Sen. Blanche Lincoln “Undecided” on the Employee Free Choice Act

Will Sen. Lincoln kill the Employee Free Choice Act?
The U.S. Senate showdown over the Employee Free Choice Act just got a little tougher: Arkansas Dem. Blanche Lincoln has gone on record saying that the EFCA “isn’t necessary, bringing the number of “yay” Senators down to 57, three short of the 60 needed to prevent a filibuster.

The EFCA would allow unions to represent workers by getting sign-up cards—“card check”—as opposed to drawn-out elections in which companies frequently subject workers to harassment and intimidation, the recent battle at Smithfield Foods in North Carolina being a sharp example.

Over 60 million employees say they’d join a union if they could, but workers are subjected to almost relentless attacks during union organizing campaigns:

30% of employers fire pro-union workers.
49% of employers threaten to close a worksite when workers try to form a union, but only 2% actually do.
51% of employers coerce workers into opposing unions with bribery or favoritism.
82% of employers hire high-priced unionbusting consultants to fight union organizing drives.
91% of employers force employees to attend one-on-one anti-union meetings with their supervisors.
As Matthew Yglesias points out, the Arkansas Senator’s ambivalence towards unions might have something to do with the largest company headquartered in her state:

After all, non-union Arkansas is a bastion of prosperity! Well, actually, no, it’s poverty-stricken and features ultra low wages. But guess who likes low wages? Wal-Mart. And guess who loves Wal-Mart? Arkansas politicians like Blanche Lincoln.

The Center for Responsive Politics shows that Sen. Lincoln has indeed been a direct beneficiary of Wal-Mart’s political largesse, with donors associated with the company giving Lincoln over $35,800 in her career.

Lincoln has also received $44,000 from Tyson Foods, the poultry giant with its own checkered record of worker abuses and hostility to unions.

Workers in Arkansas could use more unions. Arkansas has the 5th-highest rate of poverty in the country. The state’s median income ranks 48th in the nation; only Mississippi and New Mexico are lower. Per capita income ranks 48th in the nation. Nationally, the “union advantage” that results from having a union is about a 12% boost in wage levels.

December 17, 2008 ~Institute for Southern Studies

“undecided” thats cause she’s outta her element.

get her back in the kitchen, she’ll know what to do!

October 31, 2008 | EPI Policy Memorandum #133

The Economy in Numbers

by Ross Eisenbrey with research assistance from Kathryn Edwards

The wild, day-to-day fluctuations of the stock market have dominated much of the recent economic coverage, but it is essential to keep the longer-term trends in mind as we move forward with crafting a rescue plan for the economy. Below is a snapshot of the economy’s health that looks at a variety of important measures.

Unemployment
There were 9.5 million unemployed workers in September 2008, up 25% from 7.5 million in January, and up 40% from 6.7 million in March 2007.i

Job Openings
There were 2.9 unemployed workers for every job opening in August 2008, up from 1.9 in January and 1.8 one-year ago.ii

Median Wages
Median weekly wages for a full-time worker have fallen by 1.6% over the last year.iii

Foreclosures
There were 265,968 home foreclosures in September 2008 alone, 21% higher than last September. There were 765,558 foreclosures in the third quarter of this year, 71% higher than the third quarter last year.iv

Underemployment
In September, 17.1 million workers were underemployed (too discouraged to look for work, unemployed, or working part time but wanting full-time work), a 31.7% increase from the 13 million underemployed workers a year ago, and up 21% from 14 million in January 2008.v

Trade Deficit
As of August 2008, the annualized trade deficit ($711 billion) equalled 5.0% of national output. In contrast, the trade deficit equalled 3.9% of national output in 2007.vi

Pension Loss
An estimated $2 trillion in pension wealth has been lost in the past year and a half because of the financial crisis.vii

Bankruptcy
Business bankruptcy filings rose 67% in September from a year ago. Combined business and individual filings in the past year reached a total of 799,531.viii

Employment
Total employment has fallen by 760,000 since December 2007, with a loss of 969,000 jobs in the private sector.ix
[cont.]

Notes

i. BLS Current Population Survey, Labor Force Statistics – Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Level and Rate, September 2008.

ii. BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey – Seasonally Adjusted, Total Non-farm Openings, September 2008.

iii. BLS Current Population Survey, Labor Force Statistics – Median weekly earnings, full-time Employment, wage & salary workers, September 2008.

iv. RealtyTrac – U.S. Foreclosure Market Report , September 2008.
http://www.realtytrac.com/ContentManagement/pressrelease.aspx?ChannelID=9&ItemID=5300&accnt=64847

v. BLS Current Population Survey, Labor Force Statistics – Underemployed workers are total of unemployed, involuntary part-time, and marginally attached workers, September 2008.

vi. U.S. Census Bureau, Foreign Trade Division – U.S. Total Trade Balance in Goods and Services http://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/historical/gandsbal.pdf

vii. Testimony of Peter Orszag, head of Congressional Budget Office on 10/7/08 before House Committee on Education and Labor

viii. AACER – Automated Access to Court Electronic Records press release http://aacer.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=80&Itemid=41

ix. USDOL Employment Situation Report, Establishment Data, September 2008

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Copyright © 2008 by The Economic Policy Institute. All rights reserved.

