this post was submitted on 12 Mar 2025
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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Who said these were part time jobs? No one. A lot of Batistas work full the jobs actually, because they can't get any other jobs. Should they die of starvation or exposure or buried in medical debt just because you think they're beneath you? What if you lose your job and the market is shit and all you can find for a year or more is some "shitty unskilled labor" job? Should you be forced from your home to live on the streets just because you can't find a job in your career field through no fault of your own?
Let's do some quick, back of the napkin math. I'm going to round for simplicity.
This asshole took a bonus of 96 million dollars. Let's assume that all 1,000 employees have an average salary of $45,000, which was the US average salary last time I checked. Employee benefits, which include health insurance and retirement contributions, typically cost an employer 1.5x the salary but I'm being lazy so let's 2x it. So each of the 1,000 employees costs the company $90,000.
$$96,000,000 / $90,000 = 1,066
Or in other words: At $90,000 per employee, the $96 million bonus could fund these employees at full time schedules with full benefits for an entire year. This asshole stole their salaries for themselves.
Just because the government lets them do it doesn't make it moral or OK. If he didn't take the bonus he'd still be a gazzilionaire and one of the highest paid employees in the company, but he elected to steal 1000 salaries instead.
No one is in this thread calling for Starbucks specifically to change their ways, they're outraged that this is allowed to happen at all. And yes, the only organization that can stand up to corporate power is the government, but that has been completely sucked up corporate Americas asshole, so all we can do is point out the injustice and hypocrisy of the system and hope enough other people get as angry as we are so we can all overthrow this bullshit system of oppression, and your "well what did you expect working a shit job" attitude does absolutely nothing to help, and only reinforces the idea that this is all somehow normal or OK.