The election of President Bill Clinton in 1992 marked the beginning of a period of fundamental shifts in national labor policy. Although more or less supported by labor, Clinton has managed to alienate many in the labor movement by his efforts to transform historic policies of the nationalization of manpower in the United States. This essay addresses the key issues of unemployment and manpower policy in the United States, including tax policies designed to manipulate employment in both the private and public sectors, the competition for jobs posed by foreign workers, and the evolution of national manpower policy from the New Deal through the Clinton Administration.
The Clinton Administration has already reformed the nation's welfare system. The Employment Security (ES) system, a technical term for the national manpower policy, is next in line for reform. This Depression-era system covers unemployment insurance and job placement and referral services for the unemployed as well as tax policies and trade policies intended to affect employment rates. In April 1997, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing on problems with the ES system and proposals to transfer many of its programs, particularly the unemployment programs and retraining programs, back to the states. Other components of the ES system, such as tax policy and trade policy, have remained firmly within the responsibility of the federal government. But these policies have not remained unchanged. The Clinton Administration has begun several basic reforms in taxes and trade which directly impact labor. This essay will analyze the impacts of these changes at in nationalizing manpower and answer whether these changes have achieved their goals.
UNEMPLOYMENT AND LABOR POLICY IN THE USA
The Employment Security system consists of the Employment Service and unemployment insurance programs. Tax policies and trade policies further complement the nat...