Inequality Could Keep Economy from Full Recovery
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The federal stimulus package is a good way to jump-start our economy, but it is not enough to solve the deep crisis of inequality that has been building in this country for decades. A recent article says the government needs to act quickly to start addressing the growing income gap.
In an article in The Nation online, Christine Owens and Annette Bernhardt, executive director and policy co-director, respectively, of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), say working families were struggling to survive even before the current recession. Although U.S. workers are more productive than ever, they are faced with stagnant wages, disappearing benefits and little job security. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that eight of the top 10 occupations projected to generate the most jobs by 2016 are low-wage jobs in the service sector.
USW’s Bloom Takes Senior Auto Rescue Post
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During his time as the United Steelworkers’ (USW’s) director of corporate research, Ron Bloom helped revive and restructure 50 companies in bankruptcy. Now as special assistant to USW President Leo Gerard, Bloom is taking on a new assignment as senior adviser in the Treasury Department for U.S. auto industry restructuring.
Bloom began his career negotiating union contracts for low-wage workers under AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, when he was president of SEIU. Before he joined the USW, he specialized in dealing with corporations facing financial difficulties or undertaking corporate transactions. With an MBA from Harvard and experience as a vice president at the investment banking firm of Lazard Freres & Co., and his own firm, Keilin and Bloom, he has experience in corporate finance. While at the USW, his restructuring plans were recognized for preserving thousands of manufacturing jobs and health care benefits for workers and retirees alike.
Gerard says President Obama selected the “perfect negotiator, expert and innovative thinker when he chose Ron Bloom.”
Ron is very passionate in his belief that manufacturing is essential to a healthy economy. The auto industry relationship to manufacturing is as important as Goldman Sachs or Citibank is to the financial community. Ron knows this.
