The Strange Case of the American Worker [View All]

[phantom power]

Several years ago in Florence, I joined a march with thousands of working people, protesting the Italian government's raising of the retirement age. Formerly, workers could retire after 35 years of work, but a new law wouldn't allow them to receive a pension until they turned 65.

My wife pointed out the irony of marching in solidarity with workers who had rights Americans can't imagine. Later, several Italians demanded to know why the average American worker doesn't have health insurance, higher wages, better retirement benefits, more vacation time, and rights that Italian workers take for granted. How can we be so stupid? I had a hard time explaining why Americans support millionaires and billionaires instead of taking up for themselves. They never did understand, and I don't either.

When I returned home, California voters rejected a law that would have provided health care for more workers, paid for by employers. The law had passed the legislature and been signed by the governor, but before it could be implemented, corporations convinced voters to place it on the ballot. Strangely enough, rising health care costs were at the top of the list of voter's concerns and they still voted against it.

As French students and workers march to protest a new law that will allow employers to fire employees without cause during their first two years of employment, one might expect American workers to sympathize with them. They don't. When I said I was on the worker's side, one friend criticized me for taking sides instead of considering all sides of the issue. Another minimum-wage friend became agitated when I protested tax cuts for the rich and claimed, "I haven't given up the dream of getting rich someday."

http://baltimorechronicle.com/2006/040706Monkerud.shtml