Today’s news from IBM and the release of new employment numbers illustrate how workers are being hit from multiple directions.

The announcement by IBM to slash hard-earned pensions for some 120,000 employees fuels a devastating trend of large, profitable employers choosing to retreat from their commitments to workers. IBM’s healthy profits make their actions especially difficult to stomach – especially for IBM workers with many years of service who have been relying on their retirement to be there.

The bad news doesn’t stop here.

Today’s employment report shows that job growth has once again slowed, with only 108,000 jobs created in December. Over the term of the Bush presidency, we are still far short of creating the jobs needed just to keep up with population growth. More than eight million people are still out of work and we must create at least 150,000 new jobs a month just to absorb new entrants into the workforce. And real wages have sunk.

If working people can’t count on good jobs and a secure retirement, what can they count on?

Contact: Esmeralda Aguilar 202-637-5018