WashTech News: Labor News

November 14, 2008
WashTech News

Job Losses at 14 yr High, Americans Despondent

Priyanka Joshi

America lost 240,000 jobs in October, the 10th consecutive month of job losses in the country. Today, 10.2 million Americans are unemployed in industries across the board. WashTech News spoke to a wide variety of unemployed people coast to coast. They are victims of outsourcing, corporate layoffs, downsizing, and effects of the seizing economic wheels of the country. Would these people be gainfully employed today if they had the protection of a labor union? Here is a glimpse into their hardscrabble lives and the tough decisions they are making to survive the current economic crisis.

Cathy Sobin, Engineering Coordinator, Wonder Lake, IL:

My husband and I, both lost our jobs to outsourcing. My 19 year old job with Motorola went to Penang, Malaysia in February this year. My husband's job at Sanmina SCI Corp also left America. We can barely feed our kids at times. I go without food when that happens. We have no insurance either. I just bought a filler at the local store to fill my own cavity. We are going to be in foreclosure on our home by the end of this week. We have gone from a middle income household to being below poverty level. I cannot believe we have no help from anywhere. We need aggressive help with retraining. There should be a longer unemployment period for us. Motorola and Sanmina SCI should pay major penalties for outsourcing.
Labor Union Membership: Negative

Mark Wickersham, Project Manager, Dallas, TX:

I'm an Electrical engineer. I transferred internally on the regional management side, away from engineering. Then, the global team took over our functions. Our group became overstaffed and I lost my job. My wife and I married without an ounce of debt. But now, we are living off credit cards. I won't sell my stocks below price. Once I hit the credit limit, I will begin to pull money out of my 401K. My wife and I recently had our second anniversary. It was very difficult not being able to do something special for that.
Labor Union Membership: Negative

Jenna Rose Robbins, Editor, Los Angeles, CA:

I was laid off in April. Looking for greener pastures, I moved in with family on the East coast. I have long gone through my savings and am now making ends meet via odd jobs. I even flew to Vancouver, Canada for an interview, footing the bill myself. I've never been in such financial straits, especially with such a terrible economy. I can't do this much longer. I may have to either sell my home or rent it out and move in with family again.
Labor Union Membership: Negative

Mark Horwath, Non Profit Marketing Manager, Los Angeles, CA:

I managed communications for a St Louis church. They laid me off one week after major surgery. I also got laid off from my second job this year. I'm living off credit for the last 9 months and my debt is now at crisis level. Right now, I am two rent checks away from being homeless. I'm choosing between moving into a shelter or continuing to look for a job. Many people in my situation are just one crisis away from living on the streets.
Labor Union Membership: Negative. Many nonprofit ministries are exempt from giving unemployment and COBRA benefits. I assume the government feels that a church will take care of its ex-employees. But that is rare. Many are left without an income and health insurance.

Brandon J. Mendelson, Media Editor, Albany, NY:

I worked two jobs- one for an iconic media company- and recently lost both. My wife and I don't know how we'll survive, no idea how we're going to pay for things. I'm going to graduate school to ride out the crisis. We're both also doing substitute teaching assignments for now. We've had to cut back on everything from phone to television to food. The hardest thing was trying to find a safe, affordable place to live. Albany gets rocked by new incidents of crime every week almost, especially against college students.
Labor Union Membership: Negative

The Employee Free Choice Act empowers individuals to freely create/join a union at their workplace. The act's most high profile supporter is President Elect Barack Obama. For more information on how to get involved with EFCA, join WashTech today.

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