This is such an important insight. If business schools, leadership training programs, even the Davos gatherings, would acknowledge this and implement it, think how much better off we would all be. It might even heal the them vs us attitude which is destroying American society.
The most important part of your article was the following :
L-S’s workplace was organized from the bottom up. When I visited, I couldn’t tell managers from employees. All wore the same uniforms, parked in the same parking lots, ate in the same cafeteria. Worker committees did the hiring, decided on pay scales linked to levels of skill, and set production targets. They rotated jobs, so that every worker gained knowledge of the entire system.
If only we could only get our Government to follow suit!! Income inequality and lack of respect is our greatest divider in our country.
“We” have lost our way in the USA. Our economy works for the already wealthy or the greedy. The difference between a living wage and the minimum wage would make little difference to the bottom line of millionaires and billionaires. Barbara Ehrenreich, author of “Nickel and Dimed” an “undercover account of the indignities of being a low-wage worker in the USA, and considered a classic in social justice literature.” She died last week, but leaves a legacy of writing and teaching in the areas of “the myth of the American Dream, the labor market, health care, poverty and women’s rights.” Highly recommended reading. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/books/barbara-ehrenreich-dead.html?smid=url-share
This deserves to be read more widely, especially by Republican supporters who might be converted. Perhaps we need a book on why workers' rights are not a threat to society, as capitalists would like everyone to believe. If Republican politicians try to get such books banned, goad them into burning copies and watch the sales and circulation go through the ceiling!
I really like Dr. Reich's dividing workplaces into the we vs. they model, and that union shops tend to be more we than they. My dad worked in a supermarket chain for 35 years. The union came in after about a dozen years. He always said that everything changed when that happened. He had liked working for the company before the union, but really liked it afterward. He was lucky that his union and bosses got along pretty well and only had one short strike while he worked for them. Turnover was low and people often retired from the company. On the other side, my niece worked for a non-unionized company where the employees hated being there. Managers often did not respect the other workers, mostly because they were encouraged not to. My niece always referred to work as they. She was made a manager which held a lot more responsibility than the workers but she earned only 50 cents more an hour. We could fix this if Congress would pass laws to stop the abuse of workers and to make it easier to organize. I get it that the Confederate states and confederate wannabees will heavily protest, but their economies aren't doing all that well right now. This Labor Day, here's to quality unions and the workers they support!
The miners and their family members at the Ludlow Massacre would have described their employers as “They.” Bless the souls of those courageous people. We owe them a deep depth of gratitude.
as a seattle native (well, i started my life there until i left for a postdoc in NYC), it makes me sad to realise that a once-innovative company is now so horrible to its workers. i even tried to get a job there (when i was unemployed in NYC) but they refused to hire me. why? i was told later that starbux refuses to hire anyone who looks like they might start a bid to unionise the workers. as a PhD, i "looked like" someone who might unionise the place and therefore, i did not deserve a job. that's when starbux stopped being a "home away from home" for me.
How right you are! In a very long career (age 10 to age 87) I worked for a large variety of government agencies and private enterprise. the jobs I remember with fondness were all 'we' positions, where I felt I was an essential part of the entity, regardless of pay. Where management is 'top down' I could hardly wait for my next employment. Where management included all, I could hardly wait to get to work the next day. The jobs I liked best were where I felt 'valued' [teaching and IBM] the jobs I disliked, I felt like a cog in the wheel.
Your statement is clear and excellent, Robert, but please don’t use the word that was the very
last one in your article. Because it still isn’t considered respectful, it brought your point down. I realize that some will disagree with me. Fine.
Meanwhile, I liked the way you characterized workplaces as “we” or “they” places. I’m cheered by the fact that unions--the real ones, not the ones the make too many concessions to management--are making inroads. Amazon and Starbucks workers! Whoopee!
I feel betrayed by my own union because, as a New York City municipal retiree, I’m threatened with the privatization of Medicare. It turns out that the feds are offering the municipal unions $600 million in savings for the funds that take care of active employees IF they shoehorn retirees into Medicare Advantage (really private insurance companies), and charge them $191.57 a month if they opt out and choose to stay with traditional Medicare (which they’ve been getting for free). Right now the deal is being held up by a lawsuit brought by a group of retirees. Current employees are going to be played off against retirees who’ve put years into their service to the city. In the hope it might be useful, I’ll forward to you my letter to my union president about that. He’s gung-ho for the Medicare Advantage Plan although he’s a retiree himself. He’s been quoted that way in a recent article.
Yes, employers should put workers first. To fight the profit system is called socialism, but that’s no dirty word in my book.
In the early 1960's, when I was starting collage, I decided that I wanted to be a business generalist and found that a good track would be in what was then called "Personnel." That word contains the word "person," whereas the later term "Human Resources" is commoditization of the worker as in raw material resources , fuel resources, energy resources. Maybe this is not important, but I continue to think that words matter.
I think I accidentally deleted my comment. Oh, NUTS! I have to write it again. I was really trying to edit it.
Robert, I think your brief essay is wonderful, and I like your “we”-“they” comparison. It’s a good observation. I think it would have been better if you’d avoided the rough language at the end. It’s still considered disrespectful and it doesn’t help your point. It’s nasty. I realize we all are angry at the fascists these days.
Hoorah for unions--the real kind, not the ones that make big concessions to management. Starbucks and Amazon unions are to be loved. They have courage to stand up against the owners who spend millions trying to defeat them.
