Posted: 07 Sep 2015 06:56 AM PDT
By Senator Bernie Sanders / Daily Kos
Labor Day is a time for honoring the working people of this country. It is also a time to celebrate the accomplishments of the activists and organizers who fought for the 40-hour work week, occupational safety, minimum-wage law, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and affordable housing. These working people, and their unions, resisted the oligarchs of their day, fought for a more responsive democracy, and built the middle class. Today we can – and we must – follow their example. It’s time to rebuild the crumbling middle class of our country and make certain that every working person in the United States of America has a chance at a decent life. Against overwhelming odds, the men and women of the labor movement changed society for the better. If you've ever enjoyed a paid vacation, a sick day or a pension, they are the people to thank. And if you don't have those benefits on your job today, they are the people who can help you get them. [Read more...]
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Posted: 07 Sep 2015 06:56 AM PDT
By Jim Miller Toward the end of June, as many liberals were cheering the Supreme Court’s unexpectedly nonpartisan legalization of same-sex marriage and its equally surprising upholding of the Affordable Care Act, they missed the signal of some potentially very bad news to come this fall. Indeed, while it was fun to see the Republicans being frustrated by a high court of their own making, that very same court reserved the right to bring some serious pain to progressives for the long term by agreeing to hear Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association in its next session. [Read more...]
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Posted: 07 Sep 2015 06:55 AM PDT
By Staff We have a long history of music that chronicles the struggles of working people in this country. This music depicts our transformation from an agrarian economy to an industrialized one and the labor movement that arose from that transformation. The econ0my has been transformed yet again as we moved from manufacturing to service sector jobs; as jobs are outsourced and employees are re-defined as independent contractors; and as worker productivity has sharply increased, wages for the middle class and working poor remain stagnant. Work remains dangerous and too often deadly for some; underpaid or unequally paid for far too many. Labor unions have historically addressed both of those work issues and union members have put their lives on the line to remedy them. These videos are a reminder of the work and of the struggle. And they still resonate today. [Read more...]
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Posted: 07 Sep 2015 06:54 AM PDT
By Robert Reich / Robert Reich Blog In 1928, famed British economist John Maynard Keynes predictedthat technology would advance so far in a hundred years -- by 2028 -- that it will replace all work, and no one will need to worry about making money. "For the first time since his creation man will be faced with his real, his permanent problem -- how to use his freedom from pressing economic cares, how to occupy the leisure, which science and compound interest will have won for him, to live wisely and agreeably and well." We still have thirteen years to go before we reach Keynes' prophetic year, but we're not exactly on the way to it. Americans are working harder than ever. [Read more...]
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Posted: 07 Sep 2015 06:53 AM PDT
By Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers / Popular Resistance This Labor Day weekend rather than looking at the history and current struggles of workers, we look to the future and imagine what will work be like in 2025 or 2050. What will the overall economy look like? What is our vision for an economy that works for the people? The Future of Work There are some major trends that indicate we are in the midst of a radical transformation of what work means and how people will have income. The most significant trend involves robotics, artificial intelligence and software that will do most current jobs. The research firm Gartner predicts that “one in three jobs will be converted to software, robots and smart machines by 2025.”Oxford University researchers estimate that 47 percent of U.S. jobs could be automated by 2033. Already the official unemployment rate hides the fact only 63% of working-age adults are actually working. [Read more...]
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Andrew Spurrier: 
Moscow| Mon Sep 7, 2015
