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Thom's blog
Let's save the middle class!
oday, many Americans consider themselves "middle class." However, compared to the standards of the 1960s, the so-called middle class is dead, and the war on unions is directly responsible. In 1965, Americans willing to take dangerous, difficult work - like a midnight shift shoveling waste at a steel mill - could earn about $2.30 an hour. That may not sound like a lot, but it's the equivalent of over $17 dollars an hour today. These jobs were often filled by unskilled workers with high school diplomas or less, but they still paid well enough to cover the cost of an apartment and car.
Today, those same unskilled workers are often forced to work for corporate giants for minimum wage - $7.25 an hour - less than half of what they would have been paid in the 1960s. Automation and outsourcing did eliminate many of the manufacturing jobs that previously paid decent wages. However, it's the fact that workers have been unable to unionize that's really kept wages low in the service jobs that replaced manufacturing.
In the 1950's, more than 35 percent of private-sector jobs were unionized. Today, less than 6 percent of private-sector workers belong to a union, and that number continues to decline. Those labor groups fought for higher wages, workers' rights, and employment regulations - including many of the protections that workers now take for granted. Today, the average employee has virtually no power against their employers, and the corporate masters are fighting hard to keep workers from standing together.
This is why today's labor battles are so important. The "Fight for 15" isn't only about higher wages - it's about bringing back the middle class. For a real chance to make the American Dream a possibility for all, we must fight for our labor unions, so that they can fight for us.
-Thom
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Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 9pm... Farm-share communities (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT, and catch past shows on Youtube)
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Thursday's Daily Stack 
Hour One: Who decides to pull the plug...government or family?
The Big Picture- Nate Sweet, The Big Picture producer
Hour Two: Should Edward Snowden get clemency?- Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire Radio Quote "I set out on this ground, which I suppose to be self evident, that the earth belongs in usufruct to the living" Letter to James Madison by Thomas Jefferson, September 6, 1789.
Hour Three: Time to close the red state donut hole... |
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Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
Hour One: Brunch With Bernie - Senator Bernie Sanders takes your calls
Hour Two: Thom talks with Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) about unemployment insurance and raising the federal minimum wage...
Hour Three: Anything Goes Friday
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Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 3-6pm ET
All the news and information you won't get from the corporate owned news media...
Plus, would conservatives go for a tax increase that could save 200 million lives? We'll find out!/DIV>
And, we'll be taking YOUR calls too...right here on...The Thom Hartmann Program...
And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...
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Thom's Poll
Should Edward Snowden be protected as a whistle-blower?
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Watch & Listen to Thom
Full Show 1/2/14: Radioactive Steam Rising at Fukushima Nuke Plant
Thom talks the possibility of the U.S. government granting Edward Snowden clemency with Radio Host and Attorney Mike Papantonio, talks minimum wage and wealth inequality with the Campaign for America's Future Richard Eshow and the latest Fukushima news with Beyond Nuclear's Kevin Kamps. Thom takes viewer video questions and phone calls in "Your Take, My Take Live" and in tonight's "Daily Take" Thom discusses the Republicans love of donut holes.
The Thom Hartmann Program - January 2, 2013
Should Edward Snowden get clemency?
Caller: The Ghost of Reagan will Save Obamacare
titlTime to Close the Red State Donut Holee
Who Decides to Pull the Plug...Government or Family? |
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