PARTY BUILDER
November 2005

IN THIS ISSUE:

75% of U.S. Workers Lack Decent Wages and Benefits
Public Funding of Universities Plunges
Wal-Mart Backs Schwarzenegger
Employer-Provided Health Insurance Declines — Again
Labor Party News

75% of U.S. Workers Lack Decent Wages and Benefits
Only 25.2 percent of American workers have a job that pays at least $16 per hour and provides health insurance and a pension, according to a new study by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (http://www.cepr.net).

The report, "How Good is the Economy at Creating Good Jobs?" finds that despite strong economic growth since 1979 (inflation-adjusted GDP per person increased 60 percent), the percentage of workers in good jobs remained unchanged. At the other end of the spectrum, 26.6 percent of the workforce is in a job with poor pay and that offers neither health insurance nor a pension.

"The U.S. economy has failed to convert long-term economic growth into better jobs," said John Schmitt, CEPR economist and author of the report. "In the last quarter century, the U.S. workforce has become older, more experienced and better educated, but 75 percent of workers are still struggling in jobs that do not provide health insurance, a pension and solid middle-class wages."

Public Funding of Universities Plunges
Public colleges and universities, which educate nearly 80 percent of all college students, are relying increasingly on private rather than public funding. The percentage of revenue at public universities that comes from state and local taxes declined to 64 percent in 2004 from 74 percent in 1991, according to The New York Times.

In addition, the average percentage of state tax revenues devoted to public higher education has declined for several decades. About 6.7 percent of state revenues went to higher education appropriations in 1977, but by 2000, universities' share had fallen to 4.5 percent, according to the Urban Institute.

"At those levels, we have to ask what it means to be a public institution," Katharine C. Lyall, an economist and president emeritus of the University of Wisconsin told The New York Times. "America is rapidly privatizing its public colleges and universities, whose mission used to be to serve the public good. But if private donors and corporations are providing much of a university's budget, then they will set the agenda, perhaps in ways the public likes and perhaps not. Public control is slipping away."

Wal-Mart Backs Schwarzenegger
A much publicized confidential memo sent to the Wal-Mart Board of Directors reveals plans for further reducing the burden of their employee health costs by cutting spousal benefits, hiring more part-time employees and by discouraging older and less healthy workers from seeking employment. According to Wal-Mart Watch (http://www.walmartwatch.com), the company provides health care benefits to just 44 percent of its 1.3 million U.S. employees. Obviously, Wal-Mart's refusal to provide adequate health insurance for its employees and their families shifts these costs onto taxpayers.

It comes as no surprise then that in the past year, Wal-Mart and Walton family members have contributed approximately $1 million to numerous causes backed by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The governor has vetoed two important pieces of legislation aimed at the company: 1) a bill to require the state to disclose names of companies whose workers get government health services meant for poor residents; and 2) a bill to stop employers from locking workers inside workplaces.

Contributions include $250,000 to the California Recovery Team from Christy Walton on October 7th the same day Schwarzenegger vetoed the health disclosure bill.

Employer-Provided Health Insurance Declines — Again
Wal-Mart is just one example of the trend away from employer-provided coverage. Last year, nearly 3.7 million fewer people had employer-provided insurance than in 2000, a decline for the fourth year in a row. In 2000, 58.9 percent of workers had employer-provided coverage, whereas only 55.9 percent of workers had coverage in 2004.

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the decline of job-based health insurance does not account for population growth. As many as 11 million more people would have had employer-provided health insurance in 2004 if the coverage rate had remained at the 2000 level. At the same time, the Medicaid rolls (including the State Children's Health Insurance Program) have increased by nearly eight million with a coverage increase of 2.3 percentage points.

Most children whose parents lost job-based insurance could pick up coverage under Medicaid. But many working adults who lost job-based coverage joined the increasing number of Americans without health insurance nearly 46 million in 2004 (up from 40 million in 2000). Middle-income Americans between the ages of 25 and 54 were 26.7 percent more likely to be uninsured in 2004 than in 2000.

"Prognosis Worsens for Workers' Health Care: Fourth consecutive year of decline in employer-provided insurance coverage" by Elise Gould, Economic Policy Institute, October 2005. (http://www.epinet.org)

Labor Party News
The Labor Party News is published ten times a year - every month except August and November. The News will be back in December! Back issues are available at http://www.thelaborparty.org

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