Pay cuts, layoffs mount in US
By Tom Eley

The US government loans to the auto industry, conditioned on a massive attack on the wages and jobs of auto workers, are being used as a spearhead for broader attacks on the working class throughout the country. This attack has already begun, with numerous companies recently announcing pay cuts and layoffs for the coming year in response to the deepening economic crisis.

Many of the new pay cuts affect salaried positions. While cuts to the pay packages of top executives are largely designed to lend the impression of “shared sacrifice,” the salaries and pensions of wider layers of managerial and professional personnel—a large component of the US “middle class”—are being significantly reduced.

On December 18, FedEx Corp., one of the largest US parcel delivery services, announced plans to cut pay for more than 35,000 salaried employees. It will also indefinitely freeze its contributions to over 140,000 employee 401(k) retirement accounts. In announcing the pay cuts, Frederick W. Smith, FedEx founder and CEO, said that the corporation was “being challenged by some of the worst economic conditions in the company’s 35-year history.” Only one month ago the third largest US parcel delivery service, German-owned DHL, announced the suspension of its US operations and layoffs totaling 9,500 workers.

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