| Employment finally seemed back on track during the | | | | supervisory staff. |
| first few months of 2004. Politicians crowed that "Our | | | | The American worker, surveys clearly show, is |
| tax cuts are working." Then, without warning, job | | | | becoming overwhelmed, over-tired, and fed up. |
| growth slowed to a crawl, resulting in a deficit of more | | | | Access rates for outpatient mental health services rise |
| than 2 million jobs from that confidently predicted only | | | | steadily each year. Family disruptions include increased |
| a year ago. To counteract that dismal performance, | | | | estrangement, divorce, emotional child neglect, and |
| public emphasis turned to another indicator, productivity. | | | | domestic violence. Health problems multiply, fueled by |
| The reported increases in American productivity are | | | | fatigue, stress, and a lack of time for self-care. In the |
| quite genuine. Individual worker output collectively rose, | | | | vaunted new technical world, where leisure time was |
| from 2000 to 2003, by a full 12 percent. Definitely a | | | | to be expanded to historic proportions, we are working |
| bonus for Wall Street - but what about Main Street? | | | | longer, harder, and more diligently than ever. |
| As the meticulous research of the Economic Policy | | | | Where can we look for answers? |
| Institute shows (Snapshot, 09/08/04), real family | | | | We can look at ourselves, identify our priorities, and |
| income fell, over the same period, by 3 percent. | | | | learn to spend our time on what is important to us and |
| Contrast this with the economic period of 1947 - 1973 | | | | let the rest go. More critically, we can speak up to |
| when productivity and real family income moved in | | | | make sure that social legislation and the tax code |
| tandem, both doubling over those years. | | | | create similar priorities: to reward those companies |
| What does this suggest? | | | | who staff adequately and flexibly and provide benefits |
| Americans are working harder and longer for less | | | | and resources to their employees. At the same time, |
| family income. As companies downsize or fail to | | | | we need to negatively impact companies who pursue |
| replace workers who leave or retire, fewer staff are | | | | such activities as job outsourcing, retiering of job titles |
| left to handle the workload. In fear of losing their own | | | | to avoid overtime costs, dependence on temporary |
| jobs, they respond by accepting new duties and new | | | | (usually none-benefited) labor, and the quiet |
| responsibilities and the added work time that | | | | acceptance of third world manufacturing of their |
| accompanies them. In a world where employees are | | | | products under sordid conditions, the use of child labor, |
| tethered to their workplaces virtually around the clock, | | | | and payment of slave wages. |
| by laptops, cell phones, and blackberries, the traditional | | | | CEO salaries are running more than 130 times the |
| balance of home and work has crumbled. | | | | median worker salary. Viewing the ethical and |
| There is a tendency to believe that such pressures | | | | procedural problems of major corporate figures, now |
| are only operative for the ambitious, career-obsessed, | | | | mired in the legal system, Americans must start to ask |
| "Apprentice"-like, ladder climbers. In fact, the | | | | whether equality and opportunity for all is still a viable |
| sixty-hour-plus workweek affects a substantial portion | | | | creed. |
| of all salaried workers, even down to front line | | | | |