Friday, Jan. 11, 2013 | 2:01 a.m.
View more of the Sun's opinion section
Another view?
View more of the Las Vegas Sun's opinion section:
• Editorials - the Sun's viewpoint.
• Columnists - local and syndicated writers.
• Letters to the editor - readers' views.
Have your own opinion? Write a letter to the editor.
We all know what “right-to-work state” means. It means on average, workers earn 10 percent less and unemployment is 10 percent lower.
Indiana passed such a law, and the Michigan governor has been using that law as a model. If the model is designed for employees to work for less if they want a job, then there is nothing on the horizon for the American worker. Indiana, by the way, has no empirical evidence to support the success of the new law, but that won’t stop the Michigan governor from using the line. Remember the Romney campaign adviser saying they were not going to let fact checkers get in the way of their message?
Paying workers less, together with huge CEO compensation and annual bonuses, is the goal of corporations. The decline of the middle class coincides with the decline of the unions over the past 30 years. That’s not a coincidence.
Profits are up and the workers’ salaries have been stagnant for over 30 years. Today, CEOs are paid 350 times the average worker and the income of the wealthy is up 300 percent over 30 years. Does anyone see a problem with this picture? What will it be like 30 years from now?
If corporations pay as little as possible to employees while CEOs loot profits, there will be no middle class. We’ll be left with the ever-growing gap between the wealthy and what used to be the middle class. Who or what is going to save the 98 percent of us?
Join the Discussion:
Check this out for a full explanation of our conversion to the LiveFyre commenting system and instructions on how to sign up for an account.
Full comments policy