Wife and I watched the Movie “Company Men” today. The movie was about the impact that job loss
had on salaried workers at a large ship building corporation. These men were used to making big
salaries. After their firings, they were
faced with finding new jobs and working with a job placement company to learn
the ropes of writing good resumes and doing job interviews. One of the men, at age 60, was faced with the
impossible situation of finding a job at age 60 in the midst of the deep recession
that started in 2007. After futile job
search, he took his own life. Suicide, foreclosures
and family disintegration are facts of life during harsh economic times. These
problems are real issues that go unrecognized by most Americans.
The lead character, after doing job searches
for months, found himself working for his brother-in-law in a manual labor
job. He had been used to living the good
life; he had a big mortgage, an expensive car, and a membership to a country
club where he loved to play golf. He
lost his golf club membership, was behind on his mortgage payment, he sold his
expensive sports car and decided to have a rummage sale to raise some
money. Facing a financial crisis, he and
his wife were forced to move in with his mother. At age 37, he had tasted success but when he
lost his job, he faced the same struggles that ordinary working people go through
when they lose their long term, good paying jobs.
His boss, a division manager, also
lost his job in the corporate downsizing process. The top corporate dog was paid twelve million
dollars a year and had accumulated wealth.
He would certainly not have to face hard times. When the division manager decided to buy an
empty plant and to put people back to work things turned around for those who
had been laid off, including the hourly rated workers who had also lost their
jobs during the downsizing and out sourcing.
The all of those workers, salaried and hourly rated union members, had
job skills that would be needed in the new venture.
This movie reminded me of the
Movie “Roger and Me” Michael Moore’s great movie that demonstrated the hardships
that GM workers faced when their jobs were outsourced to Mexico in the 1980s. Roger Smith could be considered to have been
the equivalent of the big corporate boss who had a huge salary and benefits; he
was insulated from the distress that faced the salaried and hourly workers who
had lost their jobs the corporation that he headed.
I lived through a plant closing
where 4500 hourly workers had been laid off or transferred out of town. There were
also salaried workers who faced job losses, transfers or early
retirements. There suicides, divorces,
foreclosures and all of the other ills that befall people who lose their lifetime
jobs that paid good salaries and wages that made for comfortable lives.
Today, with the sequester looming
on the horizon and thanks to Republican intransigence, there are hundreds of
thousands of Americans who will be faced with permanent or temporary job losses. By closing tax loopholes for the rich and for
big corporations, this disaster can be averted, but out of touch politicians
refuse to acknowledge the facts of working life. They will get their salaries regardless of
the hardship that others will face. They
will get their full paychecks for what has become a part time job. The House of Representatives take time off
the job during times when they should be working hard to solve our national
problems. John Boehner and the Tea Bag slackers should be
fired.
