managed to find a new job..... with less pay and no health benefits (hey at least it's a union job). If it wasn't for the new policies and the tax breaks of the Obama administration, the wife and i would be without health bennies of any kind and we'd be up shit creek with out a paddle. I am counting my blessings as there are a lot more people that have it worse than me right now.

You high and mighty snot nosed right wing media douchebags, thought that supply side economics was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Look where it got us....you slowly made the unions powerless, sent our jobs overseas, and the bottom line and the quest for POWER OVER PEOPLE became your holy infallible God. You have enabled the corporations to fleece us at every turn while telling us it was rosy.

Dad always taught me that if you are willing to work and work hard, you will always have a job and a stable future. This just isn't the case anymore thanks to you right wing assholes.

The workers are starting to get wise to the bullshit and it's probably going to bite you in the ass in the next few years. Set your focus groups aside for the moment and take this down:

All we want is a good stable job, fair pay with extra pay for working overtime, health coverage, a decent amount of vacation, and a set of established ground rules between the employer and the employees (you know that union, collective bargaining thingy!). A fair chance for anyone to achieve the American dream to anyone who's willing to do it with out going stark raving mad in the process. A happy employee is a productive employee. It's that fucking simple.

Thank you, that's all.

(oh and by the way if St. Reagan happens to be looking down on me in the happy everafter that the fundies say exists, Sir, respectfully, go piss up a fucking rope you dimwitted shit for brains coward "B" grade actor.)

[MrsBrady]

52. don't hold back or anything...you really ought to say what you really feel

:applause: you said it, man.

[Blackhatjack]

51. Once Middle Class Conversion to Poverty Class is Complete, Labor Organization Will Look Good...

OF course by that point those who once made up the Middle Class will have lost most of their assets and benefits, and likely they will be deprived of full Social Security Benefits and other government safety net provisions.

What the MSM and Repubs are selling is a pipe dream... that giving more and more to the corporations and richest 1% will benefit the other 99%.

The "sell" is going to get harder as people realize they have lost it all.

[felix_numinous]

56. Union Now.

The reason to organize is because it is the RW's worst fear.

The executives and people in places of power have lived in a bubble for so long that joblessness, starvation, homelessness, illness is just a concept. The only way to get through to them is to pop that bubble. Somehow, if there were a strike, it would have to transcend the corporate media. It would have to be such a powerful and long lived act (like a full week of non work)-- that it would stop the wheels from turning. Of course it would have to be done with safety in mind.

Something makes me wonder if this is allowed to be discussed on DU, if not I am sorry.

[rucky]

59. We need an employee-owned small business revolution.

We've got people with skills who want to work. We've got people who deserve to be treated fairly. We've got alot of empty commercial and industrial real estate.

What's stopping us?

[HughBeaumont]

67. Likely the start-up capital, because banks ain't lending.

And the fact that corporations have the little guy at a massive disadvantage as far as costs and distribution go.

[socialist_n_TN]

71. That's why the next TARP should go to opening up

worker owned co-op factories in manufacturing. THAT would take care of the start up capital. Get it from government and taxes rather than banks.

[Initech]

61. When employers pull crap like this it certainly doesn't help:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8896284

[olegramps]

66. It does my heart good to finally here the cry-UNIONIZE!!!

There is one fact that says it all, American workers enjoyed the highest standard of living when 36% of it workers were unionized. Now that only 6% are unionized they are totally at the mercy of the greedy management class that are without any shred of decency and would rob the pennies off their dead mother's eyes.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

65. Error: you can only recommend threads which were started in the past 24 hours K&R anyway

I have had more than enough and I am very sad and totally disillusioned with this crapfest.

[SOS]

70. Newsweek breaks stagnant wage story! Only 40 years late.

Real wages in the US rose during every decade from 1830 to 1970. Then this central feature of US capitalism stopped as the figures below show:

1964 $302.52
1974 314.94
1984 279.22
1994 259.97
2004 277.57


Source: Labor Research Associates of New York based on data from the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics; wages expressed in constant 1982 dollars.
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2006/wolff120606.html