UP Statement of Purpose

Background

United Professionals grew out of Barbara Ehrenreich’s 2006 book, Bait and Switch: the (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream, on white-collar unemployment.  On her book tour, Barbara met legions of people who had personally experienced what she had written about. They kept asking, “What can be done to protect the white-collar middle class from being eroded by downsizing and outsourcing?”

That question gave rise to United Professionals, an advocacy group designed to protect and preserve the American middle class and the opportunities it represents for millions of people who are currently in poverty.  We asked UP members which kinds of activities were most important to them, and a majority responded that advocacy should be UP’s main focus.

Like poverty in general, white collar unemployment and downward mobility get only intermittent attention from the media, but the problem is chronic and corrosive to the middle class.

• In this decade, white collar unemployment accounts for 20 percent of unemployment in general, a much higher proportion than in the past.

• On average, before the current economic downturn, it took a laid-off white collar person six months to find a new job, and the new job typically paid 17 percent less than the old one.

• Many of those churned out from white collar jobs do not show up for long in the unemployment statistics because they take lower-paying, nonprofessional jobs – for example, as waitstaff, retail clerks or janitors. According to a 2006 study undertaken by the Economic Policy Institute and sponsored by United Professionals, 17 percent of jobs that do not require a college degree are currently filled by people with college degrees.

• Right now, massive lay-offs in finance, real estate and other sectors are creating a critical situation for increasing numbers of white-collar professionals. 240,000 Americans lost their jobs in the first quarter of this year, and the worldwide finance sector alone is planning to lay off 65,000 in 2008.

On the UP website (www.unitedprofessionals.org) space is provided for people to tell their stories.  These examples give a very human voice to the dilemma that our members — and millions of Americans – are experiencing:

• “Frustrated, harassed, devalued, demoralized and ready for a change in how employees (professional or not) are treated.”
• “The company I work for now has hired me as a consultant to help them get through the tough times so that they can outsource parts of their operations areas to India. And people ask me, why don’t I find a permanent job? I tell them there are no more permanent jobs.”
• “With 30 years’ experience, I’m now being paid entry-level wages, and am forced to perform the equivalent of two full-time positions.”
• “My husband has heart problems and our COBRA (for which we pay $1000.00/month) is coming to an end.”
• “I am a laid-off 54 year old divorcee with a law degree and no job.”
• “I am a temp legal worker, which is to say an indentured servant.”

These stories, and myriad others we hear about, tell us that many professionals are in desperate straits due to job loss and consequent downward mobility. Some of these are middle-aged people judged “too old” for re-employment; others are young college graduates who fail to gain traction in the workforce. The one constant is the anguish felt by middle-class professionals as they find that the American Dream is unattainable – despite their education and hard work.

Issues

• The current unemployment system does not offer adequate counseling or retraining grants so that disenfranchised members of America’s home-grown brain-trust can continue to contribute their skills and dedicated work ethic in any valuable way.

• Since one’s job is the primary portal through which the American system of health care is accessed, hard work and a good education do not guarantee protection for one’s family in times of medical need.

• Forty-eight million Americans are without healthcare coverage.

• The fastest rising forms of coverage consist of inexpensive plans that offer little or no protection against catastrophic illness or support for maintaining wellness.

• The workforce continues to adjust to corporate policies in the face of globalization that cause many millions of college-educated workers to be unemployed, underemployed and anxiously employed.

• Traditional safety nets continue to erode including company sponsored training, pensions and retiree medical care.

 United Professionals Mission Statement
Our mission is to protect and preserve the American middle class, now under attack from so many directions, from downsizing and outsourcing to the steady erosion of health and pension benefits. We believe that education, skills and experience should be rewarded with appropriate jobs, livable incomes, benefits and social supports.

Objectives

• Develop a campaign on portable, affordable healthcare. This campaign should be seen as a 5-year effort.
• Establish a strong advocacy base by growing the membership to 500,000 over the next six years.
• Basic infrastructure within 18 months, including a national director, administrative assistant, and a cyberorganizer (a person who runs the website but does much more in terms of organizing people on line).
• A significant cyber presence defined by:
  • Hiring a cyberorganizer
  • Expanding the website’s blogs
  • Setting up sectoral chats
  • Expanding cyber advocacy capability
  • Ongoing education and leadership on issues of the day
• Build alliances with organizations such as the AFL-CIO’s Department of Professional Employees and its affiliates including:
  • Obtaining financial contributions from 5 unions for the next two years
  • Working with the DPE on a UP Annual Policy and Organizing Conference (see below)
  • Combining efforts on healthcare reform with existing healthcare reform groups
• Establish UP working groups on particular subjects, such as personal debt and unemployment benefits
• Hold an annual UP Policy and Organizing Conference
  • Hold in different cities with the first one in DC in 2009
  • Gain co-sponsors from the union movement and other allied groups
  • Combine education, training and networking
  • Seek publisher for major papers out of select workshops and publish other papers as appropriate
• Seek funding for a 2009 unemployment organizing project entitled:  “Kicked to the Curb.”
  • Work for severance pay for RIFed workers; jobs; income supplements for unemployed; extension on unemployment benefits; job training.
  • Fight for a version of the Trade Assistance Act (which provides funding and training for workers displaced due to foreign competition) for white collar workers who lose their jobs due to employer’s bad investments and/or corrupt practices.  Would also provide financial support for those who have lost their 401(k)s and/or pensions for the same reason, e.g., the Enron workers.
• The Board:
• Meets twice a year in person
• Establishes an executive committee that meets via conference call at least twice a month
• Aims, within two years, to have developed a structure whereby most board seats are elected by the membership. [note:  need to explore whether this would be at large or via chapters or both]
• Budget:
• $125,000 for national director (salary plus benefits)
• $60,000 for administrative assistant (salary plus benefits)
• $60,000 for cyberorganizer (salary plus benefits)
• Seek donated space for an office, or there might need to be a virtual office plus a p.o. box
• Air transportation, car rental, hotel, food for national director while on the road:   At least $15,000
• Phone, fax, etc.
• Subcommittees:
• Cyberorganizing committee (works with the cyberorganizer; writes; designs)
• Media:  need to develop a comprehensive media strategy.  In the initial stages seek donated assistance from media consultants.
• Finance/fundraising:  a priority committee to seek means of raising funds including but not limited to foundations, individual donors, labor unions and other organizations as appropriate.
• Policy, including healthcare, pensions.  Such subcommittees could initially do research and writing of policy briefs, but they could also lay the foundation for any campaigns.
• Policy and Organizing Conference planning committee:  a permanent committee though membership would inevitably rotate.

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