Sunday, September 03, 2017

Trump is Anti-Worker

 Trump announced he was slashing the scheduled pay raises for federal workers.

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) said the small increase is simply not enough; the workers deserve the same 2.1 percent increase military members are set to receive.

"Federal working people make 6.5 percent less today than they did in 2010, and that is unjust. They need and deserve more. And while the 1.9 percent increase does not make up for years of earning less, it will certainly help employees put food on the table, pay their bills, reduce their debts, and cover everyday costs facing working-class America," said J. David Cox Sr., national president of the union.

Trump has done nothing for American workers. In fact, his attempt to undermine the Affordable Care Act, his retreat from Labor Department regulations boosting overtime pay, and his proposed tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations will make most workers worse off.

By the time Trump was elected, the typical American household had a net worth 14 percent lower than the typical household in 1984. The richest 1 percent of Americans controlled more wealth than the bottom 90 percent.

Last year's annual Wall Street bonus pool alone was larger than the annual year-round earnings of all 3.3 million Americans working full time at or below the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour.


 90 percent of U.S. adults born in the early 1940s were earning more than their parents by the time they reached their prime earning years, only half of adults born in the mid-1980s are earning more than their parents in their prime earning years. Most also have less economic security than their parents.

Nearly one out of every five American workers is in a part-time job. Two-thirds are living paycheck to paycheck. Most are working more hours than they worked decades ago and taking fewer sick days or vacations. 

The gap in life expectancy between the nation's most affluent and everyone else is also widening. Increasing numbers of Americans on the downward economic escalator are succumbing to opioids, chronic liver cirrhosis, and poisonings that include drug overdoses.

The pay of top executives at big companies has soared from an average of 20 times that of the typical worker 40 years ago to almost 300 times now.

The moneyed interests have altered the system for their own benefit — demolishing trade unions, turning full-time employees into contract workers, and monopolizing industry.

In 1964, more than 60 percent of Americans thought government was "run for the benefit of all the people," while just 29 percent said government was "pretty much run by a few big interests looking out for themselves."

Nowadays, the numbers are almost reversed, with 76 percent believing government is run "by a few big interests" and just 19 percent saying government is run "for the benefit of all."


In the early 1960s, most Americans said they had a "great deal of confidence" in the nation's major companies, banks and financial institutions. Now, just one in 10 has a great deal of confidence in them.

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