Smlr_net June 2012

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Harold Meyerson on What Happens if America Loses Its Unions
by SMLR Library 13 Jun '12

13 Jun '12

*SMLR-Net, the source of selected news on labor and employment relations and human resource management.* * * Harold Meyerson writes in The Washington Post, June 12, "What Happens if America Loses Its Unions": http://wapo.st/KVVpuh An excerpt: When unions are powerful, they boost the incomes of not only their members but also of nonunion workers in their sector or region. Princeton economist Henry Farber has shown that the wages of a nonunion worker in an industry that is 25 percent unionized are 7.5 percent higher<http://www.lbjjournal.com/system/files/2005_Spring_06_The_Problem_of_the_De…> because of that unionization. Today, however, few industries have so high a rate of unionization, and a consequence is that unions can no longer win the kinds of wages and benefits they used to. Deunionization is just one reason Americans’ incomes have declined, of course; globalization has taken its toll as well. But the declining share of pretax income going to wages is chiefly the result of the weakening of unions, which is the main reason American managers now routinely seek to thwart their workers’ attempts to unionize through legally questionable but economically rewarding tactics (rewarding, that is, for the managers). -- James Carey Library, School of Management and Labor Relations Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey 50 Labor Center Way, New Brunswick NJ 08901 732-932-9513 smlrlibrary(a)work.rutgers.edu http://smlr.rutgers.edu/carey-library

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ManpowerGroup Annual Survey Reveals U.S. Talent Shortages Persist in Skilled Trades, Engineers and IT Staff
by SMLR Library 13 Jun '12

13 Jun '12

[image: Inline image 1] *SMLR-Net, the source of news on labor and employment relations and human resource management.* * * * * http://press.manpower.com/press/2012/talent-shortage/ ManpowerGroup Annual Survey Reveals U.S. Talent Shortages Persist in Skilled Trades, Engineers and IT Staff *Nearly Half of U.S. Employers Struggling to Fill Mission-Critical Positions * MILWAUKEE (May 29, 2012) – ManpowerGroup today released the results of its seventh-annual Talent Shortage Survey, revealing 49 percent of U.S. employers are experiencing difficulty filling mission-critical positions within their organizations. Although slightly lower than the 52 percent of employers struggling in 2011, a significant percentage of total U.S. employers continue to face hiring challenges despite continued high unemployment. U.S. employers are struggling to find available talent more than their global counterparts, where 34 percent of employers worldwide are having difficulty filling positions. According to the more than 1,300 U.S. employers surveyed, the positions that are most difficult to fill include Skilled Trades, Engineers and IT Staff, all of which have appeared on the U.S. list multiple times since the survey began in 2006. The survey also highlights the most common reasons employers say they are having trouble filling jobs, including lack of available applicants, applicants looking for more pay and lack of experience. “Based on the many conversations we have with employers every day, ManpowerGroup recognizes the ongoing challenge business leaders face when looking for the right talent,” said Jonas Prising, ManpowerGroup president of the Americas. “This skills mismatch has major ramifications on employment and business success in the U.S and around the globe. Wise corporate leaders are doing something about it, and we increasingly see that they’re developing workforce strategies and partnerships with local educational institutions to train their next generation of workers.” In the United States, the top 10 hardest jobs to fill in 2012 include: 1. Skilled Trades 2. Engineers 3. IT Staff 4. Sales Representatives 5. Accounting & Finance Staff 6. Drivers 7. Mechanics 8. Nurses 9. Machinists/Machine Operators 10. Teachers For full press release, go to http://press.manpower.com/press/2012/talent-shortage/ For pdf of the Manpower Talent Shortage Survey, go to : http://www.manpowergroup.us/campaigns/talent-shortage-2012/pdf/2012_Talent_… -- James Carey Library, School of Management and Labor Relations Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey 50 Labor Center Way, New Brunswick NJ 08901 732-932-9513 smlrlibrary(a)work.rutgers.edu http://smlr.rutgers.edu/carey-library

