Wall Street 2011 Pay on Record Pace Amidst Layoffs, Cancelled Holiday Parties (for 12/21/11)

A stunning Christmas hypocrisy from Wall Street Banks: They will pay a record $156 billion in 2011 wages, benefits, and bonuses, even though the financial sector cut 200,000 from its workforce this year. This is 3.7% more than 2010. Goldman Sachs workers will receive an average total pay package of $362,862, even though it reported its second loss ever as a public company. Banks will not celebrate the Holidays lavishly this year. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/wall-street-pay-2011_n_1160580.html

Blue-Collar Workers: Now Temporary in Permanent Poverty (for 12/20/11)

Today's blue-collar workers get temporary work and face permanent poverty. They get paid low wages from firms that staff temporary workers for big-box retailers. High unemployment means little job security for these workers as replacements are immediately available to start in place of unproductive workers. They also do not receive medical benefits for doing hard, tiring, back-breaking work. In one example, Asian and European student workers walked out in mass on a Hershey's plant to protest working conditions, including lifting heavy items and deportation threats. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/new-blue-collar-temp-warehouses_n_1158490.html

Exploitation of Port Truck Drivers by Banks (for 12/12/11)

Port truck drivers are treated, at an 82% rate, as independent contractors not employees. Goldman Sachs is a 50 percent owner of SSA Marine, an operator of four Long Beach, California port terminals. This operator has had safety problems as one worker was pinned to death between two trucks and another was nearly crushed to death by a cargo container. New companies drove unionized companies out of business and sold their trucks to their drivers to further exploit them. Everyday these drivers must pay for truck leases, sign new contracts, and inspect their vehicles, for which they are liable for damages. They get paid by the load, not an hourly wage, and do not receive benefits. Contract workers are often not covered by workplace health and safety laws.
http://www.alternet.org/occupywallst/153393/how_goldman_sachs_and_other_companies_exploit_port_truck_drivers_%E2%80%94_occupy_protesters_plan_to_shut_down_west_coast_ports_in_protest?page=entire