The Vanishing Middle Class

After 30 years at a factory making truck parts, Jeffrey Evans was earning $14.55 an hour in what he called “one of the better-paying jobs in the area.”  Now he makes $6.50 and moved back in with his mother.

From $42,000 A year To $6.75 An Hour

Shari Joos begins her long work day in a school cafeteria at 9:30 a.m., and ends with a 2 p.m.-to-10 p.m. shift at Wal-Mart.

All Over Appalachia

Here, where the northern swells of the Appalachians lap the southern fringe of the Rust Belt, thousands of people who long had tough but sustainable lives are being wrenched into the working poor.

Slammed by the continued decline in the automobile and steel businesses, Ohio never recovered from the recession of 2001-2, and blue-collar families who had made it partway up the economic ladder find themselves slipping back, with chaotic effects on families and dreams.

The New Economy Is Wal-Mart

A lot of major employers have left, and the town is drying up,” Ms. Thiessen said of Jackson. “We’re starting to lose small shops, too — Hallmark, the jewelry and shoe stores, the movie theater and most of the grocery stores.”
 

Where Have The Jobs Gone?

The numbers are more dismal in the southeastern Appalachian part of the state, where 32 percent of families lived below the poverty line in 2007, according to the study, and 56 percent lived with incomes less than $40,000 for a family of four.

The manufacturing jobs have gone to China. 

Where Are The Unions?

Union leaders like Andy Stern, give factories a pass.  The teamsters could stop truck shipments, but other than Hoffa, that union is a Jewish crowd.

A Chance At College

When their kids apply for college they have to get behind the South Africans, Asians, Pakistanis, and whatever garbage the Zionist decide have the right to an education.

 

Who Owns The Factories?

 These are conglomerates, acquired through stock deals.

From A Good Life To Nothing

Darrel McKenzie, 44, was also a maintenance man at Meridian and grossed more than $60,000 a year. Now he has restarted at the bottom as a union pipe-fitting apprentice and expects to make $20,000 this year. His family just “does less,” Mr. McKenzie said.

 

 

United Steel Worker's Union

These $150,000 a year Zionists say there is nothing they can do.

Local Housing

They have seen 50 years of appreciation vanish. They thought their 401-K's, the union pension plan, and their real estate would be their retirement fund, but that's gone.