Profits and Wages

Profits up, wages in dispute:

US groups boost share of economic pie, by Christopher Swann and Francesco Guerrera, Financial Times (Free): US companies have increased their share of the economic pie at a faster rate over the past five years than at any time since the second world war.

Recent government figures show that profits from current production as a share of national income have risen from 7 per cent in mid-2001 to 12.2 per cent at the start of this year. This rate of growth is unprecedented since collection of these figures began in 1947. ...

Workers Are Filing More Lawsuits Against Employers Over Wages, by Kris Maher, WSJ: Workers are filing more lawsuits against employers they accuse of violating fair-wage laws that govern overtime and minimum pay, with an increasing number seeking to combine the claims with large groups of their fellow employees as well. ...

In some cases, lawyers argue that employers are trying to squeeze labor costs by limiting overtime and classifying more workers, including janitors or equipment installers, as independent contractors, who aren't covered by federal and state wage laws. Some experts also say lax government enforcement of wage rules has prompted workers to pursue litigation. ...