Employment
Return
to Common Sense
March 4, 2010
Section: Domestic – Employment
“Increase
union accountability and effectiveness by requiring re-certification elections
every five years to ensure unions continue to meet member needs and unions
continue to represent their members.”
Philosophy (Background, Issues,
Objectives):
Department of Labor
is a U.S. Cabinet level department responsible for:
- Occupational
safety.
- Wage
and hour standards.
- Unemployment
insurance benefits.
- Re-employment
services.
- Some
economic statistics.
Americans
work more, enjoy their work more, and are happier than any other country.
- General Social Survey (GSS) found
89% of workers are very satisfied or satisfied with their jobs.
o No difference in satisfaction found
between those with above or below average incomes.
o Two thirds of working people would
continue to work, even after having money to stop working.
- For most Americans work is a
rock-solid source of life happiness.
o Happy people work more hours per week
than unhappy people.
o Happy people work more in their free
time as well.
o People with more hours per week to
relax outside their jobs are not happier.
- 2002 International Social Survey Programme found US happier than other 34 countries.
Organized
labor was successful in the 1930s long after many workplace conditions were
implemented already, based on company best interests and employee retention.
·
In
1911, Henry Ford implemented a shorter workday, and the daily wage.
o
An
eight hour day meant the plants could run three shifts, 24 hours a day, speeding
production and reducing costs.
o
In
1922, Ford shortened the workweek from the industrial standard of 50 hours,
including half a day on Saturday, to a five-day, 40-hour week.
o
With
overtime, Ford could run full shifts on the weekend and keep his plants busy
24/7/365.
·
In
1913, Ford Motor Co. started an embryonic employee health plan, with company
clinics for on the job injuries, employees, and their families.
·
The
company health department also placed the many handicapped workers Ford hired
in suitable positions and in some cases monitored their health.
·
DuPont
had a gunpowder mill that faced difficulties attracting and keeping workers, so
employees were given life insurance, if they were killed on the job.
·
DuPont
also trained their employees to be very, very safe, with “safety first” becoming part of the
DuPont corporate culture.
·
The
Davis-Bacon Act requires employers to pay the “prevailing” local wage (union pay rate) on federally funded
projects.
o
“Prevailing
wages," as determined by the federal government, were in error 100% of the
time.
o
Davis-Bacon
wage rates are on average 22% higher than the standard wage rate in an area.
Union
membership continues to decline, except in the public sector, and is at an overall
low.
- Private sector union membership
continues to decline.
o
In
2009 7.26% of private sector workers are union members..
o Corruption (pension fund abuse)
continues to plague union leadership.
o Unions have begun to merge internationally
as a way to increase membership and power.
o Public “card check”
agreements are misrepresented and misused to recognize unions.
o Misuse of member funds for political
activism, instead of member support, is undermining support.
- Public sector union membership is
the only growing sector.
o
Executive Order 10988 in 1962 allowed unionization of the federal
work force.
o
In
2009 37.4% of public-sector workers are union members, including:
§
Service
Employees International Union (SEIU);
§
American
Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME); and
§
American
Federation of Government Employees (AFGE).
o
44%
of all union members are in the public sector – federal, state, or local.
o
Federal
employment pay gap between public and private sector employment is increasing
at breakneck speed.
o
Public
employees are earning an average $13.38 per hour in benefits, while private
sector workers earn only $7.98.
o
Government
benefits rose three times more than those in the
private sector.
o
Congress has exempted itself from laws allowing staff to unionize.
Outsourcing
is not a zero sum game.
- Investing in inefficient industry
elongates eventual demise.
- Manufacturing globalization will
result in lower process for commodities.
- Service globalization will result
in a lower overall cost of products and services.
- Ultimately globalization causes
businesses to be more efficient, to grow, and to create additional jobs.
- United States is a net importer
of jobs, even of technology jobs.
o In 2006 employment has declined near
12,000 jobs a month in the manufacturing.
o Employment has declined near 1,000
jobs a month in construction.
o Job gains have averaged 167,000 per
month in the service providing sector.
