A new year is here.  Usually this means new resolutions, new hopes, and new goals are being set. Some things, however, are hard to shake off.  Take for example the great recession and jobs crisis.  Today the official numbers came out, and they’re a sad reminder that 2010 is going to be a bumpy ride.

From the AP:

Lack of confidence…led employers to shed a more-than-expected 85,000 jobs in December… The unemployment rate held at 10 percent. The rate would have been higher if more people had been looking for work instead of leaving the labor force because they can’t find jobs.

The sharp drop in the work force – 661,000 fewer people – showed that more of the jobless are giving up on their search for work. Once people stop looking for jobs, they are no longer counted among the unemployed.

For reasons unknown to me, media outlets are writing about something relevant and covering one of the biggest issues affecting the nation – the lack of jobs.  Not only are they covering jobs, they’re writing

Continue reading New Year, Same Problem. Young Workers Can Overcome the Recession and Jobs Crisis

Cross-posted from politicalaffairs.net.

‘Twas the night before the unemployment reports, and all through the clearing, Young workers slept haunted by jobs disappearing; Having gone into debt for training and education, Only to discover no jobs available in their vocations; Barely scraping by to cover bills and the rent, Of all unemployed, young workers are 48 percent ; God forbid they are allowed to build a savings, Work only one job, buy a house or a haven; And the cultural implications go often unknown, Like 1 in 3 young workers still live with parents at home; And their parents’ situation is no less dire, Working multiple jobs, and no hopes to retire; Even grandparents still work to maintain their healthcare, Too young at 63 to obtain Medicare; And thus the labor pool is older, no room for the youth, Unless they join the military, become yet another troop; Joining those looking for security and a steady income, Enough to start a family and maybe save up a sum; So long as they aren’t killed in an unjustifiable occupation, A lost generation of youth who

Continue reading Put Young Workers to Work! A Poem

As the semester winds down and students retreat to their classrooms and studies, is a good time to reflect on the struggles that young people are facing and our willingness to fight back and demand a real change in the system that will protect young people in this fragile economy.

Last week AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler posted a blog on the Huffington Post about the dire situation of young workers and the AFL-CIO’s proposed five point initial steps to support workers in this economy.  In these steps, you can see the immediate connection to the current work that students nationwide are engaged in against budget cuts and layoffs.  Two points in the AFL-CIO’s plan for addressing the jobs crisis speak directly to the needs and demands that we have been pushing for in the student movement. 

Rebuild America’s schools, roads and energy systems and invest in green technology and green jobs.

Increase aid to state and local governments to maintain vital services.

It is not surprising that the labor movement and the student movement see the same problems and solutions.  We share the need to fight back

Continue reading Together, Students and Labor Will Change the Country

As a recent graduate of Florida State University and current National Coordinator for the Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), I am one of the few young workers among my friends and family who is a member of a labor union. This means that unlike many of my peers I have a healthcare plan, a retirement savings account, and a say in my working conditions and wages.

Sadly, this is not the case for the majority of young workers in the U.S.  As shown in the report released today by the AFL-CIO & Working America, more than half of young workers under age 35 earn less than $30,000 per year.  Thirty-one percent of young workers report that they have no health insurance and only forty-seven percent have retirement plans at work. 

Even though many young workers have a college degree, they still aren’t able to pay their bills and become financially independent.  Twenty-four percent say they do not make enough to pay their monthly bills.  More than one in three workers under age 35 live at home with their parents. 

These startling statistics clearly

Continue reading Young People & the Labor Movement Need Each Other

Carlos Jimenez is the Young Worker Project Coordinator for Jobs with Justice.

Over the last decade, the Bush administration pushed the agendas of the corporate and financial sectors so successfully that they are now deemed “too big to fail.”  This trend recently brought our economy to the edge of a cliff until the public bailed out these institutions with our tax dollars.  Now the financial “experts” say the economy is recovering, but things down here still look pretty bad to me.  The Bush years had a terrible impact on working people – especially young workers.

Now here we are in the Obama era, and the many young people who made it possible continue to face an uphill battle on many issues central to their daily lives like wages and health care. 

A new report by the AFL-CIO and Working America highlights a power base noticeably absent in national discussions about the economy in spite of their major contributions to the last election – young workers.  Here are just some of the findings: