This article was in the Business section of the New York Times this a.m. discussing the current tax breaks built in the most recent "stimulus" package.. you know the one that extends unemployment benefits (sorely needed) along with the absurd 8K tax credits to first time home buyers. What wasn't mentioned is the extensive write offs permitted to those companies that suffer red losses the past two years and not currently receiving TARP/TALF funds. Well that 8K credit is peanuts compared to what the builder's received.
They are already covering their losses just fine but well in an industry that there are 25 Construction individuals available for every one job available you think now would be a good time to find outstanding employees to get back to work but no. Instead that money will be used for "internal" operations. In fact one company, Beazer Homes, one fined for illegal activities are included in this group. Nice, rip people off and take a write off. Maddoff must be pissed he sits in prison while the Beazer Executives sit well at home (probably one nicer than a Beazer Home).
Yes and the foreclosed homes and unfinished and poorly built communities sitting dilapidated or nearly empty will hopefully get sold to more suckers taking "advantage" of that absurd tax credit that benefits no one especially more tax payers continuing to foot the bills of the greedy businesses that exploited the mortgage meltdown crisis. I can't wait to see what the Realtors are planning to do. They clearly need a better lobby.
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Home Builders (You Heard That Right) Get a Gift
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
Published: November 14, 2009
ON Nov. 6, President Obama signed the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 into law, extending unemployment benefits by 20 weeks and renewing the first-time homebuyer tax credit until next April.
But tucked inside the law was another prize: a tax break that lets big companies offset losses incurred in 2008 and 2009 against profits booked as far back as 2004. The tax cuts will generate corporate refunds or relief worth about $33 billion, according to an administration estimate.
Before the bill became law, the so-called look-back on losses was limited to small businesses and could be used to counterbalance just two years of profits. Now the profit offset goes back five years, and the law allows big companies to take advantage of it, too. The only companies that can’t participate are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and any institution that took money under the Troubled Asset Relief Program.
Among the biggest beneficiaries are home builders, analysts say. Once again, at the front of the government assistance line, stand some of the very companies that contributed mightily to the credit crisis by building and financing too many homes.
This is getting to be a habit: companies that participated on the upside and are now reaping rewards from the taxpayers on the downside. The banks that underwrote so many dubious loans, for example, received government aid to get them lending again. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the result.
One can make an argument that throwing money at the banking system is necessary if we are to jump-start the economy. And banks need a bigger capital cushion to protect against future losses.
But dropping helicopter money on the home builders — the folks who massively overbuilt in community after community — seems decidedly less urgent (unless you are one of these companies, of course). Given that the supply of housing far outstrips demand, it is unlikely that these companies will use these tax breaks to hire workers (unless they go into a completely new line of business).
“I AM surprised that home builders are getting hundreds of millions of dollars given that many have very strong balance sheets,” said Ivy Zelman, chief executive at Zelman & Associates, a research firm. “We question the public policy decision to gift home builders with capital that many will not use to create jobs, since they admit that job growth will be dependent not on capital, but on improving demand.”
When Mr. Obama signed the law, his administration said the tax break would help “struggling businesses.” But as Ms. Zelman pointed out, many large home builders are sitting atop mountains of cash. Pulte Homes, which will receive refunds exceeding $450 million under the new law, has $1.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents on its balance sheet, according to its most recent financial statement.
Hovnanian Enterprises is another big beneficiary of the tax break. It anticipates a refund of $250 million to $275 million next year. It had $550 million in cash in its most recent quarter.
Smaller recipients include Standard Pacific, which is poised to reap cash refunds of $80 million under the new tax break. According to its most recent financial filing, Standard Pacific held $523 million in cash and cash equivalents.
Finally, Beazer Homes told investors that it expects to receive a refund of $50 million. The company reported cash and equivalents of $557 million at the end of September.
Some of the home builders poised to receive tax refunds have even more cash today than they did last year. D. R. Horton, for example, has $1.966 billion in cash, up 45 percent from September 2008 levels. And some are healthy enough to have retired significant amounts of debt from their balance sheets this year. Pulte has bought back $1.93 billion in debt in 2009.
So what do these companies plan to do with their refunds?
Ken Campbell, the chief executive of Standard Pacific, said the money would allow his company to continue buying land. “Will we build more houses or will there be more people employed in the first quarter? Probably not,” he said. “Will employment accelerate when the market starts to grow? It will.”
Caryn Klebba, a spokeswoman for Pulte Homes, said in a statement that the company planned to use the funds it receives “to support its current operations and, when market conditions improve, fund future growth and expansion.”
In other words, job creation does not seem imminent, notwithstanding the claims of the administration or those in Congress who supported the giveaway.
Representative Lloyd Doggett, a Texas Democrat, has conducted a lonely fight against the tax break all year.
“Some have said this is like a bridge loan to these companies,” Mr. Doggett said in an interview. “Well if it’s a loan, it is like a no-doc loan, because the recipients provide no indication that they will create jobs or do anything other than keep the money. I just feel it is a total windfall.”
Unfortunately, this seems to be another example of an age-old phenomenon: Good Things Come to Those With Lobbying Power.
Securing this tax break was a top priority for home builders, lobbying records show. The Center for Responsive Politics reports that through Oct. 26 of this year, home builders paid $6 million to their lobbyists. Last year, the industry spent $8.2 million lobbying.
Much of this year’s lobbying expenditures were focused on arguing for the tax loss carry-forward, documents show.
Among individual companies, Lennar spent $240,000 lobbying while companies affiliated with Hovnanian Enterprises spent $222,000. Pulte Homes spent $210,000 this year.
That’s some return on investment. After spending its $210,000, Pulte will receive $450 million in refunds. And Hovnanian, after spending its $222,000, will get as much as $275 million.
Meanwhile, the bag that we taxpayers are left holding gets bigger and bigger.
THE problem here is that this public policy decision was made with little to no input from the public. Sure, tax rebates like these give a lifeline to companies that were about to sink beneath the waves, but would it be so terrible if some builders that lost their heads during the housing mania ceased to exist? It is not as if a housing shortage will result or that more jobs will be lost if these companies don’t receive these tax breaks.
Pretending to promote job creation, the government is dispensing cash to companies that either do not need it or need it precisely because they didn’t run their businesses prudently. Isn’t there something wrong with that picture?
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Veteran's Day
I had been thinking about writing about the Military and my thoughts on the recent Jon Krakauer book on Pat Tilman, Where Men Win Glory, and thought undoubtedly my reactions to it and the current crop of articles in Rolling Stone, the New York Times and others discussing the state of our modern Military would likely reign unpopular and right now I choose to avoid that for another day.
But the word "Veteran" means many things and refers to many professions. I am a Veteran Educator. I left the profession after serving my initial term of 5 years and found myself back now and finding much like the Military a system broken I believe beyond repair.
My "job" as a Substitute has found me in a myriad of schools, dynamics, students and levels of teaching and academics that make me glad I left for Construction a long time ago. I like taking things apart, seeing how they work and then fixing them to work again. Education or Teaching I thought was like that but I was wrong. I like to see end results and have measurements of success and failure.
