"concessions".
That's a word we seldom hear these days outside reference to the beer vendor at the ball park, but anyone who negotiated a salary in the last 30 years knows only one meaning for the word. It meant taking a cut in pay and benefits for the survival of the company.
They told workers at the time that concessions were a new fact of life in business, and that the cuts would go all the way to the board room. They swore no one would be spared from the cost cutting ax, and it would go to the very top. Noncompliance would result in outsourcing or worse. Thirty years later we've seen executive pay increased from about 100 times the base pay of those who punch a time clock to over 300 times.
Average worker pay has stagnated and even lost in spending power to inflation, while those who wear an Armani to work have bathed in a life of ease and luxury. Outsourcing continued through those concessions unabated.
Now the new phrase we're hearing from the zions of industry and their defenders is "shared sacrifice". They promise if the working class bears some of the burden through cuts in our retirement and govt aid, the wealthy will do the same. They strongly protest a 3% increase in their own tax responsibility, but the cuts would go right to the top and be shared in a fair fashion. They promise this time.
I say we've already done our share in sacrifice for my entire life, and now it's their turn to pitch in and suffer a little for the benefit of all. The wealthy in this country have a lot of catching up to do before they dare speak of a "shared sacrifice".
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