In procurement services we deal with leveraging high volumes for lower costs all the time. Of course this comes with service expectations and market expertise but I hadn’t realized how this type of collective bargaining has, or in the following case has not affected the income trend of the American worker.

If you were to compare what you are making today to what you were making say 50 or 60 years ago you would certainly be able to see the gap. But according to Annalyn Censky from cnnmoney.com, looking back in the last 15 to 20 years you would see a much smaller or non-existent gap. The article goes on to indicate that this has a lot to do with the diminishing presence of the union way of life. Unions fight for higher wages for their members and with an almost 8% drop in the union community since 1983 America’s low and middle income workers’ wages are remaining stagnant.

Another reason for the lack of movement in the lower income community and greater movement in the higher income bracket is the expansion of our reach into the global market. Lower wage workers are competing against manufacturers in places like China and frankly not boding well. So as it seems it always is and will continue to be, as the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. One of the our best hopes is education, in this respect educating ourselves on what the market has to offer and doing our best to seek those opportunities, no matter what class you consider yourself to be in.
Share To:

Jennifer Ulrich

Post A Comment:

3 comments so far,Add yours

  1. Unions have lost sight of what they were orginaly created for which is why they are no longer effective. But you are right the more you know the better off you will be.

    ReplyDelete
  2. If anything... what this article proves is just how ineffective unions have been in bargaining wages for their members. Run by inept leaders whose only motivation is greed. The time has come for unions to get out of the way and let individuals prove their worth.

    ReplyDelete
  3. There are many reasons why union membership has declined. And certainly, in the past, union leadership was partly responsible.
    But the current attack on unions, especially at the State level, are a very well organized policy brought about by extremely wealthy individuals and families, such as the Koch brothers, as part of their agenda to strip away middle class incomes and power.
    The result of any further erosion of the unils will be felt by all working people in this country though lower wages, fewer benefits and loss of personal autonomy, in favor of rich corporations and the plutocrats who control them. And as the middle class continues to be hollowed out, America will decline as a major power in the world, and become a third rate backwater, much like the old banana republics.

    ReplyDelete