May 2012

As CNN reports – wage theft complaints have increased 400% over the last decade – with over 7,000 lawsuits alleging wage and hour violations against employers filed just in 2011.  The complaints center on workers accusing their employers of not paying them for all the hours they worked or not paying overtime that they were entitled to.  Some of the companies that have had suits filed against them are Walmart, Starbucks, and Bank of A

Anyone who doubts the United States has been in an economic free fall for the last three decades should check out the new United Nations Children’s Fund report on child poverty.  OF the 34 wealthiest nations looked at by UNICEF – the United States has the second highest child poverty rate of all of them – with a staggering 23% of all American children living in poverty.

The National Employment Law Project is reporting that another 70,000 Americans will be cut off from unemployment insurance next month.  Already – nearly half a million Americans have lost their unemployment benefits this year thanks to austerity measures demanded by Republicans in Congress – and rubber-stamped by Democrats and President Obama – that cut unemployment insurance down from 99 weeks to 79 weeks in states that haven’t seen thei

Check out a new report by the Associated Press today – showing that average CEO compensation topped $9.6 million in 2011 – the highest mark since the AP started looking at compensation numbers back in 2006.  Meanwhile – wages for working people have barely budged – and it would now take the typical American worker 244 years just to make what their CEO makes in one year. 

And among Fortune 500 CEOs – it’s even worse - they mak