The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker

I enjoyed reading this book so much. People might think this book would be all about statistics and chastising the American way of life. Well, you can take rest it is not that type of book.This book is very personal and emotional that tells a very human tale about the American way of living in our lifetime. The author, Steven Greenhouse, gives justice to the ordinary and average American workers who are being mistreated and exploited here in the U.S. The book contains several stories about the personal struggles of individuals who were all just searching for a better treatment at work.What I gained reading from this book is that this is The United States of America the nation that ended child labor, gave women the right to vote, equality to all, and a bright future for everyone. So, why can't we maintain all of those and strive to better our work environment/salary/life? It is very apparent that our wages are not raising along with the expenses we incur in our livelihood. It is time for the corporation to raise wages and stop messing with our healthcare plans because these are the very things that made the USA the greatest and wealthiest nation around the world from the 1950s onward to the 1990s.Well, I encourage people especially in Business Ethics courses in college to read this book. Also, I'm looking at you UCF Cornerstone course if you want your students to learn more about how to manage workers in business then this is one of those books students should read about in their classes.

This book should be a mandatory read for all graduating high school seniors. They are in for a rude and damaging shock if they think that corporate America will give them a fair shake. I loved the many real stories that the author gives the reader that show time and again how the rich, established business interest will go to almost any means to take advantage of our most vulnerable, hard working citizens. Where is our government? Why is it not protecting us? The short answer is that our government is for sale and corporate America has the money so they buy what they want. I hope that we can find the political will to put back in place strong workplace protections for workers and at the same time, demand that our large companies treat their employees in an ethical, honest and fair manner. This book tells all the dirty secrets and it is a disgusting, heart wrenching story. Not only did our large corporations wreck our economy, they are hell bent on making us a 3rd World workplace!

Book is easy to read. Author presents lots of examples of how our American middle class is being squeezed out, and the increasing differential between the poor and the rich, or upper class. His answers are dissapointing unless you are left wing liberal. He places blame on the awful big/greedy companies. Thinks the era of the 50's/60's was our best because we had big Unions to get benefits for workers. His answer now is basically for the government to contol most everything, and to return to the area of big Union representation. Never mind much of our American industry is crippled in the global economy due to the huge legacy costs to workers brought on by the Unions before we had to compete in a global economy. Yes, we have big problems today, but this is not the answer that will solve things.

Came to Amazon.com to order the book after listening to a riveting interview with the author on [...] (April 28, 2008). I was born in 1952 and these workplace trends are like climate change: slow paced but catastrophic. The comparisons between conditions for American workers versus European workers really shook me up. The presidential primaries suggest we may be seeing a tipping point towards economic populism. If so, this book maps the issues and causes undermining workers of all generations. (My 4-star rating is based on the author interview; I have not yet read the book.)

Great book for voicing the opinion of the working class. However, the book didn't do well to rationally explain the opposing viewpoint, simply demonizing them at every opportunity. The book opened my eyes to some things I really had no idea about, so I'm grateful for that.

Then read this book. It is both depressimg and inspiring all at once. The author is admittingly biased, but he does present some solid data in regard to the decline of the middle class in this country. It's too bad that even though the data is out there, many Americans refuse to look at it and believe it and keep voting for politicians who make policy that benefits the very wealthy. The game is rigged and this book exposes it.

What a wonderful book, filled with real stories of hard workers who can't quite make it in modern America. The book clearly shows how the balance of power between management and labor has led to a low-paying jobs and tremendous injustices at the workplace. This is a must-read book for anybody who wants to understand why hard-working, educated people can't find decent jobs. Imagine what it's like for less educated people! Greenhouse gets into that, too.

It's a good book. None of the pages were missing, but it's a little dirty.