451 Imagine that--four years before Bush!

How can this be? Isn't the blame for outsourcing and stagnant wages and unemployment to be laid at the feet of Dubya? Look at this July 1997 article in HR Magazine.

"Insecurity on Main Street" is behind the concerns about outsourcing and staffing levels, says John McDowell, director of the Labor Center at Los Angeles Trade Technical College.

"There's a fear that employment is declining, a fear that is heightened by relatively high unemployment levels. [Federal Reserve Board Chairman] Alan Greenspan thinks unemployment figures are low, but members of the workforce see 6 million or 7 million people unemployed. There are a lot of part-time and temporary workers and discouraged workers. There's a lot of competition for jobs," says McDowell.

Also, disposable income and real wages have remained stagnant for workers, he says. "We are supposed to be in a recovery mode, but workers don't see it in their paychecks. The overall economy is healthier today, and the strike is returning as the mode to put pressure on, within the collective bargaining process."

HR Magazine is for human resource management professionals.