People are working harder for less, public services are decimated. Meanwhile, productivity is up, Labor costs are down and profits are growing.
What do you think freedom is.
That's why capitalist economists are feeling upbeat about the economy these days with some of them claiming that the recession is over. For capitalist economists mind you, their yardstick for determining this is two consecutive quarters of positive growth; growth is where it's at, not much else matters
But workers in every industry are feeling the pressure as employers eliminate positions and reduce hours worked, intensifying their exploitation of the workforce. The massive reduction in Labor costs is producing a bonanza for the owners of capital. “In fact, for the past six quarters companies have cut employees overall hours worked by far more than they have pared output.” Writes Business Week. *
This has led to a healthy annual growth in productivity of 2.8%. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out that if employers are producing the same amount of widgets with fewer workers without the introduction of more efficient plant and equipment, they are extracting more value from those workers for the same amount (or less) pay. Unit Labor costs have “plunged for the third quarter in a row”, according to Business Week, pointing out that it is the largest three quarter decline since 1947. The price of labor power is an important factor in profit levels. Any increase in demand in such favorable conditions is even better. So this is a very happy time for the boss.
These favorable conditions may only be temporary though as unemployment continues to climb, youth unemployment is as high as 25 or 30% and is 50% among African Americans in some areas. This will cut in to demand. Workers are still paying off massive amounts of accumulated debt rather than spending, if they have anything to spend at all. The severity of the crash has brought with it a cautious mood.
So what’s good news for the boss is added stress and misery for us; that’s how the system works. Although underpaid, overworked, and forced to deal with all the ills of society that are brought in to the classroom, teaching has been relatively secure during recessions, unlike manufacturing for example; but not so this time. The Labor Dept. reported a record decline in education jobs last month says BW. Job cuts in private employment for elementary, secondary and technical schools, as well as higher education totaled 121,000 in September; this is the highest drop since record keeping began in 1950. Los Angeles Unified School District lost 2100 teachers, counselors and other staff this school year and class sizes increased to 24 from 21, which as in any other industry means increased payloads and inevitably a more inferior product (which they’ll blame teachers for) which in this case is the education of worker’s children, especially poor workers, the low waged and children of color.
California's public schools and colleges have been cut by nearly $18 billion. According to the California Teachers Association, an affiliate of the three million-member NEA. Many California teachers are near retirement as Democrats and Republicans are using the excuse of the financial crisis to privatize public education, savage teacher’s salaries and lay them off. Public services are being decimated.
Although reduced to a small fraction of the workforce, organized workers still have the potential to bring the US economy to a halt. The CTA alone has almost 300,000 members; some two million California workers are organized in to Unions. The public sector is more heavily unionized than the private and the employers are intent on smashing the public sector Unions.
Unfortunately, the top Union leadership accept the employer’s phony argument that the money is not there and that sacrifices have to made and rather than mobilize the potential power of their members, appeal instead to this or that Democratic Party politician to soften the blow and throw a few extra crumbs form the table. The leadership of organized Labor at the highest levels is an obstacle to a fight back.
This is the future if we leave things as they are. We are faced, like it or not, with the task of not only driving this offensive of capital back but of transforming the way society functions- the means of production needs new owners and managers. Whether it be the forces that manufacture durable goods from cars to fridges or those that are involved in the production of ideas; we have to free them from the clutches of the private clique that control them at the present.
* Why The Earnings Forecast is Upbeat: BW 10-19-09
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