Hillary’s Nightmare? Hillary’s Nightmare?

Jim Webb raises deep questions about US militarism.

Oct 22, 2014 / William Greider

A Real Sharing Economy A Real Sharing Economy

One of the overlooked problems driving our country’s jobs crisis isn’t unemployment—it’s just not having enough work. The shadow figure that lurks behind the unemployment rate is underemployment: people who want—and need—full-time work but are only able to find part-time hours, or who have gotten “discouraged” from job-seeking. Including those people, the broad measure of underemployment hovers around 12 percent. These days, people struggle full-time to juggle multiple part-time jobs, even as they suffer from the loss of healthcare and other social protections. They are overworked and underemployed. But it’s not that the underemployed simply want to work more; they also want to earn more. One way to square the lack of work with the need for income is work-sharing, which allows companies to distribute hours so that people work less, while ensuring that there’s still enough work to go around to prevent layoffs. For example, as explained in a new study by the National Employment Law Project, if a factory wants to cut its workforce by the equivalent of five employees, “Under work-sharing, the employer could instead reduce the hours of 25 employees by 20 percent, and those workers would receive a pro-rated [unemployment insurance] payment for their one day per week of unemployment, while maintaining any existing health and retirement benefits.” Cutting back hours typically harms workers, but what makes work-share less painful is that the government subsidizes the balance. About half of the fifty states have implemented some form of work-sharing, but now state lawmakers are approaching a year-end federal deadline to apply for funds. A bill to renew the legislation, the Layoff Prevention Act, is pending. Please support our journalism. Get a digital subscription for just $9.50! The central premise of work-sharing is that the state has a responsibility to support the restructuring of labor to protect workers. This is not a new idea: work-sharing is more widespread in European countries, particularly Belgium, Germany and Italy—and California introduced a statewide work-sharing program in the late 1970s. In the wake of the Great Recession, Washington passed legislation allowing states to use federally approved work-share programs to cope with epidemic levels of long-term joblessness. Politicians try to spin the economic crisis by talking about the need for “shared sacrifice”—code for coddling big business at the expense of workers. Now that Washington is offering a small way to redistribute workers’ time without sacrificing all their income, states have a chance to really put their money where their mouth is. Read Next: Peter Van Buren on the new minimum-wage economy

Oct 22, 2014 / Michelle Chen

Kailash Satyarthi’s Heroism Kailash Satyarthi’s Heroism

The Indian Nobel Peace Prize winner has repeatedly risked his life fighting child labor and sweatshop abuses.

Oct 22, 2014 / Robin Broad and John Cavanagh

Comix Nation Comix Nation

Oct 21, 2014 / Jen Sorensen

Snapshot: Breaking Through the Storm Snapshot: Breaking Through the Storm

A Kurd displays a victory sign at a refugee camp in southeastern Turkey, where tens of thousands have fled the intense fighting in Kobani, Syria. In addition to aerial bombardment, US military planes dropped medical gear, weapons and ammunition for Kurdish fighters fending off a prolonged siege by ISIS fighters.

Oct 21, 2014 / Kai Pfaffenbach

The GOP Is Winning the War on Voting The GOP Is Winning the War on Voting

Voters in fourteen states—many with tight races—will face new restrictions at the polling booth for the first time in November.

Oct 15, 2014 / Ari Berman

Even Red-State Voters Want to Raise the Minimum Wage Even Red-State Voters Want to Raise the Minimum Wage

Eighty percent of Americans want to hike wages, but powerful Republicans keep saying no.

Oct 15, 2014 / John Nichols

A Q&A With Charles Blow on Race, Poverty, Sexual Predators and the CIA A Q&A With Charles Blow on Race, Poverty, Sexual Predators and the CIA

The New York Times columnist discusses his new book, Fire Shut Up in My Bones.

Oct 15, 2014 / Books & the Arts / Jon Wiener

How Art Can Change Minds How Art Can Change Minds

Political cartoons can move only if they surprise.

Oct 15, 2014 / Mr. Fish

Snapshot: Riot for the Return of the Disappeared Snapshot: Riot for the Return of the Disappeared

Hundreds of students and teachers clashed with riot police in Chilpancingo, Mexico, after forty-three student activists went missing following a confrontation with local police in September. The discovery of ten mass graves in the area have spread fears about the students’ fate at the hands of police linked to the drug cartels.

Oct 14, 2014 / Felix Marquez