AK Steel

It appears the AK Steel lockout has ended and it's worker will be able to go back to work soon.

The workers have been out of work for over a year. I wonder how many hours of work they have to endure to make up for the loss of pay.

While I appreciate the plight of the average working guy, today's worker needs to be taught some economics 101; especially as it concerns supply and demand. You see, this isn't the 1960's. American industrial dominance no longer exists. US company's can no longer pay more than the market will bear for unskilled labor. If they do, they will soon be a closed US company.

To the side is a graph. I lecture this graph to every man, woman and child that will hear it. It shows the supply/demand curve in a somewhat different format. It shows the correlation between income and marketable skills. Notice I said "marketable". Records scores on X box are not marketable to companies like AK Steel.

The days of increasing income just from years of experience are over. As a recruiter once told me "there's a difference between 12 years of experience and 12 x one year of experience".

In the 21st century, we will all be required to increase our skills in order to yield increases in pay. Those that don't will end up spending a year on the picket line.... ask the AK workers.