Vol. 74/No. 4      February 1, 2010

“Enclosed are blood money checks from myself and Steve Warshell,” wrote Sarah Katz, a food production worker from Houston. “We received two different ‘bonuses’ from the bosses. First is a small ‘gain sharing’ bonus, given monthly for hitting targets in reported injuries, ‘productivity,’ and quality. The second is a $100 bonus given to all workers with a letter titled, ‘Special One-Time High Performance Award.’ The letter said the company had high profits in 2009. According to a coworker, the last raise was several years ago, and was only eight cents per hour.”

Jon Teitelbaum from Raleigh, North Carolina, sent in a check for $800. “Enclosed is the ‘bonus money,’ the blood money I received at year end,” he wrote. “Our wages at Hewlett Packard were cut by 5 percent this year. Several thousand workers—mostly new hires—had their wages cut by an average of 20 percent by downgrading their job description. Another several thousand were laid off.”

—DOUG NELSON