21 ms·
How the American Worker Got Fleeced
- batmaniam 6y agoAbsolutely terrible. Corporate abuse doesn't just stop at lower-tiered jobs, it affects all levels of industry, including knowledge workers, like the article explains. I had no idea that workers at MS had unionized, only to be stomped out like they were nothing. I feel all those efforts described in the article are too localized, I wish there was a way to build a union of different professions that can back each other up.
- MuffinFlavored 6y agoI know very little about unions but I feel like it is a dirty word. A very "us versus them" type of idea. Companies don't start out wanting to mistreat people. Companies grow in the market they are in, and the conditions are set by their competitors. Standing up for "I want to work less, make more, get better benefits" just isn't competitive if your competitor isn't doing it. Strong-arming your employer almost never seems like a good idea.
- morsch 6y agoThat's not an issue if the competitor's workers are in the same union and are fighting for the same collective agreement.
- jjj123 6y agoYou say “us vs them” like it’s at all inaccurate. Owners have every incentive to make their employees work more for less. Unions just balance that power dynamic.
- em-bee 6y agoit is very unfortunate that owners have such an incentive. they shoudn't. in germany for example, much of what the unions have fought for eventually became law, giving the same benefits to everyone, and not just union members, making the unions less important. the problem really is the adverserial nature of the relationship. a cooperative relationship between employees (with or without unions) and employers would be beneficial to every one.
- fredsanford 6y agoPlease go work in an Amazon Warehouse for some amount of time and let us know your feelings then.
- pizzazzaro 6y agoWhen your employer caves, and the competition doesnt? Suddenly nobody in that industry with self-respect wants to work anywhere but there. If you think this doesnt affect any bottom line but your employer's? I think you misunderstand how people work. CostCo is one of the fastest growing retail businesses around! With or without Covid-19. They pay workers enough to care about the company. Does your boss pay you like that?
- fallingfrog 6y agoThat’s the basic idea behind the IWW, but because of their tremendous success with that tactic early in the 20th century, laws were passed that made it illegal to strike in solidarity with workers in another workplace. It still happens, (for instance there was a lot of that kind of activity in the recent teachers strikes) but it is illegal. Ironically it’s basically illegal because it works.
- Proven 6y agoThe fundamental reason is the Fed and globalists (Bill Clinton's record on this is terrible) helped big business move jobs out of the US, strongly impacting demand for local labor. All the while American socialists have been encouraging illegal immigration that undercuts local laborers' competitiveness. No growing demand for labor, no negotiating power. The American worker got fleeced by globalists, the Fed and corrupt politicians. Good luck fixing that with more socialism, Fed activism and more rules and regulations.
- neilwilson 6y agoThe case for a Job Guarantee [1] argues that the way to deal with this is to ensure everybody always has an alternative living wage job to go to. Then competition for scare labour does the rest. [1] https://www.amazon.com/dp/1509542108/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_T-AaFb1PG8F2X https://www.amazon.com/dp/1509542108/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_...