Wages of average workers trailing far behind surge in corporate profits

[OhioChick]

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

U.S. companies are about to wrap up their fourth consecutive year of spectacular profit growth, filling corporate coffers with cash and keeping the bull market alive on Wall Street.

Total earnings of the blue-chip Standard & Poor's 500 companies have risen at double-digit percentage rates for 18 consecutive quarters, an unprecedented streak.

But to many rank-and-file workers, the booming bottom line may only serve as a reminder of what has been missing from their own paychecks.

Wages of average workers have just begun to improve in recent months after badly lagging behind inflation for most of this decade. Amid the surge in corporate profit, many workers have faced terminated pension plans, reduced health-care benefits and rising outsourcing of jobs overseas.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003484268_wagesprofits19.html

<snip> That also has been a theme of some in Congress — Democrats and Republicans — who have railed against trade agreements that they say encourage U.S. companies to move jobs overseas or to use outsourcing as a lever against domestic workers.

"All these companies say the same thing: 'We have to (move overseas) to compete,' " Dorgan said. "It's not about competing — it's about fattening their profits."

[brentspeak]

1. Enough talk; how about some action?

Any company that moves its facilities out of the United States (and when I mean "the United States", I don't mean Saipan) should expect heavy tariffs on their products once they're shipped to the United States for sale.

[lonestarnot]

2. Agree! And part of the distribution of the tax should go directly back

to people who have lost their jobs due to the outsourcing.

[ninkasi]

12. Sounds right to me

and I'm retired, so it won't affect me. Screw fattening the fat cats even more, what about the ordinary people who actually do the work to produce the wealth they rake in?

[OhioChick]

5. Agreed. n/t

[KT2000]

3. Law firms too

Would love to see the bottom line and bonuses for the big law firms. They are outsourcing to India as well. Doubt the client gets a break either.

[Roland99]

4. A perfect example of why the stock markets don't reflect reality

[pacalo]

6. Duh...that makes me want to vote for those Republicans...mmhmm.

It boggles my mind how people will vote against their interests. Only the richest, top 1% of Americans can honestly say that they're voting for the sake of their selfish interests. That especially goes for big corporations, whose profits are being pocketed by the CEOs rather than providing decent salaries & benefits that are in keeping with the rising cost of living.

[Canuckistanian]

8. That's the mystery of it all

These poor dumb peasants still think that making the already fabulously rich even richer will somehow help them to get a job, a raise, and a decent pension.

"I never got hired by a poor man", is their battle cry. Well, now, you're being hired by a rich man and he ain't paying you squat.

[HughBeaumont]

20. And, subsequently, being fired by him when he no longer has use for you.

It's like, "Way to go, chump. How's that $300 going for you right about now?"

People who vote for Repukes based on this regard are people who can't accept, or haven't come to grips with, the fact that they're peasants. They called them "Reagan Democrats" around the time when the "Profits and Rich First" mentality started. "Let's not soak the rich; because after all, I'm going to BE rich someday!" Uh, yeah. Good luck with that.

[Lucky Luciano]

25. They have bad priorities...

I bet they would vote for pro-gun, anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage folks that have their economic interests at heart. Trouble is that being pro-gun, anti-abortion, and anti-gay marriage is more important than their economic well being :eyes:

[neoblues]

7. U.S. Wealth DOUBLED since 1990...

Yet we have millions more in poverty and the middle class has received effecively NONE of the increase in wealth. A small percentage of the population received a gargantuan increase.

Yes, the lack of growth in wages relative to recent corporate profits and in general, is a real sign of unethical business practices--and such increases are needed. However, considering the vast increase in wealth, however, such considerations as the recent lack of growth in wages are positively "piddling" by comparison. Would not any kind of fair sharing have catapulted every person in the country into the middle class?

There is much to be outraged about. Included is the fact that our country is literally controlled by the wealthy and their corporations as well as the saddling of average Americans with massive debt far into the future--so that the proceeds from those loans could further pad the pockets of the wealthy who are paying less than ever in terms of taxes... while millions do without proper medical care, face job cuts and the increasing absence of good jobs. Nevermind the military boondoggle and it's associated death, destruction, costs and resulting increase in future terrorism (and who benefits? could it be Corporations and wealthy investors?).

Nothing is simple, but a society of have (vast amounts) and have nots (barely enough to survive) in which there are a few lucky ones and almost everyone else does without--sooner or later experiences a readjustment. When, one wonders, will the underclass wake up to the reality that their lives are limited and controlled and that no matter how hard they work there is precious little chance they will be able to lift themselves out of their current subclass (the "American Dream" is but a faded memory). Education, even well beyond the extent people can afford it, helps a little but much less than one imagines (the jobs just aren't here anymore).