December 5, 2008---------------------------EPI

Job losses accelerate at alarming rate in November

by Jared Bernstein and Heidi Shierholz with Tobin Marcus
The American labor market is losing jobs at a truly alarming rate. Payrolls contracted by over half a million jobs last month and unemployment rose to 6.7%, according to today’s report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The under-employment rate—the broadest measure of weakness in the job market—soared to 12.5%.

The loss of 533,000 jobs is the largest monthly payroll loss since the 1970s, and the worst month for payrolls thus far in the recession, which began in December 2007. Moreover, downward revisions of job losses for the past two months subtracted another 200,000 from payrolls. In total, jobs are down by 1.9 million since the recession began.

In recent months the pace of job losses has accelerated. From January through August, the average monthly rate of job loss was 82,000, but for the past three months (September-November), the average monthly loss has been 419,000 (see figure below).

The unemployment rate rose from 6.5% in October to 6.7% in November, its highest rate since October 1993, and two points above its year-ago level. There are now 10.3 million unemployed people in the United States, an increase of over three million in the past year. The increase in the jobless rate is notable because the labor force unexpectedly contracted last month by over 400,000. Since the unemployment rate includes only those workers officially counted as part of the labor force, a contraction in the labor force would normally keep the unemployment rate from rising. But because almost 700,000 jobs were lost in the BLS Household Survey (from which unemployment is drawn), the jobless rate increased.

Under-employment, a MORE COMPREHENSIVE measure of the extent of weakness in the job market, rose to 12.5%, its highest level on record since the current series began in 1994, and more than four percentage points above its year-ago level. The growth in this more comprehensive measure of slack was largely driven by an increase in people who WORK PART TIME BUT WANT A FULL TIME JOB—up 621,000 from October, and by 2.8 million over the past year. All told, there are now an estimated 19.6 million unemployed or under-employed workers in this country, amounting to about ONE in EVERY EIGHT people in the labor market.

The decline in employment rates is another clear sign of recession. Economists view this measure—the share of the population employed—as a proxy for labor demand. The overall employment rate fell to 61.4% last months, 1.6 points below its year-ago level. Labor demand by this indicator has contracted especially sharply for men. Their rate was down to 67.5% last months, 2.2 points below its level one year ago, and the lowest level in the 60-year history of this data series (for African American men, the rate is down by over three points).

The number of industries creating jobs at this point is alarmingly low, an indicator of the pervasive scope of the weakness in the job market. Most industries—over 70%, according to the diffusion index—contracted last month. The auto industry, which has been the focus of many in Congress in the last few weeks, continues to struggle. Motor vehicle and parts manufacturers lost 13,100 jobs, while employment in vehicle and parts dealers declined by 27,000. Two other key industries—retail trade and professional services (office jobs, temps, legal services)—posted large losses, with retail down 91,000 last month and professional services down 136,000, including a loss of 78,000 temp workers.

Retail is, of course, a key sector this time of year and is an informative bellwether of how the problems in the economy are feeding into the labor market. The 91,000 loss in today’s report reflects a negative seasonal adjustment, because retailers always bulk up on hires this time of year. On a non-seasonal basis, retail jobs were up 217,000. To put this value in context, note that comparable numbers for the past three Novembers have been around 400,000.

Hourly earnings accelerated last month, up 3.7% over the past year. Given the reduction in the rate of inflation, real hourly earnings will likely be positive over the past year. However, the LOSS IN HOURS WORKED is pushing in the opposite direction on paychecks, resulting in weekly earnings being up ONLY 2.8% over the past year. Thus, paychecks are likely to remain squeezed, as loss of hours OFFSETS real hourly earnings gains.

Given the dramatic contraction in job growth, large numbers of job seekers are stuck for months at a time in unemployment. Extended unemployment spells, as measured by the share of the unemployed who have been jobless for at least six months, decreased slightly in November to 21.4%.It is still the case, however, that over one-in-five unemployed workers has been jobless for over half a year.

Ben Nelson Thinks Rick Berman is an Idiot. Welcome to the Club.
By: Gregg Levine Saturday December 20, 2008 6:38 am ~~~~~~~~~~~NOTE: Great thread and super interesting comments over at Firedoglake re:EFCA and misleading TV ads.

OK. I can’t resist.

“The Shepherd drives the wolf from the sheep’s throat, for which the sheep thanks the shepherd as a liberator, while the wolf denounces him for the same act as a destroyer of liberty.” Abraham Lincoln

“According to our calculations, the Wal-Mart PAC for Responsible Government has given Sen. Lincoln and her leadership PAC over $44,000 since 2000 - and this number does not include money from Wal-Mart executives.”

Blanched Lincoln it is.