This edition of The State of Working West Virginia is the sixth of its kind. Each year since 2008 this report has examined the numbers and trends that tell the story of how the people who keep our state moving are faring. While each year’s report has a slightly different focus, one constant theme is the need to ask this simple question: what about the people who do the work? Read PDF of report
It is not hard to find stories in the media about the dire effects of West Virginia’s business or judicial climate but much rarer is consideration given to the climate for those who produce and provide the necessary goods and services that make modern life possible. Yet, as a song inspired by struggling West Virginia coal miners a century ago observes, “without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn.”
We hear much today about makers, takers and job creators, but this report examines the evidence and makes the case that the basis of a strong economy and a vibrant society is a healthy middle class. It also recommends policies intended to build the middle class. In this case, however, it may be helpful to look at the past as the state prepares to move forward.
The theme of this year’s report is Weirton Steel to Wal-Mart, signifying the vast economic transition that took place in recent decades as good jobs in manufacturing and mining gave way to lower wage, and lower- or no-benefit jobs in the service sector. The intent is neither to praise the one nor condemn the other. Rather, it is to examine the difficult road West Virginia workers have traveled and suggest ways of moving to a brighter future.
Thousands of Minnesotans have little reason to celebrate this Labor Day. Even though the state’s economy is slowly improving, many workers are struggling to climb out of the Great Recession. They are still looking for jobs, working part time, earning less than they did before the recession, or accepting jobs that don’t meet their abilities.
Minnesota’s overall economy is improving, but a closer look tells a disturbing story: many Minnesotans still lack quality jobs that would allow them to support themselves and their families.
Poverty jobs in LA’s hotels are exacerbating the problem of poverty throughout the city. Workplace standards for tens of thousands of LA’s hotel workers remain among the lowest of the city’s major employment sectors. Hotel workers are a key piece of LA’s highly successful tourism industry, but maintaining standards for workers has been largely ignored as hotel operators have focused intensely on boosting their bottom lines by increasing worker productivity.
Establishing a minimum wage for workers in LA’s large hotels will directly address the problem of growing poverty in the city of Los Angeles and will stimulate our local economy by an estimated $71 million per year in increased local consumer spending and related economic activity.
- January 1, 2013
- COWS
- Staff Report
The 2007 recession, the Great Recession, is now six years behind us. But the aftermath is still painfully evident throughout the nation. For those still struggling to find a decent job, for those who can’t secure the hours they need to make ends meet, for those who have watched their resources and meager unemployment benefits run out, the Great Recession has never really ended. On paper, and as proclaimed by the committee of experts who decide this, the recovery began nearly four years ago. But it is such an anemic and jobless affair that while market and balance sheets have
improved, too few jobs have been added. In Wisconsin, the recovery has proved even more meager. Yes, we have more jobs today than at the pit of the recession. Still, we remain behind the number of jobs we had in 2007 before the recession began. To put this in perspective, none of the recessions that current workers have lived through – not the 2001 recession, nor the softer 1991
recession, nor the brutal double dip recession of the early 1980s – produced so little job growth this far into recovery. We are still waiting for enough economic dynamism and growth to get back just to where we started.