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Henry Ford was the Foxconn of his day. When the average turnover at his factories dropped to 9 months because people would leave over low pay and bad work condi

Henry Ford was the Foxconn of his day. When the average turnover at his factories dropped to 9 months because people would leave over low pay and bad work conditions to go work at another automaker, he implemented the $5 day. It roughly doubled pay for the workers at the time but it came with a cost. The workers had to have their home life inspected, couldn't be drunks, drug users or abusive to their spouses, their kids had to be in school - essentially he used the wage increase to give license to tighter screening of employees lives both at work and home. It worked, productivity went up, lots of free press, and sales went up. The common belief was the raise was about the worker being able to buy his own car, but there was more to the story. I recommend "Wheels for the World" as an excellent book about this. http://www.amazon.com/Wheels-World-Company-Century-Progress/dp/B000BZ99PQ http://www.amazon.com/Wheels-World-Company-Century-Progress/...

derleth 14y ago
It was progressive compared to the attitudes of a century earlier: "Poverty ... is a most necessary and indispensable ingredient in society, without which nations and communities could not exist in a state of civilisation. It is the lot of man – it is the source of wealth, since without poverty there would be no labour, and without labour there could be no riches, no refinement, no comfort, and no benefit to those who may be possessed of wealth." — Patrick Colquhoun, 1806 Also, there was a simpler argument against a decent wage: If you give Those Sorts any more than the bare minimum needed to keep body and soul together, they'll just squander it on loose women, drink, and riotous behavior, leading to the decay of the family and the end of our Christian society. Fighting for the eight-hour workday amounted to fighting against this perception. > The eight-hour day, another said, would encourage "loafing and gambling, rioting, debauchery, and drunkenness." http://www.dickmeister.com/id368.html http://www.dickmeister.com/id368.html
- camus 14y ago
  I.E "i'm rich because you are poorer than me". It's not about wealth , it is about human nature , domination and power. There is enough wealth in this world for the rich to be still filthy rich and the poor to live a decent life and have an education. But wealth is a mean of domination, by keeping people poor you can make them desperate and enslave them.
justincormack 14y ago
Much like the 19th century Quaker model in the UK, as with worker villages like Port Sunlight, although in this case the workers did not actually get the extra money... Lever's aims were "to socialise and Christianise business relations and get back to that close family brotherhood that existed in the good old days of hand labour." He claimed that Port Sunlight was an exercise in profit sharing, but rather than share profits directly, he invested them in the village. He said, "It would not do you much good if you send it down your throats in the form of bottles of whisky, bags of sweets, or fat geese at Christmas. On the other hand, if you leave the money with me, I shall use it to provide for you everything that makes life pleasant – nice houses, comfortable homes, and healthy recreation." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Sunlight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Sunlight

derleth 14y ago

It was progressive compared to the attitudes of a century earlier: "Poverty ... is a most necessary and indispensable ingredient in society, without which nations and communities could not exist in a state of civilisation. It is the lot of man – it is the source of wealth, since without poverty there would be no labour, and without labour there could be no riches, no refinement, no comfort, and no benefit to those who may be possessed of wealth." — Patrick Colquhoun, 1806 Also, there was a simpler argument against a decent wage: If you give Those Sorts any more than the bare minimum needed to keep body and soul together, they'll just squander it on loose women, drink, and riotous behavior, leading to the decay of the family and the end of our Christian society. Fighting for the eight-hour workday amounted to fighting against this perception. > The eight-hour day, another said, would encourage "loafing and gambling, rioting, debauchery, and drunkenness." http://www.dickmeister.com/id368.html http://www.dickmeister.com/id368.html

camus 14y ago
I.E "i'm rich because you are poorer than me". It's not about wealth , it is about human nature , domination and power. There is enough wealth in this world for the rich to be still filthy rich and the poor to live a decent life and have an education. But wealth is a mean of domination, by keeping people poor you can make them desperate and enslave them.

justincormack 14y ago

Much like the 19th century Quaker model in the UK, as with worker villages like Port Sunlight, although in this case the workers did not actually get the extra money... Lever's aims were "to socialise and Christianise business relations and get back to that close family brotherhood that existed in the good old days of hand labour." He claimed that Port Sunlight was an exercise in profit sharing, but rather than share profits directly, he invested them in the village. He said, "It would not do you much good if you send it down your throats in the form of bottles of whisky, bags of sweets, or fat geese at Christmas. On the other hand, if you leave the money with me, I shall use it to provide for you everything that makes life pleasant – nice houses, comfortable homes, and healthy recreation." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Sunlight https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Sunlight