The European project: Americanized Labor Policy Is Spreading in Europe By EDUARDO PORTER New York Times December 3 2013
In 2008, 1.9 million Portuguese workers in the private sector were covered by collective bargaining agreements. Last year, the number was down to 300,000. Spain has eased restrictions on collective layoffs and unfair dismissal, and softened limits on extending temporary work, allowing workers to be kept on fixed-term contracts for up to four years. Ireland and Portugal have frozen the minimum wage,while Greece has cut it by nearly a fourth. This is what is known in Europe as “internal devaluation.” Tethered to the euro and thus unable to devalue their currency to help make their goods less expensive in export markets, many European countries — especially those along the Continent’s southern rim that have been hammered by the financial crisis — have been furiously dismantling workplace protections in a bid to reduce the cost of labor. The rationale — forcefully articulated by the German government of Angela Merkel, the European Commission and somewhat less enthusiastically by the International Monetary Fund — is that this is the only strategy available to restore competitiveness, increase employment and recover solvency. These policy moves are radically changing the nature of Europe’s society. “The speed of change has certainly been very fast,” said Raymond Torres, the chief economist of the International Labor Organization in Geneva. “As far as I can tell, these are the most significant changes since World War II.” While most of the debate over Europe’s response to the financial crisis has focused on the budget austerity enveloping the Continent, the comparatively unheralded erosion of worker protection is likely to have at least as big and lasting an impact on Europe’s social contract. Full: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/business/economy/the-americanization-of-european-labor-policy.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0 On 2013-12-07, at 2:17 PM, Louis Proyect wrote: > On 12/7/13 1:56 PM, Doug Henwood wrote: >> The author has a point, but the employment figures in the household >> survey are extremely volatile. The numbers from the employer >> (establishment) survey are far more reliable, and they've been up by >> 200,000 for two months in a row. In November, there was also a sharp >> decline in the number of unemployed. All in all it was a pretty good >> report - mediocre by long-term standards, but by recent standards, a >> barn-burner. >> >> Doug > > > Of course, the other thing to be considered is the quality of the jobs > being created. > > > NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Stuck in a job with lousy pay? Better get used to it. > > Some 28% of workers are expected to hold low-wage jobs in 2020, roughly > the same percentage as in 2010, according to a study by the Economic > Policy Institute. > > The study defines low-paying jobs as those with wages at or below what > full-time workers must earn to live above the poverty level for a family > of four. In 2011, this was $23,005, or $11.06 an hour. > > The economy won't support much growth in jobs with higher salaries, said > Rebecca Thiess, policy analyst at the left-leaning Economic Policy > Institute, who crunched government data to come up with these projections. > > "Far too many economic pundits take for granted that the economy of the > future will demand far greater skills and credentials," she wrote in a > recent paper. > > While all eyes are on Friday's monthly jobs report to find out how many > positions were added in July, a growing number of economists are > concerned with the quality of the jobs being created. > > Lower wage occupations grew by 3.2% over the year ending in the first > quarter of 2011, according to the National Employment Law Project. This > was fueled mainly by the expansion of retail salespeople, office clerks, > cashiers, food prep workers and store clerks, whose median hourly wages > ranged from $7.51 to $13.52. > Debt busters! > > Four of the five occupations with the highest concentration of > low-salary jobs are set to grow by 2020. These include farming, personal > care, building and grounds maintenance and health care support. All have > at least 45% of their employees earning at or below so-called poverty wages. > > Only food preparation jobs, which have the greatest share of low-wage > workers at nearly 74%, are expected to shrink a bit. > > And lousy paying jobs are getting even lousier, as their pay has fallen. > Workers at this end of the pay scale actually found their wages shrank > in recent years, according to NELP. Between early 2008 and early 2011, > low-wage workers' median pay contracted by 2.3%, more than double the > rate of mid-wage employees. > > Meanwhile, higher wage workers enjoyed a small increase in pay. > > Mid-wage jobs, which were hit especially hard during the recession, > expanded by only 1.2%. Higher-salary occupations declined by 1.2%. > > The predominance of low-wage jobs is not good for either workers or the > economy, said John Schmitt, a senior economist at the Center for > Economic and Policy Research. These jobs often lack pension benefits and > health insurance, as well as sick days and vacation time. There is also > little path for advancement. > > If workers are making low wages, they can't afford to shop and prop up > the American economy, he said. Around two-thirds of the economy is > consumer spending. > > Also, since low-wage workers are better educated now than they have been > in the past, college may increasingly seem like a questionable expense. > > "They will start asking whether college is worth it," Schmitt said. To > top of page > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
