The American Employers Hold the Financial Future of the Country in Their Hands

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http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/christopher-williams/54384/the-american-employers-hold-the-financial-future-of-the-country-in-their-hands

The American Employers Hold the Financial Future of the Country in Their Hands
Jobs
by Christopher Williams | February 22, 2014 - 2:53pm

As the country continues to languish in a Depression, that’s right, a Depression, that started in 2007 and regardless of what economists and the government wants you to believe, has never ended, the one entity in this country that has escaped the blame it so richly deserves for contributing to this economic condition and the social problems that have resulted from this state of the economy, are a large percentage of the employers in this country, regardless of size. As you noticed, I am not including all employers because there are some who have their priorities in order. Now, I am sure you are asking yourselves how that can be possible when we hear on the news that the members of Congress and the president have played a significant role in the state of the economy with the laws that are discussed and passed. Well, I will state the entities just mentioned have a small impact on the overall state of the economy but it is about time the true culprits stop getting the free passes they have received since President Ronald Reagan fired the striking air traffic controllers back in 1981 marking the beginning of the end of the workers having a major say in their working conditions, wages, benefits, and other nuances of their jobs and the beginning of business owners starting to dominate the workplace in every sense of the word.

When President Reagan executed what I described earlier, this was a signal to the business owners, especially ones that permitted their employees to unionize, that they did not have to worry about their workers striking anymore since they simply could be replaced. In addition, these same employers knew from that point forward that other unionized businesses could adopt the same attitude and as a result, the workers leverage they once had to demand good working conditions, wages, and benefits would start eroding and as a result, union representation has dwindled to somewhere around 11.6% in this country. These same employers have proceeded to ship many of these same jobs overseas, especially in the manufacturing sector, to low wage earning countries such as Mexico, China, and India, to name a few, as occurred during President George W. Bush’s two terms when 3 million good paying manufacturing jobs were transferred overseas with the blessing of the federal government, who passed trade and tax policies that encouraged these actions. The employees’ wages that remained were basically frozen or decreased.

Now, for the employers that did not have unionized employees, they saw this strategy as an opportunity to replicate what the unionized employers did when it came to what wages they would offer their employees, how willing they would be to take on new employees and offer them benefits, and make other types of capital investments in their businesses. As the unionized employers did, wage growth and the hiring of new employees were virtually eliminated, along with benefits, and investments in their businesses almost came to a halt while the cost of living continued to grow. What is most reprehensible is that while these almost incomprehensible actions were taking place, the business owners’ salaries were skyrocketing to a point where the wage gap between the entry level positions and the business owners is the highest in our country’s history. The last time I checked it was 475-1, which is just mind-boggling to me.

This enormous wage gap begs the question as to why such a statistic exists. Most CEOs, when posed this question, will state that they have suppressed wage growth because they are waiting for the economy to pick up. That is exactly what the CEO of Caterpillar Inc., Doug Oberhelman, stated when he was asked that question in a most recent interview he provided for a magazine. What is most preposterous about the answer he gave and is most insulting, which is shared by most business owners, is that they in fact define the economy by how many people they hire in this country, the wages they pay, and the amount they invest in their businesses. Their business decisions dictate the condition of the economy in the fact that when a large number of people are employed in this country at companies that are expanding and are paid a fair-living wage, not minimum wage, they are able to turn around and pump that disposable income back into the economy to buy the products that are produced in this country and utilize the services offered which translates into a strong economy with thriving businesses.