I have little hope for the future given the state of the world right now. Education has long been a declining resource for both attracting quality individuals into the profession, keeping them and more importantly building them. Schools are dilapidated in more than physical ways. Communities play a great role in developing a schools character and the students that populate both are a reflection of that exterior community. There are true problems in both communities.
Yesterday I was in a school where I have been before. Its location is bordering a neighborhood that is transitional but largely poor. The school has a very strong minority population and the children reflect that communities social and economic struggles in ways that are beyond the obvious. Often seemingly too mature for their needs these middle schoolers use language, possess attitudes and beliefs that are mirrors of their older siblings and families and their attitudes about school, race and community. They are angry, confused, misguided and neglected. They are put through the system without real regard to who they will be and where they will go as long as they go from here.
I have been assaulted and robbed in similar schools last year. But the worst is the constant verbal abuse and bullying I am subject to. I was called a street walker, a bitch, narcissistic, a "racialist" and mocked for simply trying to reign in and discipline a class of children who cannot sit for a minute, have true problems following instructions, come to class ill prepared and have no real foundation or skills to excel or meet the most minimum of requirements. That frustration leads to a boiling point and ultimately when the opportunity arises to abuse anyone they think they can victimize instead. When confronted many Educators, Administrators, etc deny the problem and deflect it back to you or they simply shake their head.
President Obama wants to improve Education. He thinks there has to be a better way but when did he last or ever go to a public school? His children do not and he has no real idea of what it truly is like to enter a place on a given day where you will be greeted with cheers or jeers.. well Congress but now I think you see the picture.
I fear for our Society and laugh at the notions that the current crop of Politicians who use children as the bully pulpit or the excuse for why they cannot provide health care or birth control or abortions or any other reason to fund a domestic social program that would improve much of societies lot. Its very convenient to say children are our future. Well if you met as many as I have these past few years you would be less inclined to worry about that and just be willing to worry about today.
But the word "Veteran" means many things and refers to many professions. I am a Veteran Educator. I left the profession after serving my initial term of 5 years and found myself back now and finding much like the Military a system broken I believe beyond repair.
My "job" as a Substitute has found me in a myriad of schools, dynamics, students and levels of teaching and academics that make me glad I left for Construction a long time ago. I like taking things apart, seeing how they work and then fixing them to work again. Education or Teaching I thought was like that but I was wrong. I like to see end results and have measurements of success and failure.
I have little hope for the future given the state of the world right now. Education has long been a declining resource for both attracting quality individuals into the profession, keeping them and more importantly building them. Schools are dilapidated in more than physical ways. Communities play a great role in developing a schools character and the students that populate both are a reflection of that exterior community. There are true problems in both communities.
Yesterday I was in a school where I have been before. Its location is bordering a neighborhood that is transitional but largely poor. The school has a very strong minority population and the children reflect that communities social and economic struggles in ways that are beyond the obvious. Often seemingly too mature for their needs these middle schoolers use language, possess attitudes and beliefs that are mirrors of their older siblings and families and their attitudes about school, race and community. They are angry, confused, misguided and neglected. They are put through the system without real regard to who they will be and where they will go as long as they go from here.
I have been assaulted and robbed in similar schools last year. But the worst is the constant verbal abuse and bullying I am subject to. I was called a street walker, a bitch, narcissistic, a "racialist" and mocked for simply trying to reign in and discipline a class of children who cannot sit for a minute, have true problems following instructions, come to class ill prepared and have no real foundation or skills to excel or meet the most minimum of requirements. That frustration leads to a boiling point and ultimately when the opportunity arises to abuse anyone they think they can victimize instead. When confronted many Educators, Administrators, etc deny the problem and deflect it back to you or they simply shake their head.
President Obama wants to improve Education. He thinks there has to be a better way but when did he last or ever go to a public school? His children do not and he has no real idea of what it truly is like to enter a place on a given day where you will be greeted with cheers or jeers.. well Congress but now I think you see the picture.
I fear for our Society and laugh at the notions that the current crop of Politicians who use children as the bully pulpit or the excuse for why they cannot provide health care or birth control or abortions or any other reason to fund a domestic social program that would improve much of societies lot. Its very convenient to say children are our future. Well if you met as many as I have these past few years you would be less inclined to worry about that and just be willing to worry about today.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Green Boooks Day
On Tuesday, November 10, 2009, at 1:00 PM Eastern Time over 100 bloggers will take a stand to support books printed in an Eco-friendly manner by simultaneously publishing reviews of more than 100 such books.
Organized by Eco-Libris, this campaign is aiming to promote “green” books by reviewing more than 100 books printed on recycled paper or FSC-certified paper.
Eco-Libris is a site I support as it encourages reading and the use of recycled content material and libraries as a way of maintaining levels of materials and reducing waste.
The book I selected was The Green Collar Economy, by Van Jones.
I have long been a supporter of Van Jones and his advocacy for Green Jobs and more importantly Green Jobs for All I was thrilled and concerned when he was asked by President Obama to join the White House as Green Jobs Czar. Sadly he was another casualty of the right wing agenda led by Glenn Beck in this case that tainted Van Jones' reputation and ultimately led to his resignation from the White House.
But I am hoping that Van will return back to becoming the strong proud Green voice when discussing such essential elements of energy efficiency, environmental safety and overall improvement to our economy and lives.
The Green Collar Economy discusses the issues we must face if we are to advance ourselves globally when it comes to leading the way on environmental and other progressive and innovative ideas that will save the planet and build lives.
Van makes sense, his ideas make sense and he says them in a manner that simply make sense. This is great book if you are truly curious about what it means when you hear the term "Green Jobs." Van is accessible, readable and more importantly approachable. The ideas and concepts he present are truly methods that don't require fancy derivatives, super computers or advanced degrees. These are jobs, work and ideas that are for all. Van Jones believes in GREEN JOBS FOR ALL. Read this book the Green Collar Economy and you will too.
And if you are interested in other books and bloggers go to Eco-Libris for an extensive list of who is reading what.
Green Jobs for all. Green books for all. Good reading and green lives for all.
Monday, November 9, 2009
MoveMe.Com
Frequently I am informed of interesting products or sites that offer services that are useful both green or not. I try to keep my focus on things "green" and moving has to be the least green thing you do.
As someone who has moved a great deal. In five years I moved 7 times. I have moved across country, across states, across cities and across town. In my work as a rehabbed I lived and remodeled the homes and sold them all within a year or two tops.
I have wasted immense amounts of products and am despite it all a notorious hoarder of furniture and assorted other items related to my work that to this day still sits in a storage facility. I know the hassle of moving and I know the costs.
Thankfully now moving is changing. Movers are addressing the immense amount of waste and are encouraging recycling and reusing moving materials. You can now rent portable plastic storage boxes and of course my personal favorite Craigslist free is a great way to find moving materials for almost nothing. MSN last week literally challenged a move for under $100 bucks. That is an extreme challenge and frankly I hate asking friends to help. I think of them as a much more precious resource than fossil fuels
The newest addition to aiding moving is a site called Moveme.com. This is UK site however but hopefully something like this is not far in our future.