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FRB Survey Shows Middle Class Took a Big Hit
by Donna Schulman 13 Jun '12

13 Jun '12

[image: Inline image 1] * >From the Center for Economic and Policy Research (*http://bit.ly/KUHTac)*:* *Fed Survey Shows Middle Class Took a Big Hit* Dean Baker CNN, June 13, 2012 The Federal Reserve Board’s newly released triennial Survey of Consumer Finance (SCF) confirmed what most of us already knew: The middle class has taken a really big hit. It showed that between the 2007 survey and the 2010 survey, the typical family had lost 38.8 percent of their wealth. In fact, the wealth of the typical family was down 27.1 percent from where it had been a decade ago in 2001. This is in spite of the fact that the economy was more than 15 percent larger than in 2010 than it had been 2001. It wasn’t just wealth that had dropped; the survey showed that income had fallen as well. Median family income in 2010 was down by 7.7 percent from its 2007 level and 6.3 percent from its level a decade ago. There is not much surprising about these numbers. The SCF is picking up the impact of the collapse of the housing bubble. For the vast majority of middle-class families, their home is by far their largest financial asset. For decades they were encouraged to believe that it was a safest way to save for the retirement or other purposes. This clearly was not true when house prices became inflated by a bubble. In the years when the bubble reached levels that were clearly unsustainable, from 2002-2007, housing was just about the worst possible place to keep wealth. Unfortunately, tens of millions of Americans listened to experts like then Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, who assured the country that there was no housing bubble. According to press accounts, Mr. Greenspan has a very nice pension and a job that pays more than $1 million a year. For the rest of this article, see http://bit.ly/KUHTac Donna L. Schulman Director, Carey Library dlschulman(a)work.rutgers.edu 732-932-9608 (office) 732-932-8677 (fax) Labor Education Center, 50 Labor Center Way New Brunswick, NJ 08901

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Bill Moyers/PBS: Best Writing on the Future of Labor Unions
by Eugene McElroy 11 Jun '12

11 Jun '12

from the Bill Moyers program website: "In the wake of Wisconsin there have been a slew of articles and opinion pieces written about what’s next for labor in America, particularly public service unions. Here are some of the best that we read this week. Read them in order to get a sense of the back and forth in the analysis." click here for the initial article, which contains the hotlinks to 8 articles on the Wisconsin recall election: * http://billmoyers.com/2012/06/11/best-writing-on-the-future-of-labor-unions/ * -- Eugene McElroy Library Associate School of Management and Labor Relations SMLR Library Rutgers University 50 Labor Center Way New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (732) 932-9513

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CPER: Unions are Good for Your Health
by Eugene McElroy 11 Jun '12

11 Jun '12

*from the Center for Policy and Economic Research:* "We already knew that unions increase wages, especially for less-educated workers. They also strongly increase the probability that a worker will have benefits like health care insurance, a pension, or paid sick days and family leave. It turns out that unions are also good for your health. A new study<http://www.soc.duke.edu/%7Ebrady/web/sf12.pdf>by Megan Reynolds and David Brady at Duke University finds that being a union member has a large positive effect on self-rated health status. This effect is largest for less-educated workers." C*Click here for a link to a summary of the study, which includes a link to the 27 page study itself: * http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/cepr-blog/unions-are-good-for-your-heal… -- Eugene McElroy Library Associate School of Management and Labor Relations SMLR Library Rutgers University 50 Labor Center Way New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (732) 932-9513

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NYTimes.com: For Labor, a Fight to Lead Heats Up
by mcelroy＠work.rutgers.edu 11 Jun '12

11 Jun '12

This page was sent to you by: mcelroy(a)work.rutgers.edu. For Labor, a Fight to Lead Heats Up http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/09/business/fight-heats-up-to-lead-one-of-na… ---------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THIS E-MAIL This e-mail was sent to you by a friend through NYTimes.com's E-mail This Article service. For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help(a)nytimes.com. NYTimes.com 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company

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New Study Shows That Workplace Inspections Save Lives, Don't Destroy Jobs OSHA regulations can be good for workers' health
by Eugene McElroy 08 Jun '12

