575
Strikes aren’t bad for the US economy. They’re the best thing that could happen
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 21 Sep 2023
575 points (98.5% liked)
Work Reform
9997 readers
130 users here now
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.
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Seems to me that if we have an economy based on consumer spending, giving consumers more money to spend would be a good thing.
No no, see once the most super-rich person collects all the money they win the game, and then we all get to quit.
If by "quitting" you mean we all die, I think you just might be right.
This is why I pray for there to be an afterlife, I would just love to sit in a Celestial break room sipping tea with a long dead friend with whom I've been reunited, and just thank God that it's all over.
We'll get there in our time, friend.
New Game+ ?
Can I quit right now?
But before that we fight each other in a lawless starvation hellscape.
I legitimately don't understand why this is such a hard concept to grasp. I'd gladly buy your $thing if I could afford it
Because the way they see it, you’d have to take their money through wages in order to afford stuff. If their only liquidity is through perpetually revolving loans against the equity they hold, then their only job is to make that equity ever increase. The less those companies pay, the higher the profit. The higher the profit, the greater the dividends. They greater the dividends, the higher the stock price. The higher the stock price, the larger the valuation. Ever increasing collateral = perpetual revolving borrowing patterns = cheat code for unlimited money.
But if it ever falls apart they’ll be on the hook for a loan so big they might not be able to pay it back if they liquidate everything. So they MUST win at all costs. This is the deal with the devil. Ultimate power, but you must keep the plates spinning. One wrong move and you are collected.
A friend of mine had this saying, that if you know someone who is greedy, you don't really know someone who is greedy you know someone who is stupid.
If your company encourages a strong well paid Workforce that can afford to take their earnings and invest it back into the company, then you're going to be doing all right for yourself. But if you continuously try to squeeze blood from a Stone, everyone is going to hate you for it and no one is going to be able to afford your product.
Like seriously these businessmen need to look up Henry ford, and how he couldn't sell cars, he asked his employees why they weren't buying cars, when they told him that they couldn't afford cars he gave them raises and told them to buy cars. This actually worked because a consumer based economy can only work if the consumers can afford to consume.
Unfortunately it's a myth that Ford treated his employees well. Yes, he greatly raised pay, but that was to reduce employee turnover. For example, in 1913 Ford hired 52,000 people to keep a workforce of 14,000. Ford literally had his own secret police who would monitor employees and beat ones who were caught slacking. On top of that, the increase in pay was about half a bonus for meeting "character requirements" enforced by the Socialization Organization.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/03/04/the-story-of-henry-fords-5-a-day-wages-its-not-what-you-think/?sh=52f04893766d
Jesus Christ
Now take that to the extreme and make it a worker-owned company, where everyone has a vested interest in the company succeeding and control over company decisions.
I will drink to that
Heck yeah! And of course, the companies will just eat that loss and not increase their products' price to cover higher wages.
They've increased costs without covering wages so that would be a refreshing change.
Eventually the system is going to come to a screeching halt