Tuesday, April 29, 2003
One nation (crushed) under Corporations
Wal-Mart has responded to the union drive by trying to stop workers from organizing -- sometimes in violation of federal labor law. In 10 separate cases, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Wal-Mart repeatedly broke the law by interrogating workers, confiscating union literature, and firing union supporters. (Mother Jones)
The FBI estimates that, 19,000 Americans are murdered every year.
Compare this to the 56,000 Americans who die every year on the job or from occupational diseases such as black lung and asbestosis and the tens of thousands of other Americans who fall victim to the silent violence of pollution, contaminated foods, hazardous consumer products, and hospital malpractice. - From the Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the 1990's via Corporate Predators.
Temp workers earn less than regular workers. Women agency temps are paid 10.7% less compared to full-time workers and men agency temps are paid 9.6% less.
Industry sources report that 2.18 million workers were employed as temps on an average day in 2001 down 14% from the previous year due to recession. Over the course of the year 9.6 million people worked as a temp. - From Fairjobs.org
Employers initiated 3,597 mass layoff actions in January-February 2003, as measured by new filings for unemployment insurance benefits during the 2 months, according to the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics. Each action involved at least 50 persons from a single establishment, and the number of workers involved totaled 340,474.
During 2002, 20,269 layoff events occurred in the nation, resulting in 2,244,631 initial claims filings for unemployment insurance. In 2001, there were 21,467 events and 2,514,862 initial claimants. - From Bureau of Labor Statistics.
CEOs had an average base salary of $490,000 with a grant value of stock options equal to six times their salary. However, CEOs at companies with more than $1 billion in revenues received salaries that were more than three times higher than the salaries of CEOs at companies with less than $100 million in revenue. - From Workforce.com
The federal government has settled with scores of firms nationwide that were accused of conducting illegal trade with nations such as Iran, Iraq and Sudan. The companies involved range from Bay Area heavyweights like ChevronTexaco and Wells Fargo to national retailers such as Wal-Mart and Amazon.com. (San Francisco Gate)
Why?
Why do we buy their products?
Why do we allow ourselves to be their slaves?
Why do we elect their pawns?
Because we have no choice?
This is the American Dream?
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