There IS a "Class War", or perhaps there WAS a "Class War"... and we lost.

[FredStembottom]

14. At the fabulously profitable giant company I work for........

They use "efficiency" statistics to force you to give back part of your day's wages!

It's called "break time". And any time there isn't a customer on hand.....you have become "inefficient" and must give that time up as unpaid break time.

I was even given a chart to help calculate this - and it went out as far as 4 hours of "break" in an 8 hour day!

Oh....and if a lot of customers show up and it stays busy - you can't have a "break".

I'm on track to make less money than ever before - at the same job!
:mad:

[jwdeviant]

18. Woah!

What state has laws lax enough to allow that bullshit?

[thingfisher]

32. Aw, come on Fred tell us the name of the company!!!

This is the kind of "efficiency" that is demanded of a slave. It is the same kind of efficiency demanded of those millions of wrkers in the third world that jobs have been outsourced to.

Anything van be taken to an extreme and that included "efficiency". I'll bet there aren't any management people who have to track their "down time"! This kind of micro-managing is a fraud and is merely a thinly veiled way of robbing people of their wages! It makes me want to:puke:

[NoAmericanTaliban]

9. I got a big 2 % raise this year, but that is

better than a lot of folks that got nothing or who lost their job during this festive season. Meanwhile companies are making record profits and handing out big bonuses.

[EVDebs]

10. Brandeis-- Great wealth or a democracy, but you can't have both nt

[NVMojo]

11. how long is it going to take the idiot middle class Republican-voting public

to figure out they've been had by Bush's pals?

[Erika]

16. The bushbots are slow learners

Big time.

[Divine Discontent]

13. AGAIN --- MORE BITCHING NEEDS DONE ABOUT THIS ONGOING DISGUSTING PROBLEM

they are f'ing over the workers and consumers left & right thanks to their good good friends in the bushcorporation.

www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<<----

[Erika]

15. One big duh

The American worker is being flushed down the toilet as if they were tissue.

[lovuian]

17. This is what causes depressions Greed of the

Robber Barons

[Vexatious Ape]

19. We can thank not just the Republicans.

But the Dem's as well for what has happened to the American worker. "All these companies say the same thing: 'We have to (move overseas) to compete,' " Dorgan said. "It's not about competing — it's about fattening their profits."

The last Dem in the White House embraced this free trade bullshit like it was a 18 year old stripper covered in Baby oil. And all the major players in the "Party of the people" have followed him along.
Free trade is a right wing wet dream and the Democrat Party fell for it, big time. It was the Right that dreamed up NAFTA and it was big Bill that signed the damn thing. I have vowed not to vote for another free trader for prez.

[The Wizard]

21. The only things

that will close the widening disparity between the Republican elites and the working class will be national sit down strikes and millions of workers in the streets saying "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore."
Lincoln said something about fooling all the people all of the time.
The Republican Party needs to be purged from the political landscape as they've demonstrated how a small minority can hold sway over the vast majority, and thus enslave an entire nation for the sole purpose of the corporate bottom line.
The British philosopher Thomas Carlyle said he couldn't understand the American Civil War; the South wanted to own their slaves while the North wanted to rent them by the hour.
Neither capitalism nor democracy can exist very long without a vibrant middle-class. Bushco has done its best to destroy the fabric of this country for the personal gain of its elite backers. They have benefited beyond their wildest expectations because of the great dumbing down. The appeal to the worst fears and lowest instincts has given a small percentage the power to dictate what the majority will do, democracy be damned.
The real Bush/republican legacy will be lower living standards for more Americans.

[Yavin4]

22. This Is Why Workers Form Unions

This is nothing new. If Americans want to raise their wages, then they have to form unions. That's what collective bargaining does. Since Reagan, Americans have been fooled into believing that their education, job experience, etc. would be enough to make them middle class, but that's bunk.

[jschurchin]

23. SOLIDARITY

[shrike]

24. Mr. Obvious is back

And here I thought he was on vacation.

[Lasher]

26. So where are the profits going?

Total earnings of the blue-chip Standard & Poor's 500 companies have risen at double-digit percentage rates for 18 consecutive quarters, an unprecedented streak.

Total earnings, AKA net income or profit, is calculated by taking revenues less the cost of doing business, depreciation, interest, taxes and other expenses.

Shareholders are not seeing these gains. During the past 18 quarters (quarters ending 6/28/02 to 9/29/06) the S&P 500 index gained a total of 20.75% for an annualized growth of just 4.61%. This is incredibly bad. Average annualized S&P 500 gains have been 10% or more during all presidential administrations (Except Nixon at 0.6%) going all the way back to Truman. For all of the 6 years of Junior's administration, his average is just 2.7%. This is why I bristle when I hear claims that the stock market is booming. It's really not, it's been sucking bigtime.

