Obama: Workers ‘in a tough position’

President Obama said in an interview to be published Monday that a variety of factors have combined over the past 30 years to put American workers in a “tough position.”

{mosads}“This has been at least a three-decadelong trend,” Obama, when asked by Vox how the current economy can benefit corporations but not necessarily workers. A preview was posted on the website’s Facebook page.

“There are a whole bunch of reasons for that,” he said. “Some of it has to do with technology and entire sectors being eliminated. … A lot of it has to do with globalization. The rest of the world is catching up.”

Obama also said government investments in areas including education and infrastructure “put us ahead of the curve.”

“Those advantages went away as workers, at the same time as workers increasingly had less leverage because of changes in labor laws,” he added.

“You combine all that stuff, and it’s put workers in a tougher position.”

“Today, what you have is quarterly earning reports,” Obama said. “You have compensation levels for CEOs that are tied directly to those quarterly earnings. You’ve got international capital that’s demanding short-term profits.

“And so what happens is, is that a lot of the distributional questions that used to be handled in the marketplace through decent wages or healthcare or defined benefit pension plans, those things are all eliminated. And the average employee … doesn’t feel any benefit,” he added.

Obama also discussed wealth distribution, saying, “Some people who just control enormous amounts of wealth — we don’t resent their success.

“On the other hand, just as a practical matter, you know, you’re going to have problems making sure we’re investing enough in the common good to be able to move forward,” he added.