08 Jun '12

New Study Shows That Workplace Inspections Save Lives, Don't Destroy Jobs OSHA regulations can be good for workers' health “Research published today in *Science* sheds light on a hot-button political issue: the role and effectiveness of government regulation. Does it kill jobs or protect the public? The results overturn conventional wisdom: Workplace inspections do reduce on-the-job injuries and their associated costs, and the researchers could not detect any harm to companies' performance or profits.” Click here for a detailed press release/summary announcing the study * * *http://www.hbs.edu/news/releases/toffelscience051712.html* * * ** * **************************************************************************** * * * *(the study itself) * *Randomized Government Safety Inspections Reduce Worker Injuries with No Detectable Job Loss* * * “Controversy surrounds occupational health and safety regulators, with some observers claiming that workplace regulations damage firms’ competitiveness and destroy jobs and others arguing that they make workplaces safer at little cost to employers and employees. We analyzed a natural field experiment to examine how workplace safety inspections affected injury rates and other outcomes. We compared 409 randomly inspected establishments in California with 409 matched-control establishments that were eligible, but not chosen, for inspection. Compared with controls, randomly inspected employers experienced a 9.4% decline in injury rates (95% confidence interval = –0.177 to –0.021) and a 26% reduction in injury cost (95% confidence interval = –0.513 to –0.083). We find no evidence that these improvements came at the expense of employment, sales, credit ratings, or firm survival.” Click here for the abstract plus the link to the full text of the study: * * *http://www.sciencemag.org/content/336/6083/907* -- Eugene McElroy Library Associate School of Management and Labor Relations SMLR Library Rutgers University 50 Labor Center Way New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (732) 932-9513

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NYTimes.com: Donations to Key Cuomo Ally Show a Rift Among Unions
by mcelroy＠work.rutgers.edu 08 Jun '12

08 Jun '12

This page was sent to you by: mcelroy(a)work.rutgers.edu. Donations to Key Cuomo Ally Show a Rift Among Unions http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/nyregion/union-donations-to-business-grou… ---------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THIS E-MAIL This e-mail was sent to you by a friend through NYTimes.com's E-mail This Article service. For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help(a)nytimes.com. NYTimes.com 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company

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NYTimes.com: City Room: At Another Job Fair, Hope This Will Be the One
by mcelroy＠work.rutgers.edu 08 Jun '12

08 Jun '12

This page was sent to you by: mcelroy(a)work.rutgers.edu. N.Y. / REGION | June 07, 2012 City Room: At Another Job Fair, Hope This Will Be the One By RHEA CHEDID Applicants at a job fair in Brooklyn had different backgrounds, but they repeatedly spoke of the difficulty in finding work. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/07/at-another-job-fair-hope-this-… ---------------------------------------------------------- ABOUT THIS E-MAIL This e-mail was sent to you by a friend through NYTimes.com's E-mail This Article service. For general information about NYTimes.com, write to help(a)nytimes.com. NYTimes.com 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018 Copyright 2012 The New York Times Company

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NPR: What Wisconsin's Recall Means For Labor Unions
by Eugene McElroy 07 Jun '12

07 Jun '12

from National Public Radio: "The Wisconsin recall election might have failed, but it succeeded in sending an ominous message to pro-labor forces across the nation — especially in the Midwest, where a handful of legislatures are pushing to roll back collective bargaining and other union rights. "It's a bellwether for sure," says labor studies professor Marquita Walker of Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, who joined the ranks of those who fought against an Indiana right-to-work law supported by Gov. Mitch Daniels. Indiana is among nearly two dozen states that have passed similar laws." link to article: * http://www.npr.org/2012/06/06/154448777/what-wisconsins-recall-means-for-la… * click here for full broadcast (3:45 minutes): * http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=… * -- Eugene McElroy Library Associate School of Management and Labor Relations SMLR Library Rutgers University 50 Labor Center Way New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (732) 932-9513

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Smlr_net June 2012