- All countries have seen a net
loss of manufacturing jobs, but the sector has recovered.
o Between 2000 and 2003, number of
workers in manufacturing declined by 2.8 million.
§
Low
skilled jobs have been automated, while higher skilled jobs are in demand.
§
Skilled
construction workers such as plumbers, electricians, welders are in high
demand.
o Overall unemployment rate has shrunk
to 4.5%.
o In 2006 manufacturing output and
Return on Equity reached an all time high.
o In 2006 manufacturing revenue and
profit reached an all time high.
o In 2006 value of
o
- McKinsey & Co. study in 2003
showed return of $1.12 for every dollar of work sent overseas.
Minimum
wage is ineffective as a poverty tool, because of inefficient targeting of the
poor.
- Comparable worth is a discredited
idea to circumvent the free market value of jobs.
- Minimum wage jobs are normally
entry level positions, and include jobs that earn tips.
- Relatively few people earn the
federal minimum wage (2.5% of hourly workers/1.5% total workers).
- Increase in minimum wage may
reduce government benefits to workers who receive them.
- When the minimum wage is raised,
salaried and hourly workers also expect raises.
- Most people who earn minimum wage
are young and in school, or older workers who have left school.
- Majority of people work part time
and rarely stay in minimum wage jobs for more than a year.
- Raising minimum wage will reduce
number of available jobs.
Principles:
- Off-shoring reaffirms the
economic principle of comparative advantage – the basis for free
trade.
- Off-shoring is the next step in
the generally beneficial evolution of modern capitalism.
Incent
unemployed to become employed.
Unions
that outlive their usefulness should de-certify to release their members from
dues.
Recommendations:\
Short Term, De-federalize the minimum
wage:
- Let the free market set the
appropriate wages for each job and industry.
- Let states set their own minimum
wage, if needed.
Reform
unemployment insurance:
- Limit duration of unemployment
benefits.
- Disqualify workers voluntarily on
strike and seasonal workers.
Measure
employment accurately:
- Job creation (BLS Household and
Payroll Surveys).
- Participation rate (BLS Labor Force
Participation)
- Unemployment rate (BLS Local Area
Unemployment Statistics).
Increase
union accountability:
- Require union
recertification elections every five years.
- Require private ballot elections
to authorize unionization vs. authorization cards.
- Union members must vote on use of
union dues for political activism.
- Remove capability for striking
workers to receive unemployment, welfare, or food stamps.
- Require Congress employees to
conform to labor organization policies.
Ensure
continued full funding for the Office of Labor Management Standards, the union
watchdog agency.
Long Term, Abolish
the Department of Labor as Cabinet department.
Repeal the Davis-Bacon Act to allow market to set
prevailing wage rate.
Repeal Executive Order 10988 authorization for federal
work force unionization.
References:
“Does the Minimum Wage Reduce Poverty”
by Richard K. Vedder and Lowell E. Galloway dated
June 2001 published by The Employment Policies Institute on http://www.epionline.org/studies/vedder_06-2001.pdf .
“Job Growth Description” by R.
Emmett Tyrrell, Jr. dated
“And Away They Go” by Bruce Stokes
dated
“Ten Myths about Jobs and Outsourcing”
by Tim Kane, Brett Schaefer, and Alison Fraser, dated April 1, 2004, published
by The Heritage Foundation on http://www.heritage.org/Research/TradeandForeignAid/wm467.cfm .
“Outsourcing Debate Tainted by Myths,
Misconceptions” by Radley Balko dated
“The Outsourcing Bogeyman” by
Daniel W. Drezner dated June 2004 published by
Foreign Affairs on http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20040501faessay83301/daniel-w-drezner/the-outsourcing-bogeyman.html .
