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Archive for May 27th, 2011

The numbers don’t lie — and they don’t bode well for the future of organized labor.

The percentage of Americans who belong to labor unions has fallen dramatically in the past three decades, from 23% in 1980 to 11.9% in 2010, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Meanwhile, the gap continues to widen between union membership rates in the public (36.2%) and private (6.9%) sectors, a disparity that has rankled taxpayers, many of whom are dealing with layoffs and cutbacks at their private sector jobs. Rankled them because private workers can’t and don’t expect the same benefits union members routinely demand, notwithstanding the stubborn economic downturn. Read the rest of this entry »

I like to think of Twitter as a live networking event where you can jump into a conversation at any time. It’s a great tool for communicating information to followers but also for engaging with them.

However, I’ve learned that many people, even those who are on Twitter frequently, use it only for sharing information — not for starting a two-way dialogue. That’s a lot like walking into an event and shouting at people but not listening to their responses. It just doesn’t work. Read the rest of this entry »

Will the days of bulky wallets with countless cards and coupons soon be a thing of the past? Google thinks so.

The Web giant unveiled today its new mobile payment platform, “Google Wallet” and coupon service “Google Offers.” The wallet service will allow consumers to pay for goods and access offers using cell phones that operate on Google’s Android system. Discounts and sales will be applied at the time of purchase at NFC-equipped (near field communication) cash registers. Read the rest of this entry »