Tim Kaine Visits Washington County, Virginia (and Annoys Priscilla)

This web site has no contractual obligation not to call U.S. Senators outright liars, merely a policy. However, this web site WILL ask Senator Kaine why he did not refer these business owners, manufacturers and plant managers to the local baby-boomers who already have the skills to fill these jobs...and the experiential knowlege that time spent mailing out resumes and filling out forms only leads to hostilities. I'm definitely grumpy today--it's my second grumpy day this month, and both grumpy days occurred after I'd eaten natural-wheat-gluten-free but evidently not glyphosate-free Cheerios--but this one was actually right below the e-mail that appeared on this web site yesterday. It just ticked me off. It still does tick me off. Students, schmudents, y'should've told'em to e-mail me. Or Dan. Or Bill. Or Carol. Or Jeff. Or they should just go into the Friday Market and check out a whole crowd of people who may look older than fifty (while being thirty-five) or look younger than fifty (while being sixty-five), and may be coasting on some sort of disability pension or just on unemployment, but who are obviously fit to work. Not all that stupid, either, although some of them are embittered, spiteful, and mean.

"

Wherever I travel through Virginia, I hear the same thing from business owners, manufacturers and plant managers: there are good-paying jobs out there, we just need to train our students with the skills to fill them. I heard the same while in Washington County last week visiting the Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company's factory and sitting down with workers, managers, and local community leaders about workforce shortages.

I was also glad to have the opportunity to tell them about how the Middle STEP Act, a bipartisan bill I introduced last week with Senator Capito, can complement what they are doing to help future workers explore in-demand careers. The future of the U.S. economy depends on a skilled workforce, and exposing students to career and technical education earlier can help train the next generation of workers with the skills to succeed.

"

Yes, those skilled workers I have in mind are in Gate City. And y'know what else is in Gate City? It no longer stops in Gate City, it merely ruins the property values of older buildings, but we still have a railroad in Gate City. It carries just a few coal trains these days. It used to carry passenger trains. It could be carrying workers to jobs in Bristol, Kingsport, Big Stone Gap or who knows where-all else. The company could reasonably be required to do that, just to make the railroad earn its keep!

Official Reply to Senator Warner's Newsletter

In the post just below this one, Senator Mark Warner invited Virginia voters to share our comments on the prospective federal oversight of online work-from-home. Here's mine:


"

Sir:

My thoughts are, "Let's keep it simple and flexible." No need to clutter up the Internet with efforts to track anybody's work hours, and by all means let's preserve the anonymity that protects people who might be considered less desirable in some way, during a conventional job interview, from discrimination. (Quotas mandating that X number of women be hired don't do anything for the ones who have the wrong look, quotas mandating that X number of Blacks be hired don't help the actual ghetto youth who needed the help, etc., but on the Internet the quality of work done is the only proof that an employee is not in literal fact a dog.)

Protection for people who work from home online might begin with protecting their right to payment for work done under the terms of their contract. Not regulating how much or how little people may agree to receive per job, of course, but ensuring that people who have agreed to sell a certain job for a certain price will receive that price. Bubblews.com is a widely known offender; the company just decided last winter not to pay out thousands of dollars the company had already claimed it was sending to various writers and photographers, worldwide. (But I suspect they targeted residents of states like Virginia that don't have small-claims court.)

Sincerely,

Priscilla King "

An afterthought: Why did I pick discrimination as a primary reason for preserving online anonymity? Because race consciousness is in the air? Because I was writing to a Democrat? Because I was writing to a relatively rich person who has no way to imagine how precarious the financial security of people poor enough to write for the Internet can be? All or any or none of the above--I don't know.

Mark Warner on Working from Home

From U.S. Senator Mark Warner:


"
I wanted to let you know about a significant issue I’ve started to focus on: the big shifts occurring in the workplace and among the workforce as more and more people work “on-demand” in what’s called the "sharing economy".

Whether by economic necessity or by choice, as many as one-third of American workers now piece together several on-demand opportunities to make a living. And with continuous advances in technology, that number continues to grow, especially as the Millennial generation enters the workforce.

Today, online platforms such as Airbnb, Uber, TaskRabbit and Etsy can provide easy-to-use digital platforms to match supply and demand for goods and services. These innovations are changing the traditional employee-employer dynamic.


The sharing or on-demand economy, where people are contract or freelance workers, provides exciting opportunities in terms of freedom and flexibility in hours and work-life balance. But many of these on-demand jobs do not provide traditional safety net protections for workers: unemployment insurance, workers’ compensation for injuries, or pension and retirement planning.

Yet Washington has mostly remained on the sidelines as the U.S. economy, its workforce and the work place, have undergone perhaps the most dramatic transformation in decades. As policymakers, we have a role to play with this tremendous shift.

Earlier this month, I delivered a speech about the potential impacts of generational and technological changes on the American economy. My recent op-ed in the Washington Post explored some ways that policymakers might begin to address these challenges.

Finally, as I work to find solutions to make this sharing or on-demand economy work better for more people, I’d like to hear from you. If you are working in this on-demand economy, tell us your story: Is it working for you? Could it work better? What are the advantages of this type of work? Do you see any downsides?

Please email your thoughts to: projects@warner.senate.gov.

Thank you,


Mark R. Warner "

Help Wanted: Linux System Administrator

From Jim Babka:

"Help Wanted

Downsize DC is seeking a system administrator with expertise in Linux environments to work on discrete project/tasks as needed (no full-time positions available, at this time).

Your responsibilities include...

• Installing software, applying patches, managing file systems, monitoring performance and troubleshooting problems with commercial, open source, and locally developed software
• System failure analysis and recovery; ensuring the consistency and integrity of file systems and backups
• Hardware/software configuration and management

You should have...

• Strong experience working in Linux environments
• Demonstrated initiative, customer orientation, and teamwork competencies
• Ability to communicate technical issues with non-technical people

Experience with source code management tools and code promotion processes is a plus. Experience with managing WordPress, Java, and Scala systems is not required, but that too would be a plus.

Also, it is extremely important that you let us know the range of compensation you expect, so priority will be given to those candidates who supply that information (keep in mind that these are non-profit organizations).

For immediate consideration, do NOT hit reply to this email. Instead, send a message to HelpWanted@DownsizeDC.org.

Jim Babka"