Moving home can be a very stressful experience. But this site will make your life easier by taking the stress and hassle out of moving home, and you save your time and money in the process. The site is organized in a way to help you with everything you need to do when you move home so that you won't have to go through the pain of doing it yourself. They would guide you through every step of the move process with help and advice, lists of suppliers and easy online quotes. They also help with transfer or set up home services like gas and electricity online to save you from call centers and phone queues. It will help you manage your move, reminding you of everything you need to do with the tools and information to do it. Moveme.com
The site offers a myriad of options from helping you literally do the utility switch, get moving quotes or as the call it conveyancing.moving is a challenge and who hasn't forgotten something!
I love it and wished this was available when I moved. Having someone else make sure the t's are crossed and i's dotted when I do think anyone curious or looking to see what it takes to really move I suggest looking at the site Moveme.com and peruse the information.
I do want to remind anyone that this is a service for UK residents only and that I obviously have not used the site and cannot attest on how well they do provide the service only that the site exists and is worth looking at. Links below can help you find the information you need.
Conveyancing
Links to: http://www.moveme.com/conveyancing
Conveyancing Quote
Links to: http://www.moveme.com/conveyancing
Cheap Conveyancing
Links to: http://www.moveme.com/conveyancing
As someone who has moved a great deal. In five years I moved 7 times. I have moved across country, across states, across cities and across town. In my work as a rehabbed I lived and remodeled the homes and sold them all within a year or two tops.
I have wasted immense amounts of products and am despite it all a notorious hoarder of furniture and assorted other items related to my work that to this day still sits in a storage facility. I know the hassle of moving and I know the costs.
Thankfully now moving is changing. Movers are addressing the immense amount of waste and are encouraging recycling and reusing moving materials. You can now rent portable plastic storage boxes and of course my personal favorite Craigslist free is a great way to find moving materials for almost nothing. MSN last week literally challenged a move for under $100 bucks. That is an extreme challenge and frankly I hate asking friends to help. I think of them as a much more precious resource than fossil fuels
The newest addition to aiding moving is a site called Moveme.com. This is UK site however but hopefully something like this is not far in our future.
Moving home can be a very stressful experience. But this site will make your life easier by taking the stress and hassle out of moving home, and you save your time and money in the process. The site is organized in a way to help you with everything you need to do when you move home so that you won't have to go through the pain of doing it yourself. They would guide you through every step of the move process with help and advice, lists of suppliers and easy online quotes. They also help with transfer or set up home services like gas and electricity online to save you from call centers and phone queues. It will help you manage your move, reminding you of everything you need to do with the tools and information to do it. Moveme.com
The site offers a myriad of options from helping you literally do the utility switch, get moving quotes or as the call it conveyancing.moving is a challenge and who hasn't forgotten something!
I love it and wished this was available when I moved. Having someone else make sure the t's are crossed and i's dotted when I do think anyone curious or looking to see what it takes to really move I suggest looking at the site Moveme.com and peruse the information.
I do want to remind anyone that this is a service for UK residents only and that I obviously have not used the site and cannot attest on how well they do provide the service only that the site exists and is worth looking at. Links below can help you find the information you need.
Conveyancing
Links to: http://www.moveme.com/conveyancing
Conveyancing Quote
Links to: http://www.moveme.com/conveyancing
Cheap Conveyancing
Links to: http://www.moveme.com/conveyancing
Saturday, November 7, 2009
More about the Whine Generation
Because I have had to return to the classroom I have really been made aware of how severe the education crisis is in this country. But while in reality "education" has not much changed (and I mean that literally very little of the subject matter or methods have changed) its the attitude of the students that concern me the most.
This week in our local alternative paper, The Stranger, had an I Anonymous written by a teacher lamenting the quality of students he/she has had over the last 10 years in the profession. So you can assume by that this person is likely under 40 and even they are alarmed at the lack of intellectual curiosity and discipline required to get through even the simplest of demands in the public schools.
Then I read the article below in the NY Times about how to communicate and relate to the younger worker. The implication is once over 40 you are completely unaware to current technology, communication and style of business. Well if anything that is again perpetuating the same nonsense that our generation said not that long ago. The number one complaint is the "manner" in which the young perceive elders communicate. Direct, with orders and without collaboration and consideration.
My favorite is the excuses as to why they don't return calls, answer them in the first place or respond to emails. Charming and they are just excuses. The silliness of Facebook and texting also seems to be a great divide. Again I thought Facebook is a SOCIAL networking device and texting a detailed memo or instruction seems odd as well... perhaps that is the real issue distinguishing between what is social and personal with what is professional.
EXCUSE ME? What happened to simply respecting your boss. If your boss is an asshole that is regardless of age. And why the young think they need to be considered when asked to complete a task or do the work required is beyond my understanding. Perhaps I am part of the problem then? I simply have the belief that when I work for someone else they have a reason, a plan and the experience to request of me whatever is in reason to do something. Now no one likes to be spoken to rudely but I get the idea if you speak "directly" to some individuals that is perceived as confrontational
I recently had a conversation with a gentleman in the Sustainable fields who was let go when he was perceived as just that - too aggressive, too demanding of his young staff and their sensibilities. He saw them as complacent and lazy and apathetic. He formed his own company and just took a million dollar contract from his former employers. This doesn't surprise me. The increasing number of frustrations I hear from people is all about how the young just don't get it.. they have had it too easy and not had to work hard enough. Interesting that is from the same people who contributed to largely that problem but tough times lead to tough reflection.
And I have to wonder about the popularity of shows where acclaimed chef, Gordon Ramsay or hairdresser, Tabatha Coffey, come in to remake failing salons or restaurants while the overwhelmed owners stand by alternately upset or afraid and often resistant to their harsh manners as they offer their ideas. These people are quite aware of these powerful (and ironically non-American) dominate and successful individuals personality and yet almost always they complain about their manner often flatly rejecting their advice. In the meantime both individuals have maintained successful jobs and television careers as people seem fascinated with them. Yet undoubtedly no one wants to work for or with them despite it because they cannot handle direct honesty.
I can assure you that is largely another reason why many companies are moving overseas. The cost of doing bu sines along with the ease of doing it makes it quite appealing. Something tells me in India and China there are not a lot of Meyer Briggs tests being administered and group hugs to get staff in place and working. The amount of psychology and silliness devoted to the "perfect fit" in the workplace has to be not only costly but time consuming. Perfect fit used to refer to shoes now it is about making sure the work place remains placid aka homogeneous if you ask me.. diversity be damned the tests make that almost impossible
My former business partner was 24 and despite his talent his work ethic lacked. It was a struggle and I knew when the economy turned I had to make the decision to shut the business because he was not capable or even interested in doing anything to make it otherwise. It was not something I enjoyed doing but ironically divorcing my husband and shuttering our prior business was easy because we may have had a poor personal relationship but our business and work ethic was solid and ultimately successful so we could do that with relative ease.
I will never work with a younger partner again and do not relish working with them. Its bad enough teaching again. I don't know how many times I hear from kids "you are rude" and when asked to explain what that means and for them to model what is not "rude" to them they are at a loss of words. They don't want to admit they want me to cajole and cater to them rather than perfunctorily request of them compliance and cooperation. Sorry I am not there to make friends I am there to administer and complete another teacher's lesson plan and I don't have the luxury and time to do it otherwise. And we wonder why our country is collapsing economically.
