Even billions in profit don't stop giant US employers from demanding workers give up pay or benefits. We are familiar with the wage slaves in the retail industry, restaurant, agriculture and food distribution. But, industries that traditionally paid workers respectable wages, thanks to labor unions, are now trying to destroy these unions. Councilman Jim Bond made his wealth in the telecommunications field working his way up the ladder. No doubt he was a part of unions on that ascent.
Fast forward to the present. Millions of jobs have been taken from the workers of the US for corporations to pay less abroad. And, those that remain are under constant duress to remove securities, benefits and advancement. Our community is filled with households struggling with these very issues in their own workplaces. At minimum, our city council should be cognizant of how many are struggling, where they live and how our community government can assist. This is happening in city councils all over the country, with this Encinitas city council majority? Not so much . . .
It's a culture more about pillage the village than support the people. Our Council majority believe in trickle down economics despite the evidence of its failure. Even for the "I've got mine, the hell with you" crowd must realize that neighborhoods filled with foreclosed, neglected or abandoned properties, closing businesses, high unemployment, increased drug / booze or other self-medicating behaviors are all antithetical to a thriving community. Punishing, fining or stigmatizing victims of a recession that the people aren't responsible for isn't just reprehensible, it's bad business.
Here's a challenge to all the candidates - even before sitting council members or their friends have declared - Is your first responsibility to the people of this community or to tax revenues they represent?
Think Progress Update on Verizon 6/4/12:
America’s largest wireless service provider plans to cut 1,700 jobs by offering its technicians and call center employees buyouts. Verizon Communications announced last week that it would reduce its nationwide workforce by 1 percent, and if enough workers don’t accept the buyouts, it will resort to involuntary layoffs.
Verizon paid chief executive Lowell C. McAdam more than $22.5 million in 2011, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis of executive compensation. The company has paid its top five executives more than $350 million in the last five years, according to the Communications Workers of America, the union that deals most directly with Verizon.
