americans not working

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http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/econ...tw-share&_r=0&

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The Minimum Wage Was Higher in 1963 Than It Is Today

the minimum wage, when adjusted for inflation, was $8.37, a dollar and 12 cents higher than today's rate of $7.25.

Sylvia A. Allegretto and Steven C. Pitts lay out the math in a paper for the Economic Policy Ins ute. At its highest point (in inflation-adjusted dollars) the minimum wage was $9.44 in 1968. It's 23 percent lower now. And despite those who claim that a higher minimum wage leads to greater unemployment, the official unemployment figure in August of that year was 3.5 percent, less than half the current rate of 7.4 percent.

Productivity has risen - but working people have seen none of the resulting wealth. As Lawrence Mishel and Heidi Shierholz, also of the Economic Policy Ins ute, note: "During the Great Recession and its aftermath (i.e., between 2007 and 2012), wages fell for the entire bottom 70 percent of the wage distribution, despite productivity growth of 7.7 percent."

In fact, as Dean Baker and Will Kimball point out, "If the minimum wage had kept pace with productivity growth it would be $16.54 in 2012 dollars" - and that's using a conservative estimate of that growth.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-esk...b_3820416.html

Note: Repugs refuse to raise the minimum wage, some have proposed eliminating the minimum wage AND child labor laws.

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America Is No-Vacation Nation

America is the only developed nation that doesn't legally guarantee any paid vacation time for its workers. In a recent study, The Centre for Economic and Policy Research, found that in the absence of government standards, almost one in four Americans have no paid vacation (23%) and no paid holidays (23%) and the average worker in the private sector receives only 10 days of paid vacation per year. Contrast this with European countries where most employees are legally en led to at least 20 days of paid vacation per year.

What’s more, here in the US we work considerably longer hours than other developed nations. Take The Netherlands, for example, where in many cities, banks are only open four days a week and a three-day weekend is the norm for the service industry. It’s quite the reverse on our soil where it is not uncommon for corporate employees to work 15-hour days some even falling asleep at the job.

While we are conditioned to believe that such commitment to our jobs is necessary, honorable and demonstrative of dedication, in reality, this work culture is in fact causing our society a lot more harm than good. According to William Chalmers, author of “America's Vacation Deficit Disorder: Who Stole Your Vacation?” our failure to take vacations is costing US businesses and taxpayers over a trillion dollars a year and is shortening the lives of Americans. Chalmers explains in his book:

“Workplace stress alone exceeds $300 billion; direct employer costs involved in employee turnover runs about 150% of annual compensation rates, multiplied by 3.3% of U.S. employment figures that show that workers regularly leave their jobs monthly. Chronic workplace absenteeism costs are estimated to be $153 billion a year in lost productivity; … presenteeism alone costs $2,000 per year per employee and … the collective lost opportunity costs of presenteeism are estimated to be 7.5 times more costly to employers than absenteeism … Added together you’re looking at a number in the ball park of $1.5 trillion,” he wrote.

Moreover, Chalmers asserts that numerous studies show that people who do not take vacations are more at risk of stress, job burnout, depression and premature death:

“Taking a one or two week vacation is actually good for business and the U.S. economy because it allows the individual to recharge, revitalize and come back to the workforce refreshed and more creative and ready to work. Large understanding corporations do provide vacation time because they realize that employees are more likely to stay in their job if granted vacation thereby avoiding astronomical job turnover costs in having to replace staff,” the founder of The Global Scavenger Hunt told Alternet.

In addition, a 2006 Ernst & Young study, found that employees who took more vacation time were not only more likely to stay with the firm but also received higher performance reviews. In fact, for each additional 10 hours an employee took of vacation time, performance review rose 8% the following year.

http://www.alternet.org/culture/amer...ion?paging=off

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A ‘Lost Decade’ Of Wage Stagnation


A new report released Wednesday by Lawrence Mishel and Heidi Shierholz of the Economic Policy Ins ute confirms what millions of Americans already know: The vast majority of workers have seen their wages stagnate for years, severely hampering their economic security and the nation’s economic growth.








http://www.nationalmemo.com/a-lost-d...ge-stagnation/

So who can refute: America (of the 99%) is ed and un able?

