You can also look at other countries that have been through all of this already. For example Austria. Now in 2023 nobody would ever dare to say that a Union is a bad thing.
Where I work now, Big Lots, is the greatest example of a company that needs a union I have ever seen. However in the less than 6 months I’ve been there the staff has almost entirely changed and we’ve gone from about 15 employees to about 8. It’s the worst corporate nonsense, the worst pay, the worst hours, the worst benefits, the worst recognition, and the worst job in general I’ve ever fucking had by a MASSIVE margin, so naturally it forces employees to watch the strongest anti union video I’ve ever bore witness to in my life. I would love to start a union here, but by the time I even talked to everyone half of them will have quit already.
Bro I’m barely hanging on. I can’t pay my bills anymore, I can barely afford to eat, I have zero energy and I’m depressed constantly. I have easily put out hundreds of applications on Indeed in the past few months and had no luck finding anything close to decent at all, I get a few calls here and there but the jobs are always wild as fuck, like the Amazon company that called me yesterday that wanted me to only work Saturday and Sunday for 12 hours each day. I have honestly considered pan handling as I know I would legitimately make ten fold what I’m making for 1% of the effort, but primarily these days I just think about ending it all.
I used to make good money and threw it all away due to stress. Big fucking idiot I am had no idea what small stress I was trading in was going to be replaced by the biggest stress and the lowest points of my life.
“Here’s proof that his year’s organized labor uprising is working:”
The next few paragraphs are in yellow:
"340,000 UPS workers won $30 BILLION in raises, more time off. and more full-time jobs after threatening to strike.
"Writers beat the greedy Hollywood CEO’s replacing them with AI and won increased residuals, healthcare, and pension contributions.
"Half a million Fast Food Workers in CA won a $20 minimum wage and a seat at the table determining future wages, benefits and working conditions.
“Half a million California Health Care Workers won a $25 an hour minimum wage.”
The final paragraph is in white again:
“Unions work. You can bank on it.”
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In reality won’t these costs just be passed on to the consumer because there is absolutely no chance corps are going to stop worrying about shareholders and profits above all? I’m all for unions and people making more but it all seems like a waste if the cost of these changes just translates to more expensive everything.
You think corpos could sell you a burger for $8 but are only charging $6 out of the goodness of their hearts?
Companies always have charged and always will charge as much as consumers are willing to pay. If consumers won’t pay enough to keep them profitable, they go out of business.
The whole concept of “passing on costs to consumers” is just a psychological ploy tricking you into accepting higher prices. If we don’t accept higher prices, they won’t charge higher prices.
If enough people believe that higher wages = higher prices, then it will become so. In fact it likely already has become so.
But higher wages COULD = lower profits/exec salaries/stock buybacks etc. If we refuse to pay higher prices. Or if there’s nowhere else to make up the costs, they go out of business. Capitalism baby!
The workers are the union and the union only works if the workers participate. You should encourage your partner to get with her coworkers and put some pressure on whoever is in leadership to get contract negotiations started. It all starts with a conversation with her coworkers.
love the UPS and healthcare workers stuff…but…fast food? I’d like to see every fast food place go out of business. Celebrating a bit higher wages from mega-corp fast food places seems a bit…odd, considering fast food is a cancer on society. although i guess if paying the higher wages squeezes them more, i’m all for it. But seriously…who in their right mind even goes to fast food places these days? it’s basically setting fire to your own money and health.
I’m not sure how to overcome those hurtles. But check out the SEIU website. That’s the union that organized the justice for janitors movement. I know that they’re currently working on unionizing other marginalized employees across the country (like adjunct faculty). I’m sure there are resources on their website.
Thanks, because I am in North Carolina and the labor situation down here is terrible.
That said my supervisor in coworkers are pretty cool, I’m pretty sure that if we lived in a different state we would already be in a union. I’m on a first name basis with my supervisor, and you know I’ve rubbed out those with her and her people enough times to know that basically everything that goes tits up around here is the fault of corporation, heck, my boss is boss is pretty much admitted during one meeting that the only reason he doesn’t have it bigger budget or a company card is because he’s pretty sure he’s not the right color to get it.
Basically almost every job I have worked in this state, which is the only state I’ve ever worked in, with the exception of the job I have now. Had this whole seminar about how we should never trust Union people and even threaten penalizing employees who speak of such things. Which I’m sure is not legal.
I have been asked this several times, I need time I have asked why people seem to think that moving is free.
It isn’t that I’ve just never considered the possibility that I could get up and move to a different state, it’s the fact that I have the support network here in my home state that I would not have anywhere else, and that support network is the only reason I’m not on the streets.
Crothal took over the housekeeping department in the hospital that I work at. The difference in how clean the place was before and after they took over is night and day, and not in a good way.
Crothal is all about theater. As long as it looks like someone is cleaning, that’s good enough for them
It’s not evenly distributed, but it’s pretty well distributed. Average UPS drivers will make 49$/h (roughly 100k a year), and up to 170k a year on the higher end.
There is a tech union :) Unions and pro-union movements have been growing a lot in major tech companies in recent years and they have already had significant achievements in improving workers’ conditions. If you would like to join don’t hesitate to check out CODE-CWA and remember the most important thing is to start building support for unions among your coworkers!
I am asking once again for your support of unionization and strikes. While the WGA strike is over, the UAW, Kaiser employees (soon-ish) , and of course, SAG-AFTRA, still need your support.
I feel like part of this needs to address the common claim that the businesses in question will go bankrupt as a result of the increases in pay for labor.
It’s great that unions increase pay. But that hasn’t been the argument I’ve heard against unions. It’s that increasing the pay will tank the company and everyone would shortly be out of work. Which I don’t believe at all, but that’s the common argument against unions
I can’t think of a quick indisputable rebuttal to that claim, like I could say the companies have paid higher wages in the past relative to the value of the dollar and stayed in business, but there are a lot of factors involved that would need examining. But like another comment said risk is inherent in any business, if your business can’t succeed with these wages another company will fill your place. If no company can succeed with pay rates and benefits that are bare minimum for living then there is a root aspect of this setup that needs to change.
One thing we could do is look at companies that have unionized or increased wages and benefits for workers and were successful as a business afterwards. I don’t know any specific companies off-hand that are good examples, but there are probably some that could be mentioned if people doubt the possibility.
