Time You Enjoy Wasting Is Not Wasted Time

Mourning in America: Death of the Middle Class

Read Disconnected, Disenfranchised, and Poor: Addressing Digital Inequality in America

While this seems more like a technology issue, it also brings up the issue of the lack of living wages. Things that may seem like luxuries, such as internet access, are increasingly a common necessity for gaining information and being an informed citizen. Doors of advancement should be held open, not slammed shut, for everyone to have the opportunity to walk through.

We are a low-wage country

A sad fact. The attacks on the middle class and the general anti-labor sentiment found here have made earning a living wage very difficult. It has also made those who are fortunate enough to have decent paying jobs the scapegoat to distract us from the real issues.

Work Till 70? Yes, if Boehner and Republicans Have Their Way

Raising the retirement age to 70 doesn’t make any sense. If there is rampant unemployment how does keeping people in the workforce longer help the younger generation of workers?

This seemed to be fitting, go check out Struggles of Young Workers

I suppose at 35 I no longer qualify as a young worker, but my fellow Gen Xers are in a similar boat. Possibly even worse off, as we can easily get edged out of the market at both ends. Want someone with experience? Hire the Boomer! Want someone young? Hire the Millennial! And Gen X is sidelined again.

I think the recession will hurt workers in many ways, but the biggest is seen as a result of the shift away from defined benefit pensions to the defined contribution 401k and the market crash. Those without pensions are forced to stay in the workforce, which means less advancement opportunities for Gen Xers, which in turn hurts the Millennials.

The threat of reduced social security or raised retirement age doesn’t help either.

Check out the Job Tracker.

Search by Zip Code to find out which companies in your area are exporting jobs, laying off workers, endangering workers’ health or involved in cases of violations of workers’ rights.

Don’t Blame Tenure for Bad Teachers

I hate when tenure is used as an excuse by management. It is all too easy to blame tenure, or the union, or the worker, but is that really where the blame should lie? Tenure isn’t automatically granted upon hire. Where was management before tenure was granted? Unions, tenure, and workers in general are not the bogey-man set out to terrorize managers. Everyone needs to work together to find common ground based on mutual respect.