by Steven Greenhouse.

Knopf. 306 pages. $25.95.

BY JEANNE NICHOLSON
Special to the Journal

Not that long ago, national corporations shared their prosperity and profits with workers. Maximizing employment security was an essential American goal. That was before shareholders were king.

Recent bestsellers reflect sweeping changes for employees and a vastly different national climate: White-Collar Sweatshop (Norton, 2001), The New Ruthless Economy (Oxford, 2003), The War On The Middle Class (Penguin, 2006) and The Disposable American (Knopf, 2006) to name a few.

The haunting reality behind these titles is that we have a completely different corporate culture than the one we knew until the 1970s. Basic societal responsibilities have vanished, reports New York Times labor correspondent and author Steven Greenhouse, who has witnessed the change first hand. “Something fundamental is not working.”

Greenhouse’s The Big Squeeze is a fresh, probing look at the critical issues facing both blue- and white-collar American workers and their families, many of whom are “worried that their children’s generation will actually live worse than they do.” Greenhouse warns, “Those fears… are fully justified.”

The Big Squeeze will be a disturbing eye-opener for many. As a labor correspondent, Greenhouse has seen both good and bad business practices; here he provides a balanced historical, economic and sociological analysis of painful prevalent issues — the management practices that are weakening the social (and economic) safety net of our nation.

He tells the story of many older Americans with three or more decades of service to their employers who now face serious financial peril because their pensions have been frozen (or slashed by cash balance plans) and health benefits severely cut, greatly increasing the co-pay for retirees. This trend is taking many forms, reports Greenhouse, and has spread to “many of the nation’s most prosperous blue chips.”

We learn that while corporate profits have climbed to their highest level since 1942, white-collar workers have not escaped the growing power imbalance because many high-tech operations move abroad. Economist Paul Samuelson commented, “If you don’t believe offshoring changes the average wages in America, then you believe in the tooth fairy.” Based on data going back to 1929, the share of national income going to wages and salaries fell to its lowest level on record in 2006.

Greenhouse explores how economic, business, political and social trends — among them globalization, the influx of immigrants, and the Wal-Mart effect — have fueled the squeeze. He also examines companies that are generous to their workers and can serve as models for all of corporate America.

This important book is meticulously documented, including poignant interviews with employees from “steelworkers and strawberry pickers to Microsoft whizzes and minimum-wage waitresses.” Don’t miss it. THE BIG SQUEEZE: Tough Times for the American Worker,