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Bridging the Workplace Generation Gap: It Starts With a Text
By ALINA TUGEND
Published: November 6, 2009
IF we believe the advertisements, with plastic surgery and Spanx we can all look 25 until we drop. But apparently that’s not enough anymore — looking young doesn’t do you much good if you still act old.
And I don’t mean old as in groaning when you get off the couch or driving an Oldsmobile. (Oops, they’re not made anymore.) It’s far more subtle than that. It means wearing a watch (young people just check their cellphones), counting out exact change and still using a landline.
Does it even matter if my actions give away my age? We all grow old, even the coolest among us, and there’s not a whole lot we can do it about it. Do I really want to wrap my brain around the latest Internet fad or celebrity of the month just to appear young?
See, there I am being cynical and defensive, which is an old attitude (see No. 177), says Pamela Redmond Satran, author of the book “How Not to Act Old: 185 ways to Pass for Phat, Sick, Hot, Dope, Awesome, or at Least Not Totally Lame” (HarperCollins, $14.99).
The point, she says, is not to look like a 26-year-old or even to necessarily act like one, but to be open to the fact that times have changed. And if we 40-plus-year-olds refuse to acknowledge that, we’re only punishing ourselves.
This is particularly true in the workplace. Much of the baby boom generation is going to want to — and, in many cases, going to have to — stay on the job longer. “But we won’t be working with our fellow septuagenarians, but with people our children’s ages,” Ms. Satran says.
Now, the generation gap is nothing new. In fact, it seems most people have recognized it since at least 40 years ago. In a Pew Research Center survey released this summer, 79 percent of respondents said they thought there was a generation gap, slightly higher than the 74 percent who answered affirmatively to the same question in a 1969 Gallup poll.
What’s interesting is that the generational divide is far less obvious than in the 1960s. Parents and their children dress similarly now, at least in casual clothes, and may listen to some of the same music. We don’t hear the ’60s slogan “You can’t trust anyone over 30,” but that’s probably because our children are silently texting it rather than shouting it.
Yes, much of what divides us now is technology. According to the Pew survey, while three-quarters of adults age 18 to 30 say they use the Internet daily, only four in 10 adults age 65 to 74 do so.
With cellphones, the difference is even greater: of adults 65 and over, just 5 percent get most or all of their calls on a cellphone, and only 11 percent sometimes use their cellphones to text. For adults under the age of 30, 72 percent use their cellphones for most or all of their calls, while 87 percent text. And according to my informal survey of two children living in my house, those under 18 years old text, oh, about 100 percent of the time.
The trouble is, even when I think I’m up to date, it turns out I’m not. Still sending e-mail? That’s so old. “Leave it to the evil young to get all of us old people addicted to e-mail and then to abandon the form in favor of texting and Facebook,” Ms. Satran writes. If you’re already hopelessly hooked on e-mail, like I am, just make them short and sweet — no rambling missives.
Do you obligingly leave a voice mail after the beep? Don’t bother if you’re calling someone younger than 30. They don’t listen to them. To see who called, they look at the missed calls on their cellphone (because they don’t use landlines, remember?).
But it’s not all about technology. Some of it is just attitude. The “old” management style was often harsh and combative, Ms. Satran said. The “young” style is more indirect and conciliatory.
“I grew up in a newsroom where everyone was confrontational,” she said. “The loudest guy won. That’s all changed, and older guys might not get it. Interrupting someone and being direct might not be effective.” Younger people, she said, tend to be more indirect; this isn’t necessarily bad or good, just different, and “for an older person who wants to survive and thrive, he needs to get on board with the changes.”
Here’s an example of how the generations may butt heads: Lisa Orrell, who has written two books about what she calls millennials — those now in their 20s — and conducts workshops for them, said she often heard complaints from younger workers about the curt tone from managers and bosses. They feel disrespected when they are ordered, rather than asked, to do something, when they are commanded rather than requested.
And maybe baby boomers have themselves to blame. After all, we are the generation that raised our children through negotiation, who explained why it was important to visit Grandma or wear a jacket rather than using the all-purpose “because I told you to.”
So a younger worker could easily anger an older manager by questioning why she has to do a certain task instead of just putting her head down and getting on with it. And an older manager who brusquely says, “Just do it,” or recounts how much tougher things were in his time, could easily — if unknowingly — help widen the generation gap.
“I advise managers to take a step back and try to explain to workers why it’s important what they do and how it will build on the goals they have in the company,” Ms. Orrell said.
But the etiquette divide can swing both ways. For example, most people of my generation, trained to write thank-you notes, find failure to answer an e-mail just plain rude. But, Ms. Satran said, it often means the person you wrote to is so inundated with information that he forgot. Don’t take it as a deliberate slight. If it happens, persist politely by calling or sending follow-up messages. If you continue to receive no answer, take it as a rejection. That’s the modern, nonconfrontational way.
Robert Butler, who is 82 and president of the International Longevity Center, a research organization, said he certainly agreed that older workers would benefit if they embraced rather than rejected novelty.
“My personal plea is for old people to get with it, technologically and in other ways,” Mr. Butler said.
Or, as Ms. Satran says, “Be open rather than skeptical, curious rather than dismissive, accepting rather than defensive.”
And sometimes the generations can synchronize wonderfully. A comment on a recent blog post on Ms. Satran’s book applauded the disappearance of voice mail: “At almost 48, I am definitely old, and all I can say about that whole voice mail thing is, ‘Thank GOD — finally freed from this hateful tyranny.’ Well done, young people. Well done.”
This week in our local alternative paper, The Stranger, had an I Anonymous written by a teacher lamenting the quality of students he/she has had over the last 10 years in the profession. So you can assume by that this person is likely under 40 and even they are alarmed at the lack of intellectual curiosity and discipline required to get through even the simplest of demands in the public schools.
Then I read the article below in the NY Times about how to communicate and relate to the younger worker. The implication is once over 40 you are completely unaware to current technology, communication and style of business. Well if anything that is again perpetuating the same nonsense that our generation said not that long ago. The number one complaint is the "manner" in which the young perceive elders communicate. Direct, with orders and without collaboration and consideration.
My favorite is the excuses as to why they don't return calls, answer them in the first place or respond to emails. Charming and they are just excuses. The silliness of Facebook and texting also seems to be a great divide. Again I thought Facebook is a SOCIAL networking device and texting a detailed memo or instruction seems odd as well... perhaps that is the real issue distinguishing between what is social and personal with what is professional.
EXCUSE ME? What happened to simply respecting your boss. If your boss is an asshole that is regardless of age. And why the young think they need to be considered when asked to complete a task or do the work required is beyond my understanding. Perhaps I am part of the problem then? I simply have the belief that when I work for someone else they have a reason, a plan and the experience to request of me whatever is in reason to do something. Now no one likes to be spoken to rudely but I get the idea if you speak "directly" to some individuals that is perceived as confrontational
I recently had a conversation with a gentleman in the Sustainable fields who was let go when he was perceived as just that - too aggressive, too demanding of his young staff and their sensibilities. He saw them as complacent and lazy and apathetic. He formed his own company and just took a million dollar contract from his former employers. This doesn't surprise me. The increasing number of frustrations I hear from people is all about how the young just don't get it.. they have had it too easy and not had to work hard enough. Interesting that is from the same people who contributed to largely that problem but tough times lead to tough reflection.
