WIN: Work after retirement?

An interview with Caitrin Lynch

Does working give us value? And what happens to that value after we retire? 

These themes are explored in a recently published book by Caitrin Lynch, Retirement on the Line: Age, Work, and Value in an American Factory.

The book focuses on the VitaNeedle factory in Needham, Massachusetts which employs mostly retired employees. 

The trend is called “eldersourcing,” essentially taking advantage of the lower cost associated with hiring employees already collecting retirement for a couple dozen hours per week. 

Vita Needle provides the employees with flexible hours which allows for time during the day for doctors appointments and other engagements, but is it exploitive? In a recent interview Lynch said "no:"

In this case these people are not being exploited. There are lots of forms of value that work brings to people from financial value to social and psychological value and we need to look at the context of what work means to people. What are people seeking at the jobs and can they live off of the jobs? In this case, given the supplements they have to their incomes in the form of safety nets they can live off of these jobs.

Lynch spent five years studying the factory and the workers and said they don’t feel like they’re being exploited.

The workers often describe it as a win-win situation. They say we know we’re a good deal for this employer and also this is perfect for me. I can come in, spend a little time working, chat with people, and get a little paycheck.

Lynch said one benefit is the company can keep these jobs in the United States and continue supporting the local economy. The employees have the benefit of weathering the recession with extra employment.

The recession has meant that a lot of people, if they were lucky enough to have retirement savings, they lost 30 percent of the value of those savings, so they’re not ready to retire. There’s also people, even if they’re fortunate enough to be able to retire, but given life expectancy what are they going to do with their extra 30 years? A lot of people have said I want work. Work is something that’s important to me, I get a lot out of work in addition to a paycheck and so people have started to think about part-time flexible work as something that can fit into a retirement.

graphic: AARP

copy: Workers Independent News

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WIN: UAW President questions Romney’s claims on the US auto industry

By Doug Cunningham

United Auto Workers President Bob King says had Mitt Romney been president the domestic auto industry would have been allowed to collapse.

That collapse would have caused massive jobs loss. King says Romney is dead wrong when Romney claims he was for government assistance in a managed auto industry bankruptcy.

King notes that Romney opposed federal loans to GM and Chrysler in a 2009 New York Times op-ed piece.

In February of this year (Rmney) wrote that he believed the auto industry would be better without the Obama administration’s help.

The UAW president says the domestic auto industry was a victim of the credit collapse which was caused by Wall Street fraud.

King says Obama and Democrats made sure that the auto industry got emergency bridge loans that enabled the industry to survive.

King says the comeback of the U.S. auto industry is a great national success story.

He says because Obama made sure the auto industry was saved 200,000 auto jobs were added in the last few years.

graphic source: The Auto Channel

source: Workers Independent News

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WIN: Lunchpail Republicans say "right-to-work" fails to create jobs

Indiana’s Lunch Pail Republicans say not a single job has been created by Indiana’s so-called ‘Right To Work’ law. 

Lunchpail Republican Chairman David Fagan is president of the Indiana International Union of Operating Engineers.

He spent many years as a Republican precinct committeeman. Fagan says the anti-union legislation pushed into law by Indiana Republicans has brought no benefit whatsoever to Indiana. 

Fagan says with the law weakening unions Republicans turned their backs on the middle class, small business. Lunchpail Republicans are fighting to take back the Republican Party for “ordinary working Republicans”. 

The group says they’ve been disenfranchised by the abandonment of traditional Republican ideals. Lunchpail Republicans started in Indiana and has spread to Illinois.

Right to work laws have rarely helped workers. The intent is to weaken unions because it allows worker ot opt out of paying union dues.  

Some Republican governors have even signed laws into effect that prohibit unions to take automatic deductions from paychecks. 

The courts have not been impressed with such discriminatory anti-union laws. 

Of course, when Democratic governors are elected, Rightardia is not aware of any Dem govs who have repealed right to  work laws. 

This is because many Democrats are centrist where as the GOP has become increasingly ideological. 

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WIN: Jobs Numbers For Young Workers Moving In Right Direction- 03/14/12

3/13/2012

There’s improvement in the jobs numbers for young workers. Jesse Russell reports.

