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I found this bit particularly revealing: "Amazon’s most effective union-busting tactic was requiring employees to attend so-called captive audience meetings. Th

by gstipi 5y ago

I found this bit particularly revealing: "Amazon’s most effective union-busting tactic was requiring employees to attend so-called captive audience meetings. The presentations were a study in psychological projection. Amazon, a publicly traded for-profit corporation that maximizes shareholder value and refers to its employees as “associates,” was presented as a “family.” Meanwhile, unions—nonprofit organizations whose members call each other “brother” and “sister” and who elect their own leaders—were framed as businesses run by “bosses.” The workers were told that the union, being a business, had come to Bessemer only to squeeze a profit out of them, whereas Amazon, being a family, had arrived to aid a struggling community."

wombatmobile 5y ago
The propaganda wouldn't work on its own unless the employees were dumb or mindless, which they aren't. They are intelligent human beings who want to look after their self-interest, just like everyone else. So, what is in their self-interest? The last paragraph of the article gives the bigger picture. It identifies the stark difference between the blue collar work environment of yesteryear's steel industry, and today. Today, an unskilled worker doesn't face the prospect of being blue collar for life. There is no permanent employment at the steelworks or the motor vehicle company. Companies aren't permanent - they come and go. So instead of relatively secure, low paid blue collar careers, they are funnelled into warehouses, call centres, and sales, which is a pathway to entrepreneurship, however bleak or mild, or promising or exciting. Today's unskilled workers look out into the future and sees sink or swim - it's all up to themselves. That's not a recipe for collective bargaining - it's a recipe for looking after number 1.

by gstipi 5y ago

wombatmobile 5y ago

The propaganda wouldn't work on its own unless the employees were dumb or mindless, which they aren't. They are intelligent human beings who want to look after their self-interest, just like everyone else. So, what is in their self-interest? The last paragraph of the article gives the bigger picture. It identifies the stark difference between the blue collar work environment of yesteryear's steel industry, and today. Today, an unskilled worker doesn't face the prospect of being blue collar for life. There is no permanent employment at the steelworks or the motor vehicle company. Companies aren't permanent - they come and go. So instead of relatively secure, low paid blue collar careers, they are funnelled into warehouses, call centres, and sales, which is a pathway to entrepreneurship, however bleak or mild, or promising or exciting. Today's unskilled workers look out into the future and sees sink or swim - it's all up to themselves. That's not a recipe for collective bargaining - it's a recipe for looking after number 1.