Transcript Working...and Poor PowerPoint

Working…and Poor
written by: M. Conlin and A. Bernstein
Group 2: Andrea Emery, Kat Koelbl,
Ashley Burkholder, Justin Breen,
Charles Lief, Ashley Sullivan, Raun
Singleton, Chris Evans
Globalization

For one thing, globalization has thrown the least-skilled
into head-on competition with people willing to work for
pennies on the dollar. And a torrent of immigration,
mainly poor rural Mexicans, has further swelled the lowend labor pool. Together, these trends have shoved
many hourly wage occupations into a worldwide,
discount labor store stocked with cheap temps, hungry
part-timers, and dollar-a-day labor in India, Mexico, and
China, all willing to sell their services to the lowest
bidder. Against such headwinds, full employment offers
only partial protection.
Globalization cont.

Women in Indonesia

"Egalitarianism in a Global Economy“

Working the Supply Side
Minimum Wage Rates
in
America
Green = higher than federal yellow =no law blue = equal to law red = lower than
federal
Minimum Wage

Minimum wage rates in America

Waitress and Waiters wages
– Example: Dr. James Bovinet
 Used to wait tables, would tip bus boys to clean
tables faster. The fairest job he’s ever had.
Poverty Line

Population below poverty line

Poverty in the United States

What is the poverty income level for the
United States?
Union

What’s a union?
– A group of workers who form an organization
to gain
 Better wages and benefits
 More flexibility for work and family needs
 A counterbalance to the unchecked power of
employers
 A voice in improving the quality of their products
and services
Unions cont.

Through unions, workers win better wages, benefits and
a voice on the job – and good union jobs mean stronger
communities. Union workers earn 28 more than
nonunion workers and are more likely to receive health
care and pension benefits than those without a union.

LABOR UNIONS REPRESENTED ABOUT A
THIRD OF ALL U.S. WORKERS!
Conclusion: Trend or Fad??
Trend
 Reasoning

– As a group we believe that as the middle class
continues to shrink there will continue to be
an abundance of blue collar workers.
– Shown through our presentation many of
these people are getting paid low wages
consequently forcing their families to live
below the poverty line.
Sources
http://ask.yahoo.com/20010903.html
 http://www.indexmundi.com/united_state
s/population_below_poverty_line.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_th
e_United_States
 http://news.thomasnet.com/IMT/archives/
2005/08/whats_next_for.html
 http://www.aflicio.org/joinaunion/union10
1.cfm?RenderForPrint=1
