On June 25, 2008, the AFL-CIO released the result of its 2008 Ask a Working Woman Survey. “I have to choose everyday if I am going to buy food or gas to get work,” wrote Kelly, a working mother. “Gas always wins, because I need my paycheck to support my family. I never have enough money, ever.”
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In May, the unemployment rate jumped from 5 to 5.5 percent. In working-class communities of color, the jobless rate is even worse. From April to May, the unemployment rate for African American workers jumped from 8.6 percent to 9.7 percent.
According to the Department of Labor, there are 6.6 million workers who have no employment or are underemployed that are not counted in the unemployment rate. Once a worker stops looking for a job, they are no longer accounted for in the unemployment figures provided by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Altogether, there are more than 14 million workers who are unemployed, underemployed or who have given up looking for work.
One major corporation after another is announcing facility shutdowns and layoffs. On July 1, Starbucks announced that it is closing 600 stores; 12,000 workers will lose their jobs. Anheuser-Busch is cutting its workforce by 15 percent. Layoffs in corporate financial services have totaled 475,948 so far this year.
The housing crisis—one of the key economic pillars that toppled at the outset of the current crisis—is also dealing blows to workers’ living conditions. “[The housing crisis] is a man-made disaster that’s had more dramatic impacts on real estate markets than natural disasters,” said Bruce Katz, a housing analyst at the Brookings Institution. “In a way, we have a lot of mini-Katrinas across the country.” (Christian Science Monitor, July 1)
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, one in 11 homeowners are now in foreclosure or late on mortgage payments. Around 44.5 million homes in the United States now stand empty.
The banking industry is reeling from the past few years of speculative investment and the subprime mortgage scheme that is devastating working families. On July 1, industry analysts announced that U.S. banks would need to raise $65 billion in capital—on top of the $120 billion already raised this year—to confront the losses associated with the housing crisis.
Workers are not the ones who caused this economic crisis but we are the ones who pay when the capitalist economy implodes—as it inevitably does. The owners and bosses make huge personal fortunes during periods of economic boom by exploiting workers. When the economy takes a downturn—as it has now—the capitalist owners do not hesitate to lay off workers by the thousands in an attempt to stay afloat and continue to profit.
The capitalist politicians responds to working people’s crises with grandiose statements of heartfelt concern coupled with deeds of contempt and indifference. Meanwhile, government bails out the banks and corporations, doctors inflation and unemployment statistics and lets natural disasters go unaddressed.
There are a myriad of solutions to current economic problems. A moratorium on foreclosures and evictions would provide much-needed breathing room for those struggling to keep up with payments and guarantee their housing security. A jobs program that puts people to work fixing levees and rebuilding homes in the Midwest would not only tackle unemployment, but also help alleviate the suffering of those hit by the recent floods.
Much more could be done, but the capitalist government will not implement any of these solutions. They are fully beholden to protecting the profits of the banks and corporations; the possibility of using public funds to meet people’s needs instead is not given a thought. The criminal negligence of politicians is not a matter of incompetence, but one of unwavering loyalty to the interests of their own class.
