Jobs, jobs, jobs!

Here’s how the corporate media present the enormous problem of unemployment now seizing this country: It’s bad. It’s so sad. But there’s nothing you can do about it; that’s how capitalism works. Maybe things will get better.

Officially, unemployment is now 9.6 percent and rising. At least one analyst says it’s probably more than 10 percent because the figures don’t count the millions incarcerated or those on Social Security Disability programs. Both have “reduced the proportion of adults seeking jobs, at least compared to recessions of the past. Millions of Americans who would otherwise be counted as unemployed don’t get counted at all.” (Greg Burns, Chicago Tribune, July 7)

We all know that the official figure doubles when you include those who have given up looking because there is nothing out there (“discouraged” workers) and those who work as little as one hour a week but want to work full-time.

This means that more than 20 million workers find themselves stranded without the paychecks needed to pay for daily expenses in addition to debts: medical bills, credit card debt, mortgages and car payments. The result is chaos in their lives.

The media are right about one thing. This IS capitalism. This IS how it works. It’s a hellish system, especially in a period of economic crisis—which is a recurrent feature of capitalism.

But that doesn’t mean the working class has to sit back and take it.

A real movement for jobs can demand that the government put money directly into job creation instead of giving away trillions to the banks and insurance companies with the vague promise that somehow that will stimulate the economy—which it hasn’t, not in the least.

A real movement for jobs can begin to contest the legal right of the bosses to just throw out workers when profits are weak. It’s the workers who built the plants, who created the wealth in the first place. They have years of equity in their jobs. A good chunk of their wages has been deferred to cover pensions and medical plans, which are now threatened. The workers have a right to their jobs and to control their workplaces.

In September, the G20 heads of state will be meeting on the economic crisis in Pittsburgh. It’s a good time and a great place for workers to demand that jobs come first in any plans under discussion. Many groups and coalitions are organizing protests and other events.

The Bail Out the People Movement, which just participated in a successful National People’s Summit and Tent City in Detroit, is putting out a call for a Global Week of Solidarity with the Unemployed to take place in Pittsburgh Sept. 19-26. Its main demand is jobs, and it will erect a tent city in Pittsburgh for the unemployed. A major march is planned for Sept. 20.

Pittsburgh. September 19 through 26. Put those dates on your calendar. Workers need jobs, jobs, jobs!