Middle Class Bailout: Celebrating Harry Hopkins' 120th Birthday with 4 Million Jobs by August 17th

The middle class needs a bailout for the same reason the banks needed a bailout--long-term systemic risk. If the (much smaller) government during the Great Depression could hire 4 million people in 4 months, why can we not do that today, now, immediately during the Great Recession?

Rescue Package for Jobless Americans

There are rumblings in Washington of legislation to jumpstart the U.S. economy through a targeted jobs creation bill focused on expanding public service employment.

 

Reid, Baucus unveil new $150B jobs bill

Even as a short-term package of aid to the unemployed remains stalled in the Senate, Democratic leaders unveiled the latest piece of their jobs agenda Monday -- $150 billion worth of extensions to expiring federal programs and tax breaks.

TSOs Deserve a Voice at Work - NOW!

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) and the AFL-CIO areholding a rally on Tuesday, February 23, 2010 in support of collectivebargaining rights for 40,000 Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) who workin the nations airports.

Court to Pratt: ‘Stay Where You Are’

February 5, 2010 Kensington, CT – Connecticut’s US District Court tonight issued an injunction against Pratt & Whitney, prohibiting them from moving work and equipment out of their Cheshire and East Hartford CARO operations. The decision by Judge Janet Hall sustains a lawsuit brought by the International Association of Machinists (IAM) District 26 on behalf of its members working in those locations.

Employment Data Doesn’t Add Up

February 05, 2010 - In a telling example of how the government’s official employment numbers don’t paint a reliable picture of the nation’s economy, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today announced the unemployment rate fell from 10.0 percent to 9.7 percent. Meanwhile, the same department reports that 20,000 more jobs were lost in January.

How Not to Join a Union

Unions Are Good for Workers and the Economy in Every State

nions paved the way to the middle class for millions of workers and pioneered benefits along the way, including paid health care and pensions. Even today, union workers earn significantly more on average than their non-union counterparts...

Faces of The Unemployed

Live wall depicting the Faces of the Unemployed, AFL-CIO Convention – Pittsburg, PA 2009

Welcome Letter from Tom Buffenbarger

IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger welcomes Jobs Activist to UCubed.

The 'Real Unemployment' Needs Real Solutions

"Everyone agrees that the recession is over," said Larry Summers, President Obama's top economic advisor, on December 13.

Yet December's unemployment numbers announced last Friday suggest otherwise -- especially the 'real unemployment' figure....

Cadillac Flip Flop: Obama Was Against Health Plan Tax Before He Was For It

In a video that rings so true it hurts, Lee Stranahan–a former Obama supporter–gives us the aspiring president’s own speech.

Janesville, Wisconsin :: Granta Magazine

Kevin Corkhill readily admits that he has no idea what to do with the rest of his life. At age fifty he feels disconcertingly adrift, not knowing whether to attempt another career, move to another state, or return to college.

UCubed :: R. Thomas Buffenbarger

Poll Reveals Trauma of Joblessness in U.S.

More than half of the nation’s unemployed workers have borrowed money from friends or relatives since losing their jobs. An equal number have cut back on doctor visits or medical treatments because they are out of work.

A proposal for Obama's jobless summit

At today's White House forum on job creation, President Obama will hear ideas from businessmen, labor leaders and economists on how to reverse America's record high unemployment. Pedestrian proposals are inevitable, but truly innovative ideas that can be implemented immediately are what American really needs.

The Jobs Imperative

If you’re looking for a job right now, your prospects are terrible. There are six times as many Americans seeking work as there are job openings, and the average duration of unemployment — the time the average job-seeker has spent looking for work — is more than six months, the highest level since the 1930s.

Food Stamp Use Soars, and Stigma Fades

With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight Americans and one in four children.

Holidays Pose Challenges For The Unemployed

The only bells jingling for many families this season may be the calls from collection agencies.

For the 15.7 million workers unemployed, and perhaps especially for the 5.6 million of those people out of work for six months or more, the holidays present a host of challenges. There's the issue of money for gifts and all the other elements of the season. There's the temptation to slack off on job hunting until the new year, fueled by the false belief that "no one hires during the holidays." And there's the pressure to celebrate when it may seem there's little to be happy about.

Obama Has Lost His Way On Jobs

The past week brought news of US double-digit unemployment and the Federal Reserve’s decision to maintain near-zero interest rates. Both pieces of news expose the inadequacy of US economic policymaking. The Obama administration’s stimulus policies are not well-targeted. The Republican alternatives are even worse. Both sides are missing the key fact: the US economy needs structural change that requires a new set of economic tools.

Senator Reid Tees Up 2010 Jobs Bill

Senate Democrats will take up a new job-creation bill in the wake of the 10.2 percent unemployment rate, Majority Leader Harry Reid told his colleagues Tuesday.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told The Hill that Reid (D-Nev.) made the announcement about a new jobs bill at the Senate Democrats’ weekly lunch.

A Word, Mr. President

If I were a close adviser of President Obama’s, I would say to him, “Mr. President, you have two urgent and overwhelming tasks in front of you: to put Americans trapped in this terrible employment crisis back to work and to put the brakes on your potentially disastrous plan to escalate the war in Afghanistan.”

It’s ‘Midnight in America’ says IAM President

Washington, D.C., November 6, 2009 – On the heels of news that U.S. unemployment had climbed to the highest rate since April 1983, the president of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) today likened the crisis to ‘Midnight in America.’

Jobless in America: Is Double-Digit Unemployment Here to Stay?

BY JOSHUA COOPER RAMO

TIME.com

The American economy is shedding jobs.  Can we fix it?

The Decline: The Geography of a Recession

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are more than 31 million people currently unemployed -- that's including those involuntarily working part-time and those who want a job, but have given up on trying to find one.