News of the Wierd - Labor Edition

The LA Times has an article on a Buddhist monk who has started a union because of a dispute he's having with a superior in his temple. While the dispute simmers, the monk is required to spend all day every day writing out Buddhist sutras.

On a more serious note, the New York Times had this article yesterday about two-tiered contracts on wages and its effects on workers (and on slowing the export of manufacturing jobs). I guess my one-sentence summary may not sell it, but the article is a good summary of some major labor problems.

On the Pension Watch

Although I don't regularly update with the news on various organizing matters, AFL/CTW issues, etc., I do watch them pretty closely. A reader recently pointed out that another area of grave concern, and possibly even greater significance than the other "labor" topics, is the area of pension reform and the end of the defined benefit retirement plan. After watching this particular news area, I have to agree: it's pretty fruitful. Just to pluck a story or two from the recent headlines:

The Anchorage Daily News is reporting on the effects of the 1983 Windfall Elimination Provision of the Social Security Act. Yeah, I know, yawn. The fact is, state employees in 16 states, including Alaska and California, could have social security benefits (earned prior to state employment) reduced by the value of their state pension. This probably seemed fair at one time (or not, it passed in the Reagan era) but as state pension reform looms, it could be disastrous (or at least difficult) for a group of workers once considered above the fray of retirement hassles....

IBM recently reported that it is ending its defined benefit retirement plan for employees, notwithstanding solid profits and a supposed commitment to its workforce. Money magazine reports this month that 16% of large employers are going to freeze their pension plans in 2006. That's 16% of the large employers who even still HAVE defined benefit pension plans....

More on this soon...

Not sure what this says. . .

After the close of "the bell" of the stock market, Labor Ready announced a quarterly profits increase of 56 percent. I think that what this says is, there are jobs out there, but we ain't giving them to anyone who could actually support a family with the pay. The linked article notes that Labor Ready "supplies workers for retailers, hotels and small manufacturers". These are exactly the people that need to be organized and they are almost completely out of the reach of both the unions and the legal system that could protect them.