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Report Seeking To Re-Classify Fast Food Jobs Has Carson Angry
Tuesday February 24, 2004 6:42pm
Reporter: Teri Bowers
Posted By: Kevin King
Tulsa - Is putting together a fast food hamburger the same as assembling an airplane engine? It may sound like a silly question. But, it's at the heart of serious debate. It's over the economic report of the President. The annual study questions whether fast food jobs should continue to be counted in the service sector or re-classified as manufacturing. Even the suggestion makes one Oklahoma congressman very angry.
Layoffs at American Airlines, locked doors at a lock producing plant; Oklahoma, like the rest of the country, has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs. The hard numbers are in the Annual Economic Report of the President. So is a hard question. Should fast food jobs be re-classified and counted as manufacturing?
Congressman Brad Carson says the President's economic advisors are trying to hide the truth.
"People are embarrassed by the fact we have all the lost jobs," Carson says. "Two million jobs disappearing, one hundred plants closing in Oklahoma in the last year; people are embarrassed by this. And so, instead of trying to work toward a good solution, people are just trying to paper over this problem and pretend it doesn't exist."
Of course, Carson is a Democrat speaking out on a Republican-backed report. So, we wanted to ask a more neutral party if there's any reason to call fast food manufacturing.
TU economics professor Allen Soltow believes inflating the number of manufacturing jobs won't inflate anything -- not even public confidence. He says re-classifying jobs would only hurt.
"If you take a lot of fast food jobs, which are not exactly high-end paying jobs, and you average them in with the rest of the manufacturing jobs, you're going to reduce the overall salary level," Soltow says.
So, why raise the question about re-classifying jobs? Even the report doesn't offer a clear answer.
So, if it's just a question in a report, why are Congressman Carson and other Democrats so quick to speak out on the issue? Carson says it needs to be nipped in the bud before it goes any further.
Tuesday February 24, 2004 6:42pm
Reporter: Teri Bowers
Posted By: Kevin King
Tulsa - Is putting together a fast food hamburger the same as assembling an airplane engine? It may sound like a silly question. But, it's at the heart of serious debate. It's over the economic report of the President. The annual study questions whether fast food jobs should continue to be counted in the service sector or re-classified as manufacturing. Even the suggestion makes one Oklahoma congressman very angry.
Layoffs at American Airlines, locked doors at a lock producing plant; Oklahoma, like the rest of the country, has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs. The hard numbers are in the Annual Economic Report of the President. So is a hard question. Should fast food jobs be re-classified and counted as manufacturing?
Congressman Brad Carson says the President's economic advisors are trying to hide the truth.
"People are embarrassed by the fact we have all the lost jobs," Carson says. "Two million jobs disappearing, one hundred plants closing in Oklahoma in the last year; people are embarrassed by this. And so, instead of trying to work toward a good solution, people are just trying to paper over this problem and pretend it doesn't exist."
Of course, Carson is a Democrat speaking out on a Republican-backed report. So, we wanted to ask a more neutral party if there's any reason to call fast food manufacturing.
TU economics professor Allen Soltow believes inflating the number of manufacturing jobs won't inflate anything -- not even public confidence. He says re-classifying jobs would only hurt.
"If you take a lot of fast food jobs, which are not exactly high-end paying jobs, and you average them in with the rest of the manufacturing jobs, you're going to reduce the overall salary level," Soltow says.
So, why raise the question about re-classifying jobs? Even the report doesn't offer a clear answer.
So, if it's just a question in a report, why are Congressman Carson and other Democrats so quick to speak out on the issue? Carson says it needs to be nipped in the bud before it goes any further.