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this is 12 years old, but it's certainly worse now:

What Your Disaffected Workers Cost

We all know they're out there. Our new survey finds the price tag.

GMJ’s first national survey found that, of all U.S.workers 18 or older, 24.7 million, or 19%, are what we callactively disengaged. This term describes people who not only failto be enthralled by their work but are fundamentally disconnectedfrom it. Actively disengaged workers tend to be less productive andreport being less loyal to their companies, more stressed and lesssecure in their work. They miss more days and are less satisfiedwith their personal lives.

Like death and taxes, these workers will always be with us. Buttheir numbers can be reduced, and great benefits will result frommaking even small inroads into the problem. Using two approaches,we estimate that the lower productivity of actively disengagedworkers penalizes U.S. economic performance by about $300 billion,or a figure nearly equal to the nation’s defense budget.

When compared with all other workers, this cost reflects thefact that actively disengaged workers report more days of workmissed (3.5 more days per person per year) and more days of workmissed for illness (0.55 days per person). Thus the 24.7 millionactively disengaged employees miss 86.5 million more work days thanaverage workers and 13.6 million more days because of illness. Whenactively disengaged workers are compared with engaged employees,the data are even more striking: 118.3 million days of work missedand 33.3 million days missed for illness. These numbers do notinclude the effect on turnover, safety or health-care costs.

We calculate that with all other macroeconomic factors stayingconstant, a five-percentage-point decrease in the percentage ofactively disengaged employees would boost U.S. productivity by $79billion a year







http://businessjournal.gallup.com/co...kers-cost.aspx

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Why Are So Many Employees Disengaged?

The answer most often lies in managerial relationships. A recent national study by Dale Carnegie Training placed the number of “fully engaged” employees at 29%, and “disengaged” employees at 26% – meaning nearly three-quarters of employees are not fully engaged (aka productive). The number one factor the study cited influencing engagement and disengagement was “relationship with immediate supervisor.” While this is no surprise to those in the management business (and we all intuitively know that our at ude toward our boss has a major impact on our feelings about work), my interest here is not to delve into this recent study – but to probe a bit into why manager-employee relationships are so chronically problematic

At enormous costs, it’s worth noting: The Bureau of National Affairs estimates U.S. businesses lose $11 billion annually due to employee turnover.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/victorli...es-disengaged/

So if you're out of work and want to work,you'll be lucky to find a low-paying, ty job with a bad manager.

If you have a job, you probably don't GAF about it or the company.

and if you are an unpaid intern, you can be sexually harassed and have no recourse in the courts.

Congress is working fervently on all these problems to Move America Forward!

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and with employers absolutely obsessed with a culture of workplace safety, about 17 people killed on the job for each of 52 x 5 = 260 workdays/year.

http://www.bls.gov/iif/

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The Other NRA: How the Insidiously Powerful Restaurant Lobby Makes Sure Fast-Food Workers Get Poverty Wages and Have to Work While Sick

While thousands of fast-food workers were preparing to walk off their jobs earlier this summer to seek raises to $15 an hour, the industry’s corporate lobbyist, the National Restaurant Association, was celebrating a string of political victories blocking state minimum wage increases and preempting local sick day laws.

In June, the NRA boasted that its lobbyists had stopped minimum wage increases in 27 out of 29 states in 2013. In Connecticut, which increased its state minimum wage, a raise in the base pay for tipped workers such as waitresses and bartenders vanished in the final bill. A similar scenario unfolded in New York State: It increased its minimum wage, but the NRA’s last-minute lobbying derailed raising the pre-tip wage at restaurants and bars. The deals came despite polls showing 80 percent support for raising the minimum wage.

The NRA’s lobbying didn’t stop there. It also told members that it blocked a dozen states this year from passing laws that would require earned paid sick leave, which is what New York City and Portland, Oregon adopted. Meanwhile, it boasted that six states, including Florida, passed NRA-backed laws that preemptively ban localities from granting earned and paid employee sick time.

http://www.alternet.org/labor/other-...tter888467&t=3


Millions are ed because they can't find a job, and millions are ed because they have a job and it sucks.

America The Beautiful, Land of Opportunity.