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GUEST OPINION Guest Opinion: Wealth gap: why it's widening, what we can do By Michelle Glass MailTribune.com By Michelle Glass Posted Sep. 19, 2015 @ 12:01 am By Michelle Glass Posted Sep. 19, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> A few important points should be added to the Mail Tribune’s report last Sunday that “the divide between the haves and have-nots is growing wider, threatening the long-term economic vitality of Jackson County and Oregon as a whole.” First, the growing wealth gap is not a force out of our control, like a thunderstorm that happens to move into the area. It has been caused by deliberate policies by big corporations, the richest 1 percent, and the politicians they fund. Second, there is a new wave in this country of grassroots organizing and public pressure to reverse the trend of wealth flowing from working people to those at the top. America built our economy by making sure that millions of working people had enough money to support jobs and small businesses in our communities. The minimum wage, for example, was designed not only to help people support themselves but also to ensure that small businesses had enough paying customers and that their competitors would all be paying at least as much. Assembly-line workers and laborers won living wages not because of education but because they joined together in unions and negotiated for a fair share of the wealth they produced. In sawmills and plywood mills, for example, employees benefited from union wage standards won by workers in big companies throughout the Northwest, even if their own mill wasn’t unionized. In recent decades, however, big money interests have waged a systematic war to take more of the pie for themselves. That’s why 95 percent of income gains since the Great Recession have gone to the wealthiest 1 percent. In the recent legislative session, their lobbyists again blocked increases in Oregon’s minimum wage that would have provided workers an additional $3.2 billion per year to spend in their communities. Legal protection for workers who try to form unions has been rendered nearly meaningless, while big corporations have been spreading changes that drive down workers’ pay even more. One device is to claim that people who really are employees are just contractors not entitled to overtime pay, benefits, worker’s compensation, or other protections. A prime example is FedEx, which claims that its drivers don’t really work for the company but are independent business people! Another device for shifting wealth from workers to those at the top is the policy of companies such as Walmart to provide only part-time hours or designate positions as “temporary” in order to avoid covering health care costs. A recent University of Oregon study found that taxpayers pay $1.7 billion per year to subsidize low wages and lack of benefits at Walmart, McDonald’s and other companies. A third device to keep wages artificially low is to maintain immigration laws that label 11 million working people as “illegal” and therefore unable to insist on fair pay. That drives down living standards not just for those workers but for everyone. In recent years, there has been a growing grassroots movement against the ways big money interests have been taking wealth from the rest of us. Walmart and fast-food workers have conducted short-term strikes and other protests, forcing those companies to try to stave off significant raises by making token improvements in pay levels. In this year’s legislative session, the Fair Shot coalition that included leading unions, faith groups and grassroots organizations in communities of color united behind successful legislation that will ensure five paid sick days per year for every full-time worker in workplaces with 10 or more employees and make it easier for workers to save for retirement. Similar coalitions have won meaningful minimum wage increases in Portland, Seattle and many other cities or states. Huge numbers of people in Oregon and every region of the country have turned out to rallies for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who has made the current shift of wealth from bottom to top the core issue of his campaign. That has forced other candidates for office at all levels to at least give lip service to the issue as well. As the Mail Tribune reported last week, it’s plain to see that the growing wealth gap is making it difficult for households to survive and for small businesses to recover from the Great Recession. If you are interested in being part of a movement to do something about it, please get in touch with us in Oregon Action at [email protected] . Michelle Glass is regional organizer for Oregon Action, a grassroots organization focused on issues affecting working people and communities. By Michelle Glass MailTribune.com By Michelle Glass Posted Sep. 19, 2015 @ 12:01 am » Comment or view comments /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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