“Shrinking Union Labels” by John
Carlisle dated
“Hard at Work: Why the Unemployment Rate
Accurately Reflects the Strength of the Labor Market” by James Sherk dated
“Raising Minimum Wage Would Hurt
“Minimum Wage Workers’ Incomes Rise
When the Minimum Wage Does Not” by James Sherk
dated
“Who Earns Minimum Wage – Single
Parents or Suburban Teenagers” by Rea S. Hederman
Jr. and James Sherk dated
“Low Income Workers May be Worse Off if
Congress Increases the Minimum Wage” by Rea S. Hederman
Jr. and Sam Hyman dated August 3, 2006 published by The Heritage Foundation on http://www.heritage.org/Research/Economy/wm1187.cfm .
“
“Statistical Politics” by Alan
Reynolds dated
“Unions Labor Against Free Choice”
by Mark Mix dated
“Wishful
Thinking on the Minimum Wage” by Steve Chapman dated
“Card Check Undermines Workplace Democracy”
by James Sherk dated
“Minimum Wage Hikes Hurt Unskilled and
Disadvantaged Workers’ Job Prospects” by James Sherk dated
“Easing the Pain: Let States Opt Out of a Minimum
Wage Hike” by James Sherk dated
“Restore workers’ constitutional rights”
dated
“Tough times at the UAW” by George
Will dated
“Labor Unions Team With Liberals for
Ambitious Agenda” by Mike Franc dated
“Steve Jobs Has Guts” by Jay Greene
dated
“Big Labor’s Desperate Power Grab”
by Phil Kerpen dated
“Job Corps: A Consistent Record of Failure”
by David B. Muhlhausen dated
“Top 10 Labor Union Power Grabs”
dated
“In Defense of Income Inequality”
by Peter Schwartz dated
“Unions for a Global Economy” by
Harold Meyerson dated
“Curing the Blue-Collar Blues” by
John Silvia dated
“Outsourcing Myths” dated
“Happy for the Work” by Arthur C.
Brooks dated
“Not Worth Saving” dated
“Liberals Target Labor-Union Watchdog”
by Robert B. Bluey dated
“The State of the American Worker 2007:
Attitudes About Work in
“Thriving in a Global Economy” by
Daniel Ikenson dated
“Upwards Leisure Mobility: Americans Work
Less and Have More Leisure Time Than Ever Before” by James Sherk dated
“Americans Are World’s Most Productive
Workers, UN Report Finds” dated
“Joel Kotkin
Debunks the Myth of Deindustrialization” by Bill Steigerwald
dated
“Trading Up – How Expanded Trade Has
Delivered Better Jobs and Higher Living Standards for American Workers”
by Daniel Griswold dated October 25, 2007 published by CATO Institute at http://www.freetrade.org/node/782 .
“Equal Rights Nonsense” by Roger
Clegg dated
“The Coming Crackdown with Public Labor”
by Lewis M. Andrews dated
“Extended Unemployment Insurance – No
Economic Stimulus” by James Sherk and Karen
A. Campbell dated
“Myths of Organized Labor” by
Ronnie Schreiber dated December 16, 2008 published by Front Page Magazine at http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=F740D12D-DB5D-46AF-9D28-53E7FFF08C74 .
“From civil servants to the new nobility”
by Harry Eisenberg dated February 15, 2009 published by World Net Daily at http://wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=88886 .
“Taxpayers on the Hook for New Government
Benefit?” by Darrell Issa dated June 4,
2009 published by Human Events at http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=32141 .
“Time for Congress to Work Under the Same
Rules as the Private Sector” by James Sherk
and ryan McDonnell dated
October 13, 2009 published by The Heritage Foundation at http://www.heritage.org/Research/Labor/bg2326.cfm .
“Beyond Card Check” by Kevin Mooney
dated December 1, 2009 published by The American Spectator at http://spectator.org/archives/2009/12/01/beyond-card-check .
“Public-sector Unions Bleed Taxpayers to Help
Dems” by Michael Barone
dated February 8, 2010 published by Town Hall at http://townhall.com/columnists/MichaelBarone/2010/02/08/public-sector_unions_bleed_taxpayers_to_help_dems
.
“How to Save $11.4 Billion This Year”
by Steve King dated March 4, 2010 published by The American Spectator at http://spectator.org/archives/2010/03/04/how-to-save-114-billion-this-y
.
