When Even a Sponge Feels the Squeeze (The Nation)

[marmar]

article | posted April 13, 2007 (web only)
When Even a Sponge Feels the Squeeze
Annabelle Gurwitch


This morning, my nine year old son and and his friends were engaged in a heated discussion. They were excitedly rehashing the plight of striking workers struggling for higher wages and more vacation time. In the end, one of the workers, emboldened by union organizing fever, (supporters of The Employee Free Choice Act beware!), destroyed the workplace and they got their jobs back but at lower rates and what amounted to a giveback of benefits.

Were these boys contemplating the aftermath of the Circuit City announcement that employees were being fired but could apply for their old jobs back at lower wages? Perhaps they had heard of angry retaliation following Citicorp's CEO Charles Prince III's (2006 compensation: 25.98 million dollars) intended elimination of 17,000 positions cut costs and streamline operations.

No, the boys had just seen an episode of Sponge Bob Square Pants! Sponge Bob and Squidward's employment woes were neatly mirroring the frustration of working people all over the country who have more in common with the experience of a sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea and labors long hours for low pay and an exacting boss than the picture painted of low unemployment rates and job growth by the current administration.

Perhaps as Robert Druskin, Citicorp COO (2006 compensation: 15.7 million dollars) noted, they simply had to shrink the company in order to stay competitive. But no one wants to be deemed "one too many layer" and no matter how the management parses the decision---you've been fired, booted, got the axe, you're out of there--it stings.
...(snip)...

Here it is:

Try to get other people fired with you. With the massive lay-offs taking place, this shouldn't be hard, and it makes the post mortem drinking so much more pleasurable. In this economic climate, when Human Resources calls you --don't answer the phone. They can't fire you if they can't catch you! Lastly, if you have to work in America today, for goodness sake, be the CEO or COO of a large corporation. According to the Economic Policy Institute, at the current federal minimum wage of $5.15 per hour it takes a full 52-week year of work to earn what the average CEO earns before lunch on Monday. It's enough to make you want to apply for a job at the Crusty Crab. ....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070430/gurwitch