Ten Thousand Apply For Ninety Job Openings In Louisville

As part of the Huffington Post's efforts to bear witness to the effects of the current economic environment on ordinary Americans, we're rounding up some of the most compelling stories reported by local news organizations around the country.

Jere Downs of the Louisville Courier-Journal reports that 10,000 people applied for 90 jobs at a General Electric factory there over three days. The positions have a salary of about $27,000 per year, but come with extensive benefits. "There are no jobs out there paying these kinds of wages that also offer these kind of benefits," said Jerry Carney, president of the local IUE-CWA labor union.

For the roughly 8,000 former factory workers who applied, these jobs are their only hope to make more than minimum wage. Only half of the prospective employees graduated from high school. Just five percent had a bachelor's degree or higher. For these men and women, the options are few. "I am thinking seriously about going to McDonalds," said Shane Hopkins, 48, "just for the benefits if nothing else."

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Backers of two potential coal power plants that could create thousands of jobs in Michigan are at odds with green energy proponents, who see the state's economic future in environmentally friendly power. Sven Gustafson of MLIve.com reports on the delicate balancing act between creating employment today and preparing for employment tomorrow.

Gayle Miller, legislative director of the Sierra Club, told the Lansing State Journal that "if we build these plants, we're sending the message to the world that we're not interested in clean energy."

But a number of state officials joined union workers and energy lobbyists to say that any and all income sources are needed to reinvigorate the state economy: "I want not only green jobs, I want any job that pays green," said a state representative.

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Reporter Becky Bosshart lost her job while working on a series about the unemployed, she writes in Las Vegas Weekly. Like many across the country, and especially in the newspaper industry, Bosshart found herself lost and scared. Her life, she explains, was in the hands of government bureaucrats who doled out her unemployment checks and mishandled her information.

Bosshart weaves her own story in with the subjects of her reports and people she has met recently, and comes to the realization that she and they are all part of a larger community.

HuffPost readers: Seen a good local story? Heard about a heroic judge, neighbor, or doctor helping people stay in their homes? Tell us about it! Email [e-mail].

Comments

[Tierra]

Obama is a sick joke.

Find gold? That's exactly what I'm going to do.

Gold prospecting here I come.

Beats the crap out of waiting for Obama to do something for this Country.

Oh...Oh...Oh...it's only been 9 months...funny, it was about 9 minutes for Goldman Sachs.

[RJII]

this story says it all for me.
landing a job is like finding gold.

[Luvial]

We needs job relief programs instead of trillions for Wall Street. Obama supports million dollar bonuses with tax dollars but does not spend a dime on creating jobs for people who are desparate to save their families way of life. Millions of America working class families have lost their jobs, but not a single Wall Street executive. Once again, thanks Obama, for nothing.

[Palmz]

Irony is a beach.................i know this community. Most of these people in the last 3 elections voted against their self interest.

Some of the worst anti-Obama bumper stickers can be found in this area. Who knew so many of them were uneducated and unemployed...........10,000 application and only 500 with degrees?

Just an observation..............................

[sixyfivepercentwater]

"Only half of the prospective employees graduated from high school. Just five percent had a bachelor's degree or higher." Well, hello.

When you don't have even a high school education, jobs are - and always have been - few and far between. The fault lies not with the economy or with "the rich" but with people who think they deserve better than minimum wage with no benefits when they have nothing more to offer any employer than a pulse.

It shouldn't be news to anyone that when times are tough the least educated and least qualified are the first to feel the pinch. That doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the system. It does show that some peole believe they should have great things handed to them on a platter, even though they have nothing much to offer to society.

[LeaderofMen]

I find the people who say that capitalism is king to be pathetic. They're the same ones who say the gov't can't do anything right. They're the same ones who totally ignored the fact that deregulation (signed by Reagan) of Wall Street spun them out of control.

Capitalists who didn't know when to stop, created the derivatives market, which is nothing more than a giant casino. They created fake wealth where none existed. They eventually created business so big they couldn't 'fail', destroyed the housing market - after creating the largest economic bubble in history, then sealed off the credit market because banks didn't know which way was up.

Gov't had absolutely nothing to do with that. In fact, it was caused by LACK OF GOVERNMENT involvement. The naysayers have some 'splaining to do. But will they? No. They'll go on ignoring reality. They'll go on with their strawman that this is Obama's economy. That Obama is a socialist and 'owns' the economy.

RED HERRING / STRAWMAN. I know precisely how this happened. The economy started its decline and destruction during the GEORGE W BUSH presidency. He left our country in a shambles. The DECIDER left the ruins for the next president to fix. I watched Bush wait and wait and wait before he did anything because he had no idea what he was doing in the first place.

Conservatives in this country today, since they're incapable of remembering what happened yesterday (or deliberately forget), will conveniently ignore those facts.

[Hillrick]

That sucking sound everyone hears is the vacuum the wealthy are using to empty our wallets and when the bag is full it sure doesn't trickle down here.
Thorough post, about says it all right there. Fanned.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

The wealthy are not the enemy. They are who everyone wants to be but can't.

We have a political system that ensures only the wealthy obtain positions of power. That was how it was designed, and it has been that way from day one. They are going to look out for their own kind and they don't even know the rest of us exist.

So we have to improve our own lives, despite the obstacles. Boo hoo.

[Palmz]

Your eyes are wide open and your brain is functioning.........

FANNED}}}}}}}}}}}}}}

[SvrWx]

Frightening isn't the proper adjective to use. Terrible is more like it.

