5 ms·

How would basic income and social safety nets increase labors negotiating power?

BiosElement 6y ago
Simple, it would mean the employee doesn't need the job as badly as the employer needs the worker. If you don't need to worry about starving, it's a much more powerful position to begin from, naturally.
trefoiled 6y ago
Less precarity. If you aren't terrified of losing your job, because you know you won't be instantly devastated without it (losing health insurance, being evicted), you have less to lose in labor negotiations.
diebeforei485 6y ago
It's much easier to quit an abusive boss if you have some income to sustain yourself (UBI). You don't have to put up with the abuse for another month or two until you have a new job offer, etc.
- mattacular 6y ago
  If that were true then how come existing social safety netting in the form of unemployment benefits haven't helped people stuck in this type of situation?
  - bhupy 6y ago
    You don't qualify for unemployment benefits if you refuse to take a job due to unfavorable terms.
  - filoeleven 6y ago
    Unemployment benefits only kick in for people who have lost their job through no fault of their own, though state laws probably vary here. If I quit because my boss is a jerk, or I’m not being paid enough, or many other reasons, I am not eligible for unemployment. My employer has a lot of power, since finding a new job can take a lot of time that I may not have given a full workday and other responsibilities. The vast majority of people who receive unemployment had an unplanned job loss, which already puts them at a disadvantage both planning-wise and psychologically. If instead you KNOW that you will receive income when choosing to leave a job, you are more able to prepare for how it will affect your lifestyle.
ouid 6y ago
I assume you're asking this question in good faith. Negotiating power is derived exclusively from the ability to walk away. When walking away from your employment means being evicted, starving, and being unable to afford medical care, your ability to do so is crippled.
- mattacular 6y ago
  I was and all of the replies so far are assuming UBI would cover all basic necessities in the long term in every part of the country. Many people with above avg income TODAY struggle with medical bills and even housing. So I'm not sure I buy the argument that a UBI would be able to cover them unless many other things change first.
  - filoeleven 6y ago
    Hence the need to strengthens social safety nets too. Universal health care removes the medical costs problem for individuals (I’m not weighing in on its societal cost here except to say that other countries manage it). A UBI should cover the cost of housing and food, though it does not guarantee that you can live in a highly-sought after area without other income. That must be factored into employee compensation in the same way that it already is for desirable jobs today. It puts more pressure on cities to ensure that close, affordable housing exists for the lower-wage workers like retail and service workers who help make those cities desirable places to live. A job at a swanky downtown coffee shop with an hour commute becomes a lot less attractive if I can ditch that job and the transit costs without worrying about my basic survival. So the coffee shop has to increase pay or lose its employees and close up. Its downtown location and clientele will either absorb the price increase, or downtown will become a less competitive living space due to the loss of the business. A UBI will not remove all of the reasons someone can’t pack up and leave if the area is too expensive, there are lots of human factors in play, but it will increase people’s ability to move elsewhere without having to fear for their very survival.
    - mattacular 6y ago
      Ok thanks for your response. I do agree that a UBI could go a lot further if it was implemented alongside universal healthcare and those two things together would significantly increase your bargaining position as a worker.
uoaei 6y ago
If healthcare is not tied to your job, you have much more leverage because you are not shackled to a particular employer with an attractive healthcare plan. The cost-benefit analysis of working for or leaving a company no longer includes basic human needs which are held effectively hostage via your employment status. This can be extended to other social services such as childcare.

Simple, it would mean the employee doesn't need the job as badly as the employer needs the worker. If you don't need to worry about starving, it's a much more powerful position to begin from, naturally.

trefoiled 6y ago

Less precarity. If you aren't terrified of losing your job, because you know you won't be instantly devastated without it (losing health insurance, being evicted), you have less to lose in labor negotiations.

diebeforei485 6y ago

It's much easier to quit an abusive boss if you have some income to sustain yourself (UBI). You don't have to put up with the abuse for another month or two until you have a new job offer, etc.

mattacular 6y ago
If that were true then how come existing social safety netting in the form of unemployment benefits haven't helped people stuck in this type of situation?
- bhupy 6y ago
  You don't qualify for unemployment benefits if you refuse to take a job due to unfavorable terms.
- filoeleven 6y ago
  Unemployment benefits only kick in for people who have lost their job through no fault of their own, though state laws probably vary here. If I quit because my boss is a jerk, or I’m not being paid enough, or many other reasons, I am not eligible for unemployment. My employer has a lot of power, since finding a new job can take a lot of time that I may not have given a full workday and other responsibilities. The vast majority of people who receive unemployment had an unplanned job loss, which already puts them at a disadvantage both planning-wise and psychologically. If instead you KNOW that you will receive income when choosing to leave a job, you are more able to prepare for how it will affect your lifestyle.

ouid 6y ago

I assume you're asking this question in good faith. Negotiating power is derived exclusively from the ability to walk away. When walking away from your employment means being evicted, starving, and being unable to afford medical care, your ability to do so is crippled.

mattacular 6y ago
I was and all of the replies so far are assuming UBI would cover all basic necessities in the long term in every part of the country. Many people with above avg income TODAY struggle with medical bills and even housing. So I'm not sure I buy the argument that a UBI would be able to cover them unless many other things change first.
- filoeleven 6y ago
  Hence the need to strengthens social safety nets too. Universal health care removes the medical costs problem for individuals (I’m not weighing in on its societal cost here except to say that other countries manage it). A UBI should cover the cost of housing and food, though it does not guarantee that you can live in a highly-sought after area without other income. That must be factored into employee compensation in the same way that it already is for desirable jobs today. It puts more pressure on cities to ensure that close, affordable housing exists for the lower-wage workers like retail and service workers who help make those cities desirable places to live. A job at a swanky downtown coffee shop with an hour commute becomes a lot less attractive if I can ditch that job and the transit costs without worrying about my basic survival. So the coffee shop has to increase pay or lose its employees and close up. Its downtown location and clientele will either absorb the price increase, or downtown will become a less competitive living space due to the loss of the business. A UBI will not remove all of the reasons someone can’t pack up and leave if the area is too expensive, there are lots of human factors in play, but it will increase people’s ability to move elsewhere without having to fear for their very survival.
  - mattacular 6y ago
    Ok thanks for your response. I do agree that a UBI could go a lot further if it was implemented alongside universal healthcare and those two things together would significantly increase your bargaining position as a worker.

uoaei 6y ago

If healthcare is not tied to your job, you have much more leverage because you are not shackled to a particular employer with an attractive healthcare plan. The cost-benefit analysis of working for or leaving a company no longer includes basic human needs which are held effectively hostage via your employment status. This can be extended to other social services such as childcare.