The job numbers for younger workers seem to be moving in the right direction.

The availability of jobs for workers in the age group of 25 to 34 increased by 116,000 in February and the unemployment rate for that demographic dropped from 9 percent to 8.7 percent.

Younger workers were often the first to go when the recession hit due to employers eliminating entry-level positions. Statistically, that group’s unemployment numbers throughout the recession ran higher than the overall national average.

More young workers finding employment will likely have a ripple effect in other measures of the economy including consumer confidence and first-time home owners.

However, there is still a hill to climb before economists will feel confident enough to use the young worker employment numbers as a sign of a healthy economy.

In February 74.7 percent of 25 to 34 year olds were employed, but the preferred number by economists is 80 percent.
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WIN: Wisconsin has worst jobs creation record in country

12/18/2011

One of the most dangerous things a gubernatorial candidate can do is project how many jobs they’ll create and how long it’ll take to create those jobs.

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was one of two Republicans that were elected to office in 2010 that made such predictions.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin Chair Mike Tate said during a conference call on Friday that part of the reason was the misuse of two special sessions on job creation. Instead of focusing on jobs the Republican majority in the legislature focused on passing a conservative social agenda. Tate said:

Scott Walker’s Republican Party killed dozens of bipartisan job creation bills and instead rammed through a radical social agenda that gives millions in tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, kicks thousands of seniors, working families, and children off of their health coverage.

On the campaign trail he said he’d create 250,000 jobs by 2014. So far, the numbers have said he’s doing everything but create jobs. November saw the fifth straight month of Wisconsin losing jobs. And a new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia shows Wisconsin coming in dead last in the nation when it comes to job creation. 

Rick Scott made the same promises in Florida and has launched a conservative agenda to make the state "more business friendly." Scott has also reneged on his promise to create 700,000 jobs above and beyond normal Florida job growth. 

That is the same job creation message of Mitt Romney. Obama just doesn't understand the economy and we need a businessman as president to create jobs. 

The problem is that GOP presidents have never been good at creating jobs. For example, GW Bush rarely talked about unemployment and preferred to discuss "worker productivity." 

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WIN: Wisconsin’s Governor Scott Walker Recall is off to a rousing start

11/16/2011

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By Doug Cunningham

Wisconsin’s campaign to recall Gov. Scott Walker for his attack on public worker collective bargaining is off to a powerful, robust start. United Wisconsin is spearheading the recall effort. United Wisconsin board co-chair Lynn Freeman.

[Freeman]: “We have a database of over 210,000 interested citizens of the state of Wisconsin who would like to recall the governor. Our volunteers are over 7,000 strong. We’ve participated in circulator training all over the state for the past few weeks. Right now there’s more than 9,000 people trained to be petition circulators. We’re optimistic that we will get well over the 540,000-plus that we’ll need to demonstrate that the citizens of Wisconsin do not want Scott Walker to be their governor.”

We Are Wisconsin, the state Democratic Party and recallwalker.org are some of the other groups that are very active in the recall. Three Republican state senators are also being recalled. Recall Walker parties and events are being held statewide. This Saturday the recall movement will hold a huge rally in Madison.

By Doug Cunningham

Wisconsin’s campaign to recall Gov. Scott Walker for his attack on public worker collective bargaining is off to a powerful, robust start. United Wisconsin is spearheading the recall effort. United Wisconsin board co-chair Lynn Freeman.

Freeman said:

We have a database of over 210,000 interested citizens of the state of Wisconsin who would like to recall the governor. Our volunteers are over 7,000 strong. We’ve participated in circulator training all over the state for the past few weeks. Right now there’s more than 9,000 people trained to be petition circulators. We’re optimistic that we will get well over the 540,000-plus that we’ll need to demonstrate that the citizens of Wisconsin do not want Scott Walker to be their governor.

We Are Wisconsin, the state Democratic Party and recallwalker.org are some of the other groups that are very active in the recall. Three Republican state senators are also being recalled. Recall Walker parties and events are being held statewide. This Saturday the recall movement will hold a huge rally in Madison.

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