And I have to wonder about the popularity of shows where acclaimed chef, Gordon Ramsay or hairdresser, Tabatha Coffey, come in to remake failing salons or restaurants while the overwhelmed owners stand by alternately upset or afraid and often resistant to their harsh manners as they offer their ideas. These people are quite aware of these powerful (and ironically non-American) dominate and successful individuals personality and yet almost always they complain about their manner often flatly rejecting their advice. In the meantime both individuals have maintained successful jobs and television careers as people seem fascinated with them. Yet undoubtedly no one wants to work for or with them despite it because they cannot handle direct honesty.
I can assure you that is largely another reason why many companies are moving overseas. The cost of doing bu sines along with the ease of doing it makes it quite appealing. Something tells me in India and China there are not a lot of Meyer Briggs tests being administered and group hugs to get staff in place and working. The amount of psychology and silliness devoted to the "perfect fit" in the workplace has to be not only costly but time consuming. Perfect fit used to refer to shoes now it is about making sure the work place remains placid aka homogeneous if you ask me.. diversity be damned the tests make that almost impossible
My former business partner was 24 and despite his talent his work ethic lacked. It was a struggle and I knew when the economy turned I had to make the decision to shut the business because he was not capable or even interested in doing anything to make it otherwise. It was not something I enjoyed doing but ironically divorcing my husband and shuttering our prior business was easy because we may have had a poor personal relationship but our business and work ethic was solid and ultimately successful so we could do that with relative ease.
I will never work with a younger partner again and do not relish working with them. Its bad enough teaching again. I don't know how many times I hear from kids "you are rude" and when asked to explain what that means and for them to model what is not "rude" to them they are at a loss of words. They don't want to admit they want me to cajole and cater to them rather than perfunctorily request of them compliance and cooperation. Sorry I am not there to make friends I am there to administer and complete another teacher's lesson plan and I don't have the luxury and time to do it otherwise. And we wonder why our country is collapsing economically.
____________________________________________________________
Bridging the Workplace Generation Gap: It Starts With a Text
By ALINA TUGEND
Published: November 6, 2009
IF we believe the advertisements, with plastic surgery and Spanx we can all look 25 until we drop. But apparently that’s not enough anymore — looking young doesn’t do you much good if you still act old.
And I don’t mean old as in groaning when you get off the couch or driving an Oldsmobile. (Oops, they’re not made anymore.) It’s far more subtle than that. It means wearing a watch (young people just check their cellphones), counting out exact change and still using a landline.
Does it even matter if my actions give away my age? We all grow old, even the coolest among us, and there’s not a whole lot we can do it about it. Do I really want to wrap my brain around the latest Internet fad or celebrity of the month just to appear young?
See, there I am being cynical and defensive, which is an old attitude (see No. 177), says Pamela Redmond Satran, author of the book “How Not to Act Old: 185 ways to Pass for Phat, Sick, Hot, Dope, Awesome, or at Least Not Totally Lame” (HarperCollins, $14.99).
The point, she says, is not to look like a 26-year-old or even to necessarily act like one, but to be open to the fact that times have changed. And if we 40-plus-year-olds refuse to acknowledge that, we’re only punishing ourselves.
This is particularly true in the workplace. Much of the baby boom generation is going to want to — and, in many cases, going to have to — stay on the job longer. “But we won’t be working with our fellow septuagenarians, but with people our children’s ages,” Ms. Satran says.
Now, the generation gap is nothing new. In fact, it seems most people have recognized it since at least 40 years ago. In a Pew Research Center survey released this summer, 79 percent of respondents said they thought there was a generation gap, slightly higher than the 74 percent who answered affirmatively to the same question in a 1969 Gallup poll.
What’s interesting is that the generational divide is far less obvious than in the 1960s. Parents and their children dress similarly now, at least in casual clothes, and may listen to some of the same music. We don’t hear the ’60s slogan “You can’t trust anyone over 30,” but that’s probably because our children are silently texting it rather than shouting it.
Yes, much of what divides us now is technology. According to the Pew survey, while three-quarters of adults age 18 to 30 say they use the Internet daily, only four in 10 adults age 65 to 74 do so.
With cellphones, the difference is even greater: of adults 65 and over, just 5 percent get most or all of their calls on a cellphone, and only 11 percent sometimes use their cellphones to text. For adults under the age of 30, 72 percent use their cellphones for most or all of their calls, while 87 percent text. And according to my informal survey of two children living in my house, those under 18 years old text, oh, about 100 percent of the time.
The trouble is, even when I think I’m up to date, it turns out I’m not. Still sending e-mail? That’s so old. “Leave it to the evil young to get all of us old people addicted to e-mail and then to abandon the form in favor of texting and Facebook,” Ms. Satran writes. If you’re already hopelessly hooked on e-mail, like I am, just make them short and sweet — no rambling missives.
Do you obligingly leave a voice mail after the beep? Don’t bother if you’re calling someone younger than 30. They don’t listen to them. To see who called, they look at the missed calls on their cellphone (because they don’t use landlines, remember?).
But it’s not all about technology. Some of it is just attitude. The “old” management style was often harsh and combative, Ms. Satran said. The “young” style is more indirect and conciliatory.
“I grew up in a newsroom where everyone was confrontational,” she said. “The loudest guy won. That’s all changed, and older guys might not get it. Interrupting someone and being direct might not be effective.” Younger people, she said, tend to be more indirect; this isn’t necessarily bad or good, just different, and “for an older person who wants to survive and thrive, he needs to get on board with the changes.”
Here’s an example of how the generations may butt heads: Lisa Orrell, who has written two books about what she calls millennials — those now in their 20s — and conducts workshops for them, said she often heard complaints from younger workers about the curt tone from managers and bosses. They feel disrespected when they are ordered, rather than asked, to do something, when they are commanded rather than requested.
And maybe baby boomers have themselves to blame. After all, we are the generation that raised our children through negotiation, who explained why it was important to visit Grandma or wear a jacket rather than using the all-purpose “because I told you to.”
So a younger worker could easily anger an older manager by questioning why she has to do a certain task instead of just putting her head down and getting on with it. And an older manager who brusquely says, “Just do it,” or recounts how much tougher things were in his time, could easily — if unknowingly — help widen the generation gap.
“I advise managers to take a step back and try to explain to workers why it’s important what they do and how it will build on the goals they have in the company,” Ms. Orrell said.
But the etiquette divide can swing both ways. For example, most people of my generation, trained to write thank-you notes, find failure to answer an e-mail just plain rude. But, Ms. Satran said, it often means the person you wrote to is so inundated with information that he forgot. Don’t take it as a deliberate slight. If it happens, persist politely by calling or sending follow-up messages. If you continue to receive no answer, take it as a rejection. That’s the modern, nonconfrontational way.
Robert Butler, who is 82 and president of the International Longevity Center, a research organization, said he certainly agreed that older workers would benefit if they embraced rather than rejected novelty.
