2 ms·

Employers can't be forced to hire workers, so I don't think "worker's rights" is the right term. What restrictions to employment such as holidays, sick pay and

by bko 9y ago

Employers can't be forced to hire workers, so I don't think "worker's rights" is the right term. What restrictions to employment such as holidays, sick pay and maternity care actually mean is that workers are unable to negotiate on those grounds. For instance, if a single female in her early 30s is interviewing for a position, she is unable to tell waive her right to maternity care by telling her employer that she does not intend to have children. If she were to have children, her employer would not be able to legally deny her maternity benefits, making her promise unenforceable. Employers can get around paying some benefits by preferring to hire men, who are statistically less likely to take the full extent of their mandated paternity benefits. So I think in some sense "worker's rights" is more a restriction on worker's right to negotiate. It's fine if people think that a regulatory body has a role in restricting the types of things that can be negotiated, but let's not talk about it as "worker's rights"

sattoshi 9y ago
Okay what should we call fundemental and federally enforced privileges granted to individuals by the state that cannot be disregarded by anybody? Ah.. rights.. that's basically what they are. Nobody is forced to listen to you, yet you cannot waive you rights to free press or whatever.
KaiserPro 9y ago
Ok, in the UK workers rights, are well rights. At no point was I suggesting that employers are forced to hire workers. I'm talking about the right to a safe, equal workplace. You are assuming in a wonderfully cute and naive way, that the power balance between employer and employee is equal. It is not and has never been. In the UK literally thousands of people have died for workers rights. I suggest you try quitting your current job, loosing all your money and becoming a taxi driver, living paycheck to paycheck. then we can have a talk about negotiating. Also, your hypothetical basically negotiates away a fundamental human right in the UK/EU, to suggest that its a tool for negotiating is pretty abhorrent.

by bko 9y ago

sattoshi 9y ago

Okay what should we call fundemental and federally enforced privileges granted to individuals by the state that cannot be disregarded by anybody? Ah.. rights.. that's basically what they are. Nobody is forced to listen to you, yet you cannot waive you rights to free press or whatever.

KaiserPro 9y ago

Ok, in the UK workers rights, are well rights. At no point was I suggesting that employers are forced to hire workers. I'm talking about the right to a safe, equal workplace. You are assuming in a wonderfully cute and naive way, that the power balance between employer and employee is equal. It is not and has never been. In the UK literally thousands of people have died for workers rights. I suggest you try quitting your current job, loosing all your money and becoming a taxi driver, living paycheck to paycheck. then we can have a talk about negotiating. Also, your hypothetical basically negotiates away a fundamental human right in the UK/EU, to suggest that its a tool for negotiating is pretty abhorrent.