Many people who have paid subscriptions to the Peoria Journal Star are not receiving their newspapers. Delivery problems have plagued the Journal Star for years and are getting unbelievably worse.

Recently, a subscriber complained to a circulation manager that he and his neighbors were only receiving their newspapers intermittently. Here is part of the reply he received from the manager:

“Maybe they could get a Twitter storm going to Pritzker and Biden to stop the handouts and increased unemployment benefits that have us and most businesses struggling to hire people. We truly are not able to even hire 4 part time employees at a wage well above minimum wage because people are getting paid more to stay home. We get a lot of calls and emails for both the part-time employee positions to deliver papers and for all of the carrier routes that we are trying to fill, but when we return their calls they do not respond, or they set up an interview only to not show up. Making the call or sending the email is the effort that they need for unemployment.”

This reply is wrong on so many levels.

Robert Reich, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at University of California at Berkeley and U.S. Secretary of Labor under the Clinton Administration, calls this “dangerously loony economics.”

He writes “if employers want additional workers, they can do what they do for anything they want more of but can’t obtain at its current price – pay more . . . .

“If wages at the bottom rise because employers need to pay more to get workers they need, that’s not a problem. It’s a victory.

“Instead of complaining about a so-called ‘labor shortage,’ Republicans ought to be complaining about the shortage of jobs paying a living wage.”

The circulation manager’s answer is unprofessional and ludicrous to blame Democratic politicians for newspaper delivery problems. Lots of other newspapers manage to deliver newspapers on time. But not the Journal Star.

One circulation employee quit not long ago after being on call 24-7 when routes went undelivered and having difficulty for two years trying to manage to schedule a few vacation days.

Corporate monopolies feel they don’t have to treat people fairly with justice and respect. They believe their cash means they can dictate economic rules and practices. The big problem with that thinking is when the wage gap gets so large, the business model and the democracy implode.

Biden’s stimulus and the extra unemployment benefits during the pandemic are at best temporary props for the economy. For the nation’s economy to function long term, someone – whether unions, politicians or corporations – have to mandate and provide a living wage, not a subsistence wage. Gannett has proven it refuses to step up to that tenet.

In response to a request for comment, a Gannett spokesperson issued this statement: ” “These comments do not reflect the views of the company. We are looking into the incident, and our customer service leadership is following up with the subscriber.”

When a newspaper tries to present itself as a public forum for discussion and dissemination of information, it really tarnishes its credibility when a circulation manager resorts to partisan slamming to justify management’s own lack of job performance.

Economics 101: don’t take the money if you can’t deliver the product.

Obstacles to voting rights

As Texas and other states take measures to restrict voting, the NAACP has pledged to support anyone who stands up to defend our right to the franchise.

“We are fully invested in making good trouble,” stated NAACP president Derrick Johnson in reference to U.S. Rep. John Lewis’ famous words.

“A line has been drawn. War has been declared on democracy,” Johnson wrote. “We will not stand by as partisan politicians dismantle our system, oppress our voices and suppress our votes. People have fought and died for the sacred right to vote. This is a time of crisis. Our Constitution is being tested, and we need all hands on deck.”

We are fortunate that in Illinois, access to the polls is considered fundamental and protected. But that has to be the case in all states in order for democracy to function.