The Corporate World is Killing Us

The middle class is disappearing, as we would all agree. I believe that the big-wigs of the corporate world have a large part in the killing of us little people.

In the past week, three things have happened that are contributing to the eventual "death" of all of us. I live in Ohio, and we now proudly have the honor of being in the number one spot for foreclosures on homes. So many mortgage companies are going under, as well.

Yes, I agree that part of the responsibility is with the consumer for not being responsible enough to watch their finances. Of course, it doesn't help when we are continually exposed to "must have" items that really are just a bunch of unnecessary bells and whistles. But for some, it is a matter of personal tragedy, such as health issues, weather issues, or loss of employment that is contributing to this rising tragedy.

If the mortgage company that has gone under is due to shady practices, they deserve to be extinct. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done to the homeowner.

So, I ask Governor Strickland and all of our state representatives, what are you going to do to save Ohio? If things keep going as they are, there will be nothing left to govern. Pretty soon the whole middle class will be on welfare.

Many companies, even the larger national companies, are cutting back on the hours available to their hourly employees. In my area, the drought conditions have caused the sales to drop. So the high-end executives decided to reduce our hours to the least amount possible, until we start showing a profit. How are we to survive on thirty hours a week?

Luckily, for full-time associates, they have a limit that they must schedule us for. Now, with reduced help on the floor, the customer service will be affected, which will reduce the sales even more. Theft will increase, and the cost will bounce back to the consumer. Employees are getting burned out and exhausted.

Now, the employees are having to find a way to bring in additional income. Since most places of business will not hire you for one or two days a week, you scrounge around for side jobs. The little bit that you earn helps, but is no where near enough to really make up for lost wages. You can't just get up and leave, because there is not a lot out there that is any better, plus your so-called "health insurance" will be affected.

What I would like to know is this: Are the high end execs reducing their salary as well? Even if only temporally? Salaried employees get paid even if they don't work a full 40-45 hours. What if they actually worked what they are getting paid for? Don't they realize that if it was not for the hourly employees, they would not have a job? Sure, we are all replaceable, but eventually they will not have anyone left to hire!

Now, on top of having less income, our local grocery store, Giant Eagle, has decided to eliminate the double coupon program. Rob Borella, the senior director of marketing and corporate communications, feels that people are less interested in cutting coupons! Yes, you get savings on gas depending on how much you spend at their store. The savings that you get are having little affect because of the gas prices being so high. The double coupons do help, especially if what you needed to buy is not a value or store brand item.

What many people in our area feel what is really happening has nothing to do with the lack of interest in coupon cutting. Giant Eagle now has a monopoly in our area as the only main grocery store. They chased away their competitor, Finast. Now that their competitor is gone, they are going to start taking advantage of this by cutting programs.

Double-coupons was the first. What is next? Will they increase their prices gradually, so that it goes unnoticed?

Sure, we could go to big box stores, like Marcs, but they don't always have what you need, so you end up back at Giant Eagle for the other items. Or you can go to Dave's Supermarket, which does double coupons, but no gas discounts. The problem is, to get to one, we may have to travel fifteen miles to Cleveland to shop. The double coupon savings is now sucked up by the fuel costs.

Is there a solution? Maybe. But I don't know if it will be found fast enough to matter. At the rate we are going, there will be one less state in the nation. Just a big piece of wasteland. Something needs to be done now. Before we see more loss of homes, and of the will to live.