On Strike But Keeping Busy Summary

In the article “On Strike But Keeping Busy”, the author discusses the ongoing strike on the labor union and the employees that are affected by it. The strike has been going on for close to three months and the picketers have made very little headway. That is until recently when a federal mediator stepped in and began to brainstorm ideas with the board at Steelworkers Union, hoping to end this strike soon. While most workers have agreed to the new contract, several thousand are still unemployed due to local issues not being resolved. Meetings are ongoing, but there has been no real progress. Until a resolution is found, the unemployed plant workers are without a paycheck and without a job. When discussing unemployment, it is important to …show more content…
Structural unemployment is actually very similar to frictional, but person is structurally unemployed when they’re laid off because of the changing (and re-“structuring”) industries. This could mean that maybe a certain skillset isn’t as needed as it was beforehand, and this happens often with the rapid progression of technology that we’ve been witnessing. Structural unemployment is also usually longer lasting than frictional, because people who are frictionally unemployed usually have an open position at the ready, or at least open positions near them. Structurally unemployed people are left jobless, and in the unemployment pool, for longer because of the fact that it is so hard to find a job in the area. Whether it be due to skill set or location. Cyclical unemployment occurs when there is not enough demand by consumers for certain goods and services. This leads to less money being paid to the industries, and that leads to less money to pay employees with. “The 25 percent unemployment rate in the depth of the Great Depression in 1933 reflected mainly cyclical unemployment…” (McConnell, pp. 596). While all three types of unemployment play a huge roll in our nation economy, our main focus for this article is frictional