Middle-Class Job Losses Batter Workforce - Yahoo! News

Middle-Class Job Losses Batter Workforce - Yahoo! News: "Many of the country's manufacturing workers are caught in a worldwide economic shift that is forcing companies to slash payrolls or send jobs elsewhere, leaving workers to wonder if their way of life is disappearing.

The trend in the manufacturing sector toward lower pay, fewer benefits and fewer jobs is alarming many of them.

'They end up paying more of their health care and they end up with lousier pensions — if they keep one at all,' says Michigan AFL-CIO President Mark Gaffney. As wages and benefits drop, 'it's the working class that's paying the price.'"