Congratulations, Graduates! Welcome to the Bush Economy

At the little university where I teach part-time, there is the springtime hubbub of graduation, with parties, teas, yard sales by departing students, beaming parents filling up the local hotels, a feeling of liberation and accomplishment and adventure. It's always a mixed emotional bag for me because I love teaching, and yet by the end of the semester I'm ready for a break too, although it means saying goodbye to a lot of students I've come to know, respect, and like. And, like many Americans, I have this second job of teaching to supplement my income a little as a hedge against what has been a down-spiraling economy for most people since the Bushits seized power.

Of course, there are indicators that things were looking up, despite the stagnation in the stock market, a lower savings rate than ever, an eroded dollar that may be the new model for Monopoly money, and the fact that there are actually fewer jobs in the U.S. now than when Bush was sworn in. But things were looking up, right? Our president said so, his economic spokespeople said so, and all the screaming financial heads on cable news said so. And yet in today's Financial Times, we learn this:

Real wages in the US are falling at their fastest rate in 14 years, according to data surveyed by the Financial Times. . .
Even after last month's bumper gain in employment, there are 22,000 fewer private sector jobs than when the recession began in March 2001, a 0.02 per cent fall. At the same point in the recovery from the recession of the early 1990s, private sector employment was up 4.7 per cent.

Since 2001 we have a net loss in jobs, and those jobs that are being created are 90 percent low-wage, entry-level types. So not only is this economy not improving, if one compares it to the Clinton-era recovery, any declaration of strength in the economy for the average workingAmerican is an outright lie. Surprise, surprise, as Gomer Pyle used to say.

So how are people compensating? That good old American institution--overtime.

Even with a slight rise in the hours employees are working, from 33.7 to 33.9, this suggests wages are struggling to keep pace with inflation. The gauge covers non-supervisory workers, about 80 per cent of the workforce.

Now, I don't want to sound all 1960s or anything, but what got me in this story was that non-supervisory workers constitute 80 percent of the work force. Can you imagine the untapped power that lies within that figure? Suddenly I feel like screaming, "STRIKE!!!" from the rooftops.

The working people of America, and of the world, really do hold their destiny in their hands. All that is required is organization. One well-timed national strike could send a level 10 Richter-scale shock through the executive suites in this country. Consider this: If all the executive vice presidents, CEOs, CFOs, CTOs and upper management types went on strike for a week, do you think you'd notice? Now imagine if every fry cook, hotel housekeeper, dry cleaner worker, construction worker, plumber's helper, copy editor, pressman, auto mechanic, factory hand, software engineer, trash collector, and so on stopped their labors for a week.

Who has the real power?

I think it's time to turn the tables. Save your pennies, clip some coupons to save on the grocery bill, search for bargains to build up a little extra dough. Let's get started. Labor movements can be fun!

Strike!