“My personal plea is for old people to get with it, technologically and in other ways,” Mr. Butler said.
Or, as Ms. Satran says, “Be open rather than skeptical, curious rather than dismissive, accepting rather than defensive.”
And sometimes the generations can synchronize wonderfully. A comment on a recent blog post on Ms. Satran’s book applauded the disappearance of voice mail: “At almost 48, I am definitely old, and all I can say about that whole voice mail thing is, ‘Thank GOD — finally freed from this hateful tyranny.’ Well done, young people. Well done.”
Friday, November 6, 2009
Miguided Dreams and Notions
Well Congress caved into the NAHB and other real estate lobby groups requesting the extension of the new home buyers credit. A real waste of time and money this credit has already served a purpose and with job losses on the rise and further deterioration of the economy (although not if you are on Wall Street) I find it hard to believe this is all that necessary.
The New York Times makes a good argument for why this is a useless waste of time. I cannot agree more. This along with the idiotic approval of mother-in-law units here in Seattle I have to wonder who these things really serve? I am not sure right now we NEED or even WANT more housing? True that homes closer to the cities and transportation are less likely to be foreclosed I am not sure in a city that struggles with transportation as Seattle does really needs more urban housing. And our housing crisis is just reaching new levels and the loss of Boeing's recent contract among other behemoths in the region struggling I can't see building 800 sq ft mother in law cottages as something that is all that important.
I see a ton of foreclosed condos converting to Apartments, tons of Apartments for rent and basically a lot of houses for sale. What exactly will these cottages do for the city and its overall desirability? That and is Seattle really that much of a destination city anymore? What cities other than San Francisco and New York are. They still have enough diverse job opportunities to attract a mobile young population who would buy such silly little foibles as the cottage. Yes I want to buy a home literally adjacent to my landlord/owner/seller.
I think its interesting that lobbying green, red, blue or otherwise goes to show that business is back 2005 style.
____________________________________________________________________________
A Bad Way to Spend Money
The new program, which will continue through the spring, is being portrayed as a rescue plan for the ailing housing market. But this costly giveaway to the real estate and mortgage industry will spend far more in taxpayers’ dollars than it can ever deliver in economic benefit. As happened with the cash-for-clunkers program in the automobile industry, the program will make housing look momentarily better but is unlikely to contribute to long-term recovery.
The original program allowed a credit of $8,000 for first-time home buyers who earn up to $75,000 individually or $150,000 filing jointly. The program got a black eye earlier this month when the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration reported that tens of thousands of people had exploited loopholes in the law to claim credits for which they appeared not to be eligible.
But even before that, housing analysts were finding that the tax credit did little for home sales. Between 80 percent and 90 percent of the people who have bought homes using the credit would have purchased those homes without it. To put it another way, the tax credit has been wasteful spending, not stimulus spending.
The bill that passed both houses of Congress this week extends the program through April 2010 and grants the full tax credit to couples who earn up to $225,000. The expanded program introduces a $6,500 tax credit for people who already own homes but want to buy new ones.
The vote gives campaigning lawmakers something to crow about on the stump. But the new tax credit appeals primarily to affluent voters who do not need the government’s help buying property. And encouraging buyers to leave one house for another does nothing to reduce the glut of homes on the market, which is an important factor driving down housing prices. Finally, the tax credit does nothing about the central housing problem, which is foreclosure.
If Congress wants to spend the taxpayers’ money to do something about the struggling housing market — and it should — it should invest the money where it is most
The New York Times makes a good argument for why this is a useless waste of time. I cannot agree more. This along with the idiotic approval of mother-in-law units here in Seattle I have to wonder who these things really serve? I am not sure right now we NEED or even WANT more housing? True that homes closer to the cities and transportation are less likely to be foreclosed I am not sure in a city that struggles with transportation as Seattle does really needs more urban housing. And our housing crisis is just reaching new levels and the loss of Boeing's recent contract among other behemoths in the region struggling I can't see building 800 sq ft mother in law cottages as something that is all that important.
I see a ton of foreclosed condos converting to Apartments, tons of Apartments for rent and basically a lot of houses for sale. What exactly will these cottages do for the city and its overall desirability? That and is Seattle really that much of a destination city anymore? What cities other than San Francisco and New York are. They still have enough diverse job opportunities to attract a mobile young population who would buy such silly little foibles as the cottage. Yes I want to buy a home literally adjacent to my landlord/owner/seller.
I think its interesting that lobbying green, red, blue or otherwise goes to show that business is back 2005 style.
____________________________________________________________________________
A Bad Way to Spend Money
The new program, which will continue through the spring, is being portrayed as a rescue plan for the ailing housing market. But this costly giveaway to the real estate and mortgage industry will spend far more in taxpayers’ dollars than it can ever deliver in economic benefit. As happened with the cash-for-clunkers program in the automobile industry, the program will make housing look momentarily better but is unlikely to contribute to long-term recovery.
The original program allowed a credit of $8,000 for first-time home buyers who earn up to $75,000 individually or $150,000 filing jointly. The program got a black eye earlier this month when the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration reported that tens of thousands of people had exploited loopholes in the law to claim credits for which they appeared not to be eligible.
But even before that, housing analysts were finding that the tax credit did little for home sales. Between 80 percent and 90 percent of the people who have bought homes using the credit would have purchased those homes without it. To put it another way, the tax credit has been wasteful spending, not stimulus spending.
The bill that passed both houses of Congress this week extends the program through April 2010 and grants the full tax credit to couples who earn up to $225,000. The expanded program introduces a $6,500 tax credit for people who already own homes but want to buy new ones.
The vote gives campaigning lawmakers something to crow about on the stump. But the new tax credit appeals primarily to affluent voters who do not need the government’s help buying property. And encouraging buyers to leave one house for another does nothing to reduce the glut of homes on the market, which is an important factor driving down housing prices. Finally, the tax credit does nothing about the central housing problem, which is foreclosure.
If Congress wants to spend the taxpayers’ money to do something about the struggling housing market — and it should — it should invest the money where it is most
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Getting Sick in America
Getting Sick in America is just a bad idea. If you are one of the many uninsured or under insured finding care for an illness is one tough challenge. Then the risk of being declared as having a "pre-existent" condition or simply being declined coverage for one of the many inventive and unique reasons insurers have to minimize coverage (well how do you think they pay for the 1.5 million dollars a day in lobbying against a public option?) makes it tough for the workers of America to get healthy.
Getting sick also means taking a day off work. This for many more Americans means a loss in pay and perhaps even a job. For me as a Substitute Teacher I am paid only when I work. I have no health care (I buy my own at significant cost) and I have no sick pay, vacation pay and when June comes NO pay. Ironically I sub for many teachers who are sick and well covered in schools where many students however are not. They come because their families cannot afford to keep them home.
Today the New York Times discusses this issue with special note of Wal-Mart (you know the company that does everything to promote sustainability but that does not include its workers) to food service industry. Yes nothing promotes the containment of illness by allowing people who handle food to remain sick on the job.