[barneydrubble]

Here's a suggestion for all of you who are angry, disillusioned, broke, etc. Get off your backsides, get out of from behind your computer and go and demonstrate. Sitting like a zombie reading Huffington Post, while admirable because we are keeping informed about the chaos about us, does not accomplish anything. Go outside, call people who are sympathetic to the plight of all Americans going through this mess, organize yourselves, meet together and march.
If democracy challenged Iranian society can go out to the streets and stare down state sponsored paramillitary troops because many Iranians felt that their leaders were taking them for a ride, then Americans can do the same thing. Everyone, get together, go outside, get off your computer and go march!

[quantumspin]

Obama owns the economy now, and so far, we've seen nothing but crony capitalism---Geithner sitting in DC handing the banks more and more trillions, while Main Street twists in the wind. How long can this war on American workers continue? Obama is far too aloof, too uncaring, too unresponsive, to the real problems of Americans. He's fiddling while Rome burns. This president is about to go down in history as the one who destroyed the country but won the Nobel Peace Prize. What peace? What country? What economy?

[SiouxSayer]

Here is some painful truth for all of the people here that have something to say about this nation's citizens. Less than 27% of the entire country has a BA or BS degree. Of that number that 'claim' to have a Bachelor's (these are Census numbers and people like to stretch the truth a bit about their personal level of education, so let that sink in a second) an amazing 78% are not even working in a career that utilized their knowledge in their given field of study. I won't even get into the numbers of HS graduates and GED holders. As I am about to be homeless, I have reason to hang out at the Labor Dept., here and look for work, opportunity and direction (I have found none) and see signs EVERYWHERE about how important it is to get your GED or HS diploma to increase your chances of getting hired. When I send out my resumes to over 65 employers on career-sites, I see the same plea to get your BA, BS, MBA, or Master's to ...wait for it....increase your chances of getting hired! Our job banks are empty, our manufacturing base is in China and our Tech sector is now overseas, too. Without a New Deal...without WPA-like projects, without Green Energy and High Speed Rail projects....well....I certainly hope we don't have to revolt to make our voices heard. C'mon folks....we have to start our new society NOW.

[lkim65]

Hate to break it to ya but even having a Bachelor's degree doesn't do diddly other than get you into more debt. Since all of our jobs have gone overseas, it doesn't matter what kind or how many degrees you have. We have no jobs!

[SiouxSayer]

Right. Well, that was entirely my point. It simply doesn't matter what sort of degree you do or do not have, not much matters anymore. I simply find it amazing that no matter your social strata, they lie to you at every level. Just remember, even during the great depression, wages still steadily increased. And when they fell the cost of living fell as well. No so today.

[badtimes]

The figures I've seen show that unemployment has hit those without a college degree the hardest. Don't be too quick to minimize the value of higher education.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

You're right about a college degree meaning nothing, but it's not true there are no jobs. I don't see good electricians or plumbers out of work. I don't see undertakers out of work.

The only ones who believed college degrees would open doors were the generations who barely made it through high school. In the real world, people with real skills are the ones who are always in demand.

[SvrWx]

I guess Perot was right...that giant sucking sound not only went to Mexico with NAFTA, but to the rest of the world with Globalization. I guess we can thank Richard Nixon for opening up China back in the day.

[sixyfivepercentwater]

I guess we can sit around moaning about how other people took stuff we deserved to have or we can make different choices to protect our own interests.

[SiouxSayer]

We are nearing a tipping point in this Republic. I've lost everything in my life over the last few weeks, so I apologize for coming across as 'harsh' or 'biased' . I've lost my house, my wife and children, my job and perhaps my dignity and strength, as well. Do others here sense or have a feeling or notion that something is about to happen...something...well....bad? I wish there was a way to organize a massive rally of displaced workers or the nation's poor or nearing poverty and march on DC. Not to cause trouble as none of what's happening is the current Administration's fault, yet to join in solidarity as a nation to say..'enough is enough'....Can we start the movement here...on HuffPo? Can I help lead this movement? I'm ready...fired up and ready to go!
When the Industrial Revolution delivered capitalism to this nation, (115 year ago) we lost something.­..somethin­g very, very important to humanity. We all lost our collective identities and personal souls. We sold our soul to the company store and today we call that store WalMart. Yet we simply HAVE to shop there...that's how we pay our debt to China.....And guess where all of our jobs in manufacturing went?
I don't think we can recover....

[SvrWx]

Form a "Hooverville" or the equivelant and throw up tents by the whitehouse. Instead of veterans, it can be unemployed.

[tjeffersonlovr]

So this is how obamas stimulus package is working......hmmmmm wasn't it supposed to create jobs??? Not all of the stimulus was used, what is he waiting for? another trophy??he does not care about us, just his loyal chicago thugs (they are all on his payroll)...2012 is on the way

[SiouxSayer]

Do you regret voting for him?

Now go collect your tr0II salary.....

[ilse]

Most of us here at huffington post admire president Obama and only a few crazy rightwing like yourself come on here with your ranting and BS. The financial crisis we are in was caused by Bush and I am confident President Obama will get us on the right track. Bushwhacks 8 years in office caused this huge mess and it will take time for president Obama to fix it. Tired of the right wing trying to blame president Obama for everything. Your goal is to see president Obama fail and that's not gonna happen. Take your hateful ranting elsewhere.

[SvrWx]

Alot of that stimulus money is sitting in the sidelines waiting to be released next year right around...wait for it...Mid Term elections.

Hmmm, I wonder why?

[jayes]

"Only half of the prospective employees graduated from high school. Just five percent had a bachelor's degree or higher."

the president's right. more people need to graduate from high school. it's free. they need it as well as the rest of us.

[MarsAmbassador]

Didn't Jim Cramer come out and officially proclaim the end of the recession like 6 months ago?

[JohnFromCensornati]

They're building a big, new basketball stadium in downtown Louisville. I wonder who will be buying tickets? I wonder who'll be stuck with the losses?