REFORM LABOR

“Someone earning that amount of money is easily top 5 percent. If you look at the median wages for this profession that are tracked by the government, dealership mechanics at the median earn more like 60,000 a year. So Ford CEO Jim Farley is referencing the absolute elite performers in this system, the technicians with high level of skill and a good situation where they can take advantage of those skills.”

“I worked 40 hours and my first paycheck was 20 hours. And it's like this, this is a problem. You might be earning, let's say $26 an hour, but when you sit down and you look at the mix of work that you've got and calculate how many hours you were in the building versus how much you'd been paid and you come out with a figure that looks more like $16.36, you start to question your decisions.”

“To become a mechanic, Russell first had to go to automotive school, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars. Then he had to build up his set of tools, literally. Mechanics need to buy their own tools even if they work at a dealership. And that's not cheap. The toolboxes alone can cost ten grand.”

“There are even people whose whole profession is to audit the work that the dealerships do to find efficiencies and make sure that the number of hours that such and such job pays is not out of line with how many hours it actually takes to do that job. One technician told me that technicians are even reluctant to share in online forums tips and tricks because they think that the factories might be in those forums as well and might catch on when they've got a job that pays three or four hours that they can do in 30 minutes.”

“Even with a lot of experience and doing the same job a bajillion times and getting good at it, the cars change, the jobs change. They need to adjust to new products and the changes that factories make. So even a mechanic with 10 years of experience has to sort of start from zero. And just as you get good at it, the physical toll starts to really affect your ability to be productive.”

“The refuge has been taking in elephants for two years now. It's designed as a retirement community of sorts for those that have been working in zoos and circuses or privately owned, says Buckley. They're recovering from the trauma that they experienced living in captivity. And for them to open up and trust you while you are there with them, helping them work through it, it's indescribable.”

“The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber. The battle between the rebellious Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt ceiling crisis and the annual budget debate nearly devolving into a government shutdown.”

“2023 also saw the roots of a global banking crisis arise out of four American regional banks, the two largest being Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. 2021's inflation surge moderated in 2023, while the Federal Reserve continued to raise its interest rates in the first half of the year. The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike. These were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country, in which such large diverse groups, such as Teamsters and Auto Workers won new contracts.”

“Mass shootings in 2023 have also continued in high numbers, with 528 occurring as of October 2 according to Gun Violence Archive. Additionally in 2023, as of November 8, the US experienced 25 weather and climate disasters which caused at least $1 billion in damage each. Elections were held on November 7, 2023 This was an off-year election where neither the president or vice president were on the ballot.”

“They're recovering from the trauma that they experienced living in captivity. And for them to open up and trust you while you are there with them, helping them work through it, it's indescribable. They feel all the vibration and energy that comes into their area, which is one of the reasons we're not open to the public, because I can't control people's energy.”

“The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber. The battle between the rebellious Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt ceiling crisis and the annual budget debate nearly devolving into a government shutdown.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike. These were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country, in which such large diverse groups, such as Teamsters and Auto Workers won new contracts.”

“Additionally, the latter half of the year saw many large mergers and acquisitions, some of the largest announcements being in oil and gas with ExxonMobil's purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for nearly $60 billion and Chevron's acquisition of Hess Corporation for $50 billion. Both were in October and pending regulatory approval prior to closure.”

“January 5, The South Carolina Supreme Court strikes down the state's six-week abortion ban, ruling it violates the state's Constitution. The Idaho Supreme Court upholds the state's ban on abortion in a 3 to 2 ruling. The debate over abortion has further continued, with numerous laws being passed by state legislatures and court decisions issued at all levels.”

“They're recovering from the trauma that they experienced living in captivity. And for them to open up and trust you while you are there with them, helping them work through it, it's indescribable. They feel all the vibration and energy that comes into their area, which is one of the reasons we're not open to the public, because I can't control people's energy.”

“The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber. The battle between the rebellious Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt ceiling crisis and the annual budget debate nearly devolving into a government shutdown.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike. These were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country, in which such large diverse groups, such as Teamsters and Auto Workers won new contracts.”

“2023 also saw the roots of a global banking crisis arise out of four American regional banks, the two largest being Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. 2021's inflation surge moderated in 2023, while the Federal Reserve continued to raise its interest rates in the first half of the year.”

“Additionally, the latter half of the year saw many large mergers and acquisitions, some of the largest announcements being in oil and gas with ExxonMobil's purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for nearly $60 billion and Chevron's acquisition of Hess Corporation for $50 billion, both in October and pending regulatory approval prior to closure.”