Its as if America has returned to its pre-industrial roots. Is this 1919 and can the Triangle Shirtwaist fire be far behind. Given the current state of food handling I keep thinking Upton Sinclair would have a great sequel to the Jungle. The state of the Nation is one without a Nation. States seemingly have taken more control over their population with even cities demanding higher wages and health care that exceeds current Federal guidelines and standards. And with that you have some states whose progressiveness works (such as Massachusetts) and others that fail at minimal levels (too many to mention here).
We are also at 1919 levels with the idea that H1N1 virus is a pandemic. The flu pandemic of that earlier times killed millions but the world was a smaller place so I guess add a few zeros to see what the end results of this one will be. This is a National and International health crisis. Coupled with our economic one the results are devastating.
I again wonder why we are not angry. Why we aren't doing more, calling, protesting and writing demanding the CHANGE we so desperately need.
_______________________________________________________________________
Lack of Paid Sick Days May Worsen Flu Pandemic
by Steven Greenhouse
Published 11/3/2009
Tens of millions of people, or about 40 percent of all private-sector workers, do not receive paid sick days, and as a result many of them cannot afford to stay home when they are ill. Even some companies that provide paid sick days have policies that make it difficult to call in sick, like giving demerits each time someone misses a day.
Public health experts say policies like these encourage many people with H1N1, commonly called swine flu, to report to work despite official warnings from the government and most companies that they should stay home.
“For people who are really caught on a weekly income, if they can’t make a go of it, they might say, ‘I’m desperate. I’m going to do what I have to do, and I’m going into work even though I’m sick,’” said Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy at Harvard.
He warned that this might spread disease, and that these financially squeezed workers might send their flu-stricken children to school, infecting others.
Well before President Obama declared H1N1 a national emergency, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was emphasizing that businesses should adopt “flexible leave policies” to allow workers with the flu to stay home. In one advisory, the C.D.C. encouraged employers “to develop nonpunitive leave policies.”
Despite such recommendations, some employees say they have no choice but to go to work sick.
When Latisha Carter caught H1N1 from her 6-year-old daughter in June, she suffered headaches, chills and diarrhea, but she reported to her $13-an-hour help desk job at a Milwaukee insurer nonetheless. The temp agency that placed her does not offer her paid sick days.
“If you’re sick, they encourage you to stay home, but I couldn’t afford to take off if I wasn’t going to get paid,” said Ms. Carter, 29, who said she stuck to her small work area to avoid spreading the flu.
Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, a group of 30,000 public health professionals, said, “Providing workers with paid sick days is essential if we’re going to get serious about the public health recommendations for swine flu — stay home until 24 hours after your fever is broken. That usually takes about five days.”
For many businesses, H1N1 has created a dilemma. “This is a very difficult issue for companies,” said Nina G. Stillman, a lawyer with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius who advises companies on sick-leave policy. “Employers who do not offer sick days are not prepared to offer them now, and they recognize that this may result in not achieving what they say they would like, which is that people who are sick stay home.”
The C.D.C. says that swine flu is widespread in 48 of the 50 states and has already hit as many as 5.7 million Americans.
Many worker groups and women’s groups have seized on the H1N1 pandemic to argue that Congress should enact legislation guaranteeing paid sick days. San Francisco and Washington have enacted such legislation, but similar measures face obstacles in Congress.
“Sometimes you talk about legislation in the abstract, but this is making people begin to understand the problem,” said Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut and lead sponsor in the House of a bill, with more than 100 co-sponsors, that would require employers with 15 or more workers to provide seven paid sick days a year.
Business groups oppose such legislation, calling it expensive and unnecessary. They say that employers already allow and even encourage sick employees to stay home.
“The vast majority of employers provide paid leave of some sort,” said Randel K. Johnson, senior vice president for labor at the United States Chamber of Commerce. “The problem is not nearly as great as some people say. Lots of employers work these things out on an ad hoc basis with their employees.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 39 percent of private-sector workers do not receive paid sick leave.
Workers at many retailers and restaurants say their employers’ policies discourage them from calling in sick. At Wal-Mart, when employees miss one or more days because of illness or other reasons, they generally get a demerit point. Once employees obtain four points over a six-month period, they begin receiving warnings that can lead to dismissal.
In addition, when Wal-Mart employees call in sick, their first day off is not a paid sick day (although workers can use a vacation day or personal day), but the second and third days are paid. The policy is meant to keep workers who are not actually sick from taking a day off to, say, go fishing.
Paul Hotchkiss, a support manager at a Wal-Mart store in Hastings, Minn., said the point system pressured him to report to work two weeks ago even though he had swine flu.
“There are a lot of people who have swine flu right now who are going in because they worry about getting fired for having too many points,” Mr. Hotchkiss said.
His supervisor sent him home because he looked pale, he said, adding that he did not see a doctor because he could not afford the company’s health insurance.
Wal-Mart officials say the company insists that workers with H1N1 stay home and has policies making it easy to do so.
Mandy Pillar, a nurse at Linwood Elementary School in Wichita, Kan., said more than 20 percent of the students were out sick when H1N1 swept through two weeks ago.
“We were sending 12 and 15 kids home a day with fever,” she said. “The next day they’d be back. They’d say, ‘I still feel bad. I still have a fever.’ So we’d ask, ‘Why are you back here?’ And they’d say, ‘because Mommy had to work.’ ”
A survey last year by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago found that 68 percent of those not eligible for paid sick days said they had gone to work with a contagious illness like the flu, while 53 percent eligible for paid sick days said they had done so.
That survey found that 11 percent of respondents said that they had lost a job for taking off for an illness for themselves or a family member, and 13 percent said they had been told they would be fired or suspended if they missed work because of personal or family illness.
Ricardo Copantitla, a food server at Thalassa, a restaurant in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Manhattan, said he called in sick last year when he had the seasonal flu, not H1N1.
“The restaurant said you have to come to work, because they were short of people,” he said. “I had a bad cough, and I felt tired and terrible. But I went to work because I feared being fired.”
Thalassa did not respond to phone and e-mail requests for comment.
Like many restaurant chains, White Castle, which runs 421 hamburger restaurants nationwide, says it takes H1N1 seriously.
“Our policy is that when team members experience illness, we require that they stay home until they are feeling better,” said Jamie Richardson, White Castle’s vice president for corporate relations. “Our policy provides for time off as people need it.”
White Castle does not provide paid sick days, he acknowledged, but he said that workers who stayed home sick would not suffer lost pay because they could work extra hours after recovering.
Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute, said H1N1 had spurred an attitude shift throughout corporate America.
“Before, people looked askance at absenteeism — someone staying out was a problem to the company,” she said. “There was this view that being sick was malingering. But now if someone comes in sick — and there has been subtle pressure to do this — you worry that you can get something very dangerous. You worry that you could bring it home to your children, to your elderly parent, to your husband or wife.”
Getting sick also means taking a day off work. This for many more Americans means a loss in pay and perhaps even a job. For me as a Substitute Teacher I am paid only when I work. I have no health care (I buy my own at significant cost) and I have no sick pay, vacation pay and when June comes NO pay. Ironically I sub for many teachers who are sick and well covered in schools where many students however are not. They come because their families cannot afford to keep them home.
