Yes, we do need a rebirth of labor unions.
A new study shows that the workers who
make the least money have experienced the biggest
decline in their take-home
pay since the recession of 2008.
Despite steady gains in hiring, a falling unemployment rate and
other signs of an improving economy, take-home pay for many American workers
has effectively fallen since the economic recovery began in 2009, according to
a new study by an advocacy group that is to be released on Thursday.
The declines were greatest for the lowest-paid workers in sectors
where hiring has been strong — home health care, food preparation and retailing
— even though wages were already below average to begin with in those service
industries.
“Stagnant wages are a problem for everyone at this point, but the
imbalance in the economy has become more pronounced since the recession,” said
Irene Tung, a senior policy researcher at the National Employment Law Project
and co-author of the study.
The economy is recovering, but not
everyone is benefitting.
One explanation may lie in the findings of another study released on Wednesday by the Economic Policy Institute, also a liberal research group.
Its report showed that even as labor productivity has improved steadily since
2000, the benefits from improved efficiency have nearly all gone to companies,
shareholders and top executives, rather than rank-and-file employees.
A good society provides opportunity for
all, not luxury for the few and misery for the bottom quarter.
