According to an index maintained by the Labor Department, the hours worked by those on U.S. payrolls had dropped significantly in March compared to six months earlier. By the end of March, there were more than 4.9 million workers who were working part-time due to layoffs or reduced work hours. In addition, unemployment has gone up with the jobless rate increasing to 13.1 percent. (New York Times, April 18)
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Even before the drop in work hours, pay was barely keeping up with the rising costs of gas and food. The Energy Information Administration reported that the national average gas price was $3.51 a gallon as of April 21—up 12 cents from a week before. Food prices are higher than they have been in two decades. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, wholesale food prices rose nearly 7.5 percent in 2007, with egg prices up 56.4 percent; dairy products up 23.7 percent; vegetables up 19.9 percent; and fruit up 4.2 percent.
These statistics give a glimpse of the effects of capitalist overproduction on workers during a capitalist economic crisis. In its incessant drive for profits, capitalist industry has produced more goods that can be sold for a profit—what Marxists call a crisis of overproduction. Production slows down and, in the most severe cases, grinds to a halt.
When a crisis hits, the capitalist bosses try to keep as much profit as possible at the expense of the working class. Workers lose their jobs as the economy continues its downward spiral. For those who are still employed and managing to get by, there is constant anxiety and fear of losing their jobs, homes, health care and pensions.
The capitalist makes its profits on the backs of the working class. The chaotic boom-and-bust cycle of capitalism once again brings horrible consequences for the workers. Government bails out the capitalists while workers pay the cost.
The Great Depression of the 1930s eviscerated working-class living standards—a defining phenomenon of the more severe capitalist crises. In a desperate attempt to cut their losses, the capitalist class carries out both indirect and direct attacks against the working class. The capitalists are trying to overcome their crisis by striking at the weakest links—health care, social services and education. Each dollar not spent on workers’ needs is a dollar that stays in their pockets.
The present brings back memories of the 1930s. A serious recession, if not a depression, is here—and the workers know it because they are the ones most affected. These crises will continue to happen, and conditions for workers will continue to worsen, as long as the capitalists are in control of the state and the economy. Each economic bust will also become a nail in the coffin of the capitalist system by exposing the bankruptcy of the profit system and forcing workers into a struggle for survival.
