Jobs

Once again, actual job growth last month fell short of economists' projections and was barely enough to keep up with new labor market entrants.

Speaking before a Regional Employment Board function on Friday, Congressman Richard E. Neal said he feared that the threat from cheap labor overseas could soon have a negative impact on our economy.

[image:400]A diverse group of almost 100 labor union leaders, workers, business representatives, community based organizations, educators, workforce development professionals, and government officials came together on October 7th at Holyoke Community College to find common goals and provide suggestions for improving the workforce development system.

Today’s employment report is a wake-up call for Americans that more than two-and-a-half years after the official end of the recession, the labor market is still playing catch-up and working families are shouldering the burden. Adequate job growth is long overdue and the quality of jobs being created is falling short of what working men and women need to build a future for themselves and their families.

Although President George W. Bush boasts about an improving economy, a majority of America’s working families have suffered a steady erosion of their wages and persistent difficulties balancing work and family responsibilities, according to a new report from a top management scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

It looks like America has just about completed the transition from FDR's era of the New Deal with the era of the Republican Raw Deal. Instead of spending taxpayer's money to create local jobs in order to kickstart the economy, Massachusetts citizens are paying companies to outsource their jobs overseas. "A new study shows that the state has already paid $7.1 million to contractors that 'offshored' work to places like India."

Yet, Mitt Romney recently vetoed "a measure to prohibit state agencies from contracting with companies that send the work overseas." Nice work, Mitt. We'll be looking to outsource you back to Utah in 2006.

Building and Construction Trades Unions are encouraging other unions to pull any investments with Mass Mutual out. Mass Mutual, a Fortune 500 life insurance company based in Springfield, MA, is coming under fire for hiring building contractors that exploit workers.

From the News-Only-A-Republican-Could-Love department, comes this article from the Washington Post (registration required):

'Particularly troubling is the report's information about confidential discussions with executives at Boston Consulting's client companies, many of whom conveyed low opinions of their American employees compared with labor available abroad. Not only are factory workers in low-cost countries much cheaper -- well below $1 per hour in China, compared with $15 to $30 per hour in the United States and Europe -- but they quickly achieve quality levels that are "equivalent to or even higher than . . . [the] best plants in the West," according to the report.'

The report also urges American companies to quicken the pace of offshoring. Of course, destroying jobs is the best way to create them, right? Repeat after me until you, too, believe: "When I lose my job, it makes America stronger. When I lose my job, it makes America stronger. When I lose my job, it makes America stronger."

Six nursing home caregivers testified at a hearing on April 13 about how short staffing, poor working conditions, and low pay and benefits are impacting the quality of care in Massachusetts.

Think construction jobs can't get shipped overseas? Think again. Last month's Wall Street Journal carried an article, "Blueprint for Outsourcing" (March 3), reporting that a Mexican construction company, Pretesca, will make a bid to build Springfield's new federal courthouse in Mexico and have it shipped here. Not possible? Think again, again. It's already been done in Salt Lake City where Pretesca just finished shipping the city's new $65 million library from a suburb of Mexico City.