It was the unions, not the manufacturing jobs.

From Robert Reich

I keep hearing politicians and pundits pine after manufacturing jobs. Baloney. The fact is, most manufacturing jobs pay squat. Recent research by the National Employment Law Project finds that manufacturing wages now rank in the bottom half of all jobs in the United States.

And new research from Berkeley’s Labor Center (below) finds taxpayers footing much of the bill. Between 2009 and 2013 the federal government and the states spent $10.2 billion a year on public safety-net programs (food stamps, Medicaid, and other assistance) for manufacturing workers and their families — similar to the rate for fast-food workers and their families.

So let’s stop romanticizing manufacturing jobs and turn to the real task of raising all wages -- raising the minimum to $15 an hour, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit, and strengthening unions.

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