NY Times Misses The Point On Labor

Opinion/Editorial


 

 

  Well here we are about to celebrate as a nation another Labor Day weekend marking the end of the summer of 2013.This mornings lead OPED in the New York Times once again and as always are the waterboy for the crying labor movement who whine about their pay nothing new here.
  Entitled "Labor, Then and Now" it begins "On Thursday, the day after the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, thousands of fast-food workers in 60 cities walked off their jobs, the latest in an escalating series of walkouts by low-wage workers demanding higher pay and the right to organize without retaliation.The parallels, though inexact, are compelling. A half-century ago, the marchers called on Congress to increase the minimum wage from $1.15 an hour to $2 “so that men may live in dignity,” in the words of Bayard Rustin, one of the chief organizers of the march. Today, the fast-food workers also seek a raise, from the $9 an hour that most of them make to $15.00 an hour. That’s not much different from what the marchers wanted in 1963; adjusted for inflation, $2 then is $13.39 an hour today."
  No offense to the fast food workers but I don't want to pay double for a whopper or Biggie fry.I love it how the left tries to incorporate the celebration of Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. 50th Anniversary of his infamous "I have a dream" speech in correlation to labor day. Makes me laugh LOL!
  It goes on "The strikers are targeting their employers — profitable companies like McDonald’s, Yum Brands (which includes Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC) and Wendy’s. But Congress could help. Today’s minimum wage is a miserly $7.25 an hour — which is actually lower, adjusted for inflation, than it was 50 long years ago. Raising it would support the legitimate demands of the strikers and underscore the pressing needs of the country’s growing ranks of low-wage workers.

President Obama has noted, correctly, that increases in labor productivity have long failed to translate into higher wages for most Americans, even while income for the richest households has skyrocketed. His proposed remedies, however, leave much to be desired — a pathetic increase in the minimum wage, to $9 an hour by 2016, plus hopeful assertions that revolutions in energy, technology, manufacturing and health care will create good-paying jobs."

  Sorry NYT but todays young people are getting dumber and dumber that's why there are a lot of low wage earners out there I see at the McDonalds here in the Pittsburgh area most of the register help can't give the exact change back they can't even count right. And they want $15.00 an hour LMAO!

As far as assertions that there will be good paying jobs in the health care field NOT! with Obama care taking effect soon.

  More from OPED "On its own, however, growth will not raise wages. What’s missing are policies to ensure that a large and growing share of rising labor productivity flows to workers in the form of wages and salaries, rather than to executives and shareholders. Start with an adequate minimum wage. Provide increased protections for workers to unionize, in order to strengthen their bargaining power. Provide protections for undocumented workers that would limit exploitation. Add to the mix regulations to prevent financial bubbles, thereby protecting jobs and wages from ruinous busts. Adopt expansionary fiscal and monetary policies in troubled times to sustain jobs and wages.

Low-wage workers would also benefit from executive-branch orders to ensure fair pay for employees of federal contractors. All workers need stronger enforcement of labor law so they are not routinely misclassified in ways that deny wages, overtime and benefits. They also need a tax system that is more progressive to shield wage earners from unduly burdensome tax increases or government cutbacks.

They need, in brief, pro-labor policies that have been overlooked for decades, with devastating results: from 1979 to 2012, typical workers saw wage increases of just 5 percent, despite productivity growth of nearly 75 percent, while wage gains for low-wage workers were flat or declined.

Recent experience has been even worse. In the decade from 2002 to 2012, wages have stagnated or declined for the entire bottom 70 percent of the wage ladder. The marchers had it right 50 years ago. The fast-food strikers have it right today. Washington has it wrong."
  Here we go NYT blaming the rich again same old liberal old BS tactic. What I highlighted in green since when does the NYT advocate for burdensome tax increases they are the kings of calling for tax increases all the time LOL!
  I have no problem with fast food workers getting a raise like everyone else but they have to earn it by doing their jobs CORRECTLY and efficiently. Besides the fast food workers can have better help carrying their water than having the NYT do it for them.