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Web Letter

I really liked Sirota's article--enough so that I went online so that I could follow the links that I was sure would be there. Where can I see the government prediction that about a third of employment growth will be white collar? Where are the links to the Seattle Times article, the quotation attributed to a NLRB chair, Seymour Martin Lipset, Alan Blinder, Business Week, the Roll Call ad, the Financial Times, the Census figures--even Saul Alinsky? It's not that I don't trust Sirota (although maybe I shouldn't), but that I figure I could learn more if I followed the footnotes.

Web Letter

I am the mother of two college-educated people in their 20s. Neither can find a full-time job, let alone a full-time job in their field. They have loan payments that will continue for twenty years and their prospect of buying a house is close to zero. They followed the advice we all gave them, and they got screwed.

I suggest that WashTech expand its base. Go for office temps and bank tellers (banks are notorious for hiring folks to work just under the number of hours required for benefits). Then go for full-time office workers--their wages are held down by the use of temps.

I think the time is ripe for unions to rise again. It will take time for a new Congress to realize that it needs to move away from considering the needs of corporations over the needs of citizens. Unions are a great tool for persuasion.

I was raised a child of management, but my sympathies have always been union.