Replies

That is a question facing Richie Calladio-Nuzzo; his wife, Jenni; and their 13-year-old daughter, Michelle, of Newton, Conn. Mr. Calladio-Nuzzo, 34, an electrician, used to earn at least $30 an hour, with benefits, in union-covered jobs. But he spent nine months during 2002 unemployed and still could not find work in the winter and spring of 2003. In May, Mr. Calladio-Nuzzo received permission from his union to take a nonunion job, which pays $20 an hour, and offers no benefits.

Let me get this straight. The union couldn't provide him with a job for over a year and he actually had to ask permission from the union to get a non-union job? WOW!

It's a shame he got involved with a union in the first place. The homebuilders have been doing very well these past years. The industry is going gangbusters. Or, should I say "unionbusters"! I'm sure that those homebuilders use a lot of electricians to build their houses!

I don't see a conflict between the experiences of the long-term unemployed and the outstanding numbers we're getting from the economy today. I don't see the nyt article "trashing" the President or attempting to downplay the really good news..

If there is one word used over and over in these threads it's, lag. The classic recovery expects job creation when growth exceed three percent and is expected to continue. That's happening.

But, there's an aspect that is not in the classic recovery. I think Mr. Roach calls it job leakage. It's due to offshoring and productivity increases. Something has caused a glut of workers in some fields. (ILLEGAL immigrants aside.) Whatever, there are phrases that are also often used in these threads. To wit, make a career change, relocate, get prepared for those great new jobs that are just around the corner, for example.

It seems to me that the people described in the nyt article represent those many Americans whose task it is is to adjust to the new era. It seems to me that they are trying. Why is there so much enmity against them? It seems to go beyond my favorite analogy, gawkers at traffic accidents -- schadenfreude, if you will.