If this claim about corporate profits can be believed, why hasn't the value of stocks reflected substantial gains during those 18 quarters? The S&P actually posted losses in 6 of them.

[rman]

27. Supposedly it trickles down,

but that doesn't explain the fat bank accounts of the super rich.

[Lasher]

28. We've been trickled on, that's what it is.

Those S&P numbers are solid gold, BTW. I got so sick of hearing the stock market and/or the economy is boomin' and the tax cuts is a-workin' that I downloaded daily closing results going back to January 2001 into a serious spreadsheet. Think I'll take it back to Truman & make my own comparsion.

Peace to you and yours, rman.

Lasher

[rman]

30. So it looks like big corporations are mere conduits

for the rich to rob the people. That is, if we are to believe claims that the number of billionaires has increased.

[thingfisher]

33. Well all those six figure salaries and bonuses for the big boys

has to come from somewhere. Oh yeah, you know the accounting firms have been more and more efficient in their creative bookkeeping practices too. Corporations are run for the benefit of those in control. Stockholders will see the minimum possible dividends (enough to appear legitimate) and the rest will be sucked up by the company elites.

[Lasher]

36. But the executives' salaries come out before these profits are totaled.

Executive compensation is running into seven and eight figures, BTW. Six figures used to be something to brag about but it's chickenfeed nowadays for these guys.

But you make a good point about dividends, which have a relationship with stock value, but not a direct one. I suppose dividends must have been up during this 18 quarter period. Assuming that is so, I have to wonder why that didn't help drive up stock prices. I know for a fact, as I have shown, that stocks did poorly in this respect during that period.

Maybe all the excessive option grants to executives has diluted share value enough to make this difference.

[Nihil]

29. It's obvious: The workers aren't working hard enough!

Or so some people would have you believe ...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2659353#2659632

:eyes:

[femrap]

31. Can we eat the rich now? nt

[Lipton64]

34. And of course many companies have other policies to cut costs.....

Hiring illegal workers, slashing freebies like number of sick days, vacation days, hiring more workers and cutting pay across the board and cutting hours - thus making all part-time employees so none will have to be paid time-and-a-half for overtime.

These are the dirtiest bastards in the world. They've killed our pensions and our healthcare plans and now they're coming after our 401Ks and wages next.

If you don't have a college degree or if you don't have money already and/or a successful business I hope you like unloading trucks at Wal-Mart or Target for a little better than minimum wage with no benefits. Because that and McDonald's type jobs are going to be the only one's available to non-college-grads in the coming years.

A bachelor's degree is going to be a requirement, not something that makes you stand out. You're either going to be a professional or a service flunky making literally shit pay with no benefits. That's the "consumer economy" of the future.

These free-trade idiots don't realize that even though they may save the consumer money by slashing prices - how the hell can the consumer pay for said products without a job that pays good enough to give them the money to buy your crap made in China after they pay taxes, bills, food, etc.

The math just doesn't add up and at the end of the line we, the workers, are the ones who get shafted and who get fucked up the ass.

[OhioChick]

35. Good Post

However, that bachelor degree is becoming meaningless in this day and age with all the IT work, accounting, etc. being outsourced overseas. I know several highly skilled IT people whom have lost their jobs and can't even get a damn help-desk job, as they're told that they're "over qualified." So much for the "shortage of skilled workers" here.

[Lasher]

37. A bachelor's degree is no guarantee

A few years back you were riding high if you were in IT with a bachelor's degree. Then corporations started off-shoring IT work and here we are today. A friend of mine teaches classes on the subject. On the door of one of the classroom is a sign that reads, "Will code HTML for food." Kinda funny, kinda not funny.

If you have a bachelor's degree you are not guaranteed success. But the thing is, you do have a chance. If you don't have a degree you just don't have a chance. OK there are some who succeed without having degrees but these are rare cases. I don't want young people to cop out by thinking, "Well what's the use in trying? Getting a degree is a waste of time."

Young people should get some kind of a degree if they don't have one. If they have one already and if it's not working for them, they should consider changing to another field, like teaching, where the degree will still be an advantage. And this applies to the not-so-young also. My sister-in-law recently divorced while in her early fifties. Tomorrow she is graduating from a course that qualifies her to be a medical assistant. I'm proud of her. I don't think she expects to be knocking down six figures any time soon, but she won't be busing tables for a living.

Never give up.

[McCamy Taylor]

38. We need to revitalize the labor movement in this country for one thing.