Today the New York Times discusses this issue with special note of Wal-Mart (you know the company that does everything to promote sustainability but that does not include its workers) to food service industry. Yes nothing promotes the containment of illness by allowing people who handle food to remain sick on the job.
Its as if America has returned to its pre-industrial roots. Is this 1919 and can the Triangle Shirtwaist fire be far behind. Given the current state of food handling I keep thinking Upton Sinclair would have a great sequel to the Jungle. The state of the Nation is one without a Nation. States seemingly have taken more control over their population with even cities demanding higher wages and health care that exceeds current Federal guidelines and standards. And with that you have some states whose progressiveness works (such as Massachusetts) and others that fail at minimal levels (too many to mention here).
We are also at 1919 levels with the idea that H1N1 virus is a pandemic. The flu pandemic of that earlier times killed millions but the world was a smaller place so I guess add a few zeros to see what the end results of this one will be. This is a National and International health crisis. Coupled with our economic one the results are devastating.
I again wonder why we are not angry. Why we aren't doing more, calling, protesting and writing demanding the CHANGE we so desperately need.
_______________________________________________________________________
Lack of Paid Sick Days May Worsen Flu Pandemic
by Steven Greenhouse
Published 11/3/2009
Tens of millions of people, or about 40 percent of all private-sector workers, do not receive paid sick days, and as a result many of them cannot afford to stay home when they are ill. Even some companies that provide paid sick days have policies that make it difficult to call in sick, like giving demerits each time someone misses a day.
Public health experts say policies like these encourage many people with H1N1, commonly called swine flu, to report to work despite official warnings from the government and most companies that they should stay home.
“For people who are really caught on a weekly income, if they can’t make a go of it, they might say, ‘I’m desperate. I’m going to do what I have to do, and I’m going into work even though I’m sick,’” said Robert Blendon, a professor of health policy at Harvard.
He warned that this might spread disease, and that these financially squeezed workers might send their flu-stricken children to school, infecting others.
Well before President Obama declared H1N1 a national emergency, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was emphasizing that businesses should adopt “flexible leave policies” to allow workers with the flu to stay home. In one advisory, the C.D.C. encouraged employers “to develop nonpunitive leave policies.”
Despite such recommendations, some employees say they have no choice but to go to work sick.
When Latisha Carter caught H1N1 from her 6-year-old daughter in June, she suffered headaches, chills and diarrhea, but she reported to her $13-an-hour help desk job at a Milwaukee insurer nonetheless. The temp agency that placed her does not offer her paid sick days.
“If you’re sick, they encourage you to stay home, but I couldn’t afford to take off if I wasn’t going to get paid,” said Ms. Carter, 29, who said she stuck to her small work area to avoid spreading the flu.
Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, a group of 30,000 public health professionals, said, “Providing workers with paid sick days is essential if we’re going to get serious about the public health recommendations for swine flu — stay home until 24 hours after your fever is broken. That usually takes about five days.”
For many businesses, H1N1 has created a dilemma. “This is a very difficult issue for companies,” said Nina G. Stillman, a lawyer with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius who advises companies on sick-leave policy. “Employers who do not offer sick days are not prepared to offer them now, and they recognize that this may result in not achieving what they say they would like, which is that people who are sick stay home.”
The C.D.C. says that swine flu is widespread in 48 of the 50 states and has already hit as many as 5.7 million Americans.
Many worker groups and women’s groups have seized on the H1N1 pandemic to argue that Congress should enact legislation guaranteeing paid sick days. San Francisco and Washington have enacted such legislation, but similar measures face obstacles in Congress.
“Sometimes you talk about legislation in the abstract, but this is making people begin to understand the problem,” said Rosa DeLauro, Democrat of Connecticut and lead sponsor in the House of a bill, with more than 100 co-sponsors, that would require employers with 15 or more workers to provide seven paid sick days a year.
Business groups oppose such legislation, calling it expensive and unnecessary. They say that employers already allow and even encourage sick employees to stay home.
“The vast majority of employers provide paid leave of some sort,” said Randel K. Johnson, senior vice president for labor at the United States Chamber of Commerce. “The problem is not nearly as great as some people say. Lots of employers work these things out on an ad hoc basis with their employees.”
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 39 percent of private-sector workers do not receive paid sick leave.
Workers at many retailers and restaurants say their employers’ policies discourage them from calling in sick. At Wal-Mart, when employees miss one or more days because of illness or other reasons, they generally get a demerit point. Once employees obtain four points over a six-month period, they begin receiving warnings that can lead to dismissal.
In addition, when Wal-Mart employees call in sick, their first day off is not a paid sick day (although workers can use a vacation day or personal day), but the second and third days are paid. The policy is meant to keep workers who are not actually sick from taking a day off to, say, go fishing.
Paul Hotchkiss, a support manager at a Wal-Mart store in Hastings, Minn., said the point system pressured him to report to work two weeks ago even though he had swine flu.
“There are a lot of people who have swine flu right now who are going in because they worry about getting fired for having too many points,” Mr. Hotchkiss said.
His supervisor sent him home because he looked pale, he said, adding that he did not see a doctor because he could not afford the company’s health insurance.
Wal-Mart officials say the company insists that workers with H1N1 stay home and has policies making it easy to do so.
Mandy Pillar, a nurse at Linwood Elementary School in Wichita, Kan., said more than 20 percent of the students were out sick when H1N1 swept through two weeks ago.
“We were sending 12 and 15 kids home a day with fever,” she said. “The next day they’d be back. They’d say, ‘I still feel bad. I still have a fever.’ So we’d ask, ‘Why are you back here?’ And they’d say, ‘because Mommy had to work.’ ”
A survey last year by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago found that 68 percent of those not eligible for paid sick days said they had gone to work with a contagious illness like the flu, while 53 percent eligible for paid sick days said they had done so.
That survey found that 11 percent of respondents said that they had lost a job for taking off for an illness for themselves or a family member, and 13 percent said they had been told they would be fired or suspended if they missed work because of personal or family illness.
Ricardo Copantitla, a food server at Thalassa, a restaurant in the TriBeCa neighborhood of Manhattan, said he called in sick last year when he had the seasonal flu, not H1N1.
“The restaurant said you have to come to work, because they were short of people,” he said. “I had a bad cough, and I felt tired and terrible. But I went to work because I feared being fired.”
Thalassa did not respond to phone and e-mail requests for comment.
Like many restaurant chains, White Castle, which runs 421 hamburger restaurants nationwide, says it takes H1N1 seriously.
“Our policy is that when team members experience illness, we require that they stay home until they are feeling better,” said Jamie Richardson, White Castle’s vice president for corporate relations. “Our policy provides for time off as people need it.”
White Castle does not provide paid sick days, he acknowledged, but he said that workers who stayed home sick would not suffer lost pay because they could work extra hours after recovering.
Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute, said H1N1 had spurred an attitude shift throughout corporate America.
“Before, people looked askance at absenteeism — someone staying out was a problem to the company,” she said. “There was this view that being sick was malingering. But now if someone comes in sick — and there has been subtle pressure to do this — you worry that you can get something very dangerous. You worry that you could bring it home to your children, to your elderly parent, to your husband or wife.”
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