I’m disappointed in my own union. I’m a New York City municipal retiree. The NYC municipal unions--most of them--have tried to sell us out. I’ll forward to you the letter I wrote to my union president complaining about this. He was quoted in a recent article advocating for the plan, as he has for awhile. Originally it had been voted in secretly.
Essentially, they’re trying to shoehorn municipal retirees into privatized--for-profit--Medicare. If we opt out of the plan, we’ll be charged $191.57 a month for staying in Traditional Medicare, when up until now it’s been free. The reason for this is that if we get the privatized Medicare or have to pay that big premium for not taking it, active workers will benefit; the unions will save about $600 million a year from the feds in a fund for active workers. Active workers are being played off against retirees; after all our years of service, this is how they’re treating us. Privatized Medicare puts profits before healthcare. The feds should obviously not be doing this, either, but Washington is a big corporate benefactor/beneficiary. For now, the plan is being held up by a lawsuit brought by a group of retirees. Hooray! But the Mayor and Unions are trying hard to get around the lawsuit.
Robert, I don’t believe you understand what it takes to run a business or be in a union. Let’s call this intellectualizing versus experiencing. Howard deserves credit for what he has accomplished with a coffee shop . He is a shining example of what businesses should do for its employees. See, this is not a fantasy for me. I belonged to steelworkers USW union. They were mostly corrupt and only interested in monthly dues. Far from utopia you’re suggesting unions offer. Having employees run a business like it were their business is the goal for most businesses. Being in a union and running a small business is a experience and not just a theory about reality. I visited Starbucks every day for years. It’s a hard job but the employees are highly motivated and use all their benefits to educate themselves, stock participation in the company, healthcare etc. They are paid $12-$15 hourly depending on level of responsibility. Howard accomplished the nearly impossible by having 8 teenagers show up at 5am to meet dozens of customers expecting perfection with complicated drinks. They are taught customer interactions using empathy, kindness and truly a caring attitude all while hustling at breakneck speed. I don’t write theories but I have ran a business over 45 years. I had a wonderful connection with my business family like Howard has accomplished. You cannot fake trust you have to truly be trustworthy. I had a disgruntled employee one time that I remember and he turned me into the IRS. They showed up at my door spent one day with me my secretaries who told them you’re in the wrong place, this guy does not deserve to be examined for anything. He is 100% honest with everything he does and he does it basically for himself first. They left after two hours. Also I don’t think a coffeeshop deserves being in a union. This is not the type of business that unions benefit. Robert, I hope this serves somewhat as a reality check. My opinion is your not thinking correctly. Howard is a one of a kind businessman and sets a example of success and inclusion for everyone. Pretty rare in today’s world. The employees are prepared to be better citizens and are happy. Not perfection but certainly positive
My first school was a 2room school house. My class had 1st through 5th grade. Miss Ruby remains won of my favorite people. While she taught one group, the other grades worked in their groups cooperatively with the material. It was my best educational experience. Later, a sociology experiment, tested rural and urban children by telling 2 children that they were to play 4games of tic tax toe with a prize for the winner at the end of each round. The rural children did not talk to each other, ut made sure that they each won 2 games and each got 2 prizes. The urban children used completion instead of cooperation and usually the Cat won all games and the children walked away with no prizes. If we started teaching cooperation early, these are lessons that are never forgotten. When we moved into town I was in the second grade. During my first spelling test, I did what I had done in the past and discussed it with my desk mate. The teacher called me to the fron of the class and advised everyone that I was cheating. I didn’t even know what the word cheating was,, it I knew I was being publicly humiliated. Even though it had only been one year, I have held onto the importance of cooperation and it’s value for work. Hopefully America can drop it’s adolescent praise of the rugged individualist with the need for everyone to have a gun, and grow up and realize caring for others and cooperation is better for all.
As a public school teacher, I belonged to the NEA and it’s state and local affiliates (and still belong to the retirees division). When I first began teaching, there was a definite “we” mentality. Today it’s more like survival of the fittest. “They” include not only your principal, superintendent, and school board, and not just the parents of your students, but every resident of your community. You are, after all, paid by their taxes. Therefore, all of these entities feel they have the right to determine what you teach and how you teach it. If they don’t agree with teaching the good, the bad, and the ugly in history, science, and literature, you must skip over whatever “they” choose. Imagine a job where the workers get phone calls, texts, and emails from not only their boss, boss’s boss, etc., and not only from every customer who buys what they produce, but from everyone, everywhere, making church sermons and national headlines. Imagine all of them telling the workers how to do their job, even though they have little or no experience in that field. (Of course, give anyone a book and a roomful of kids, and they can teach. You know, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t teach.”) Add to that the perception that the NEA and AFT are hugely powerful and that teachers earn plenty and have the summer off, and it becomes a nightmare. Ask most teachers and you’ll hear that it’s not just a “we” OR “they” culture. It's “us” VERSUS “them” these days. So glad I’m retired.
This is such an important insight. If business schools, leadership training programs, even the Davos gatherings, would acknowledge this and implement it, think how much better off we would all be. It might even heal the them vs us attitude which is destroying American society.
Thank You Mr Reich.
The most important part of your article was the following :
L-S’s workplace was organized from the bottom up. When I visited, I couldn’t tell managers from employees. All wore the same uniforms, parked in the same parking lots, ate in the same cafeteria. Worker committees did the hiring, decided on pay scales linked to levels of skill, and set production targets. They rotated jobs, so that every worker gained knowledge of the entire system.
If only we could only get our Government to follow suit!! Income inequality and lack of respect is our greatest divider in our country.
“We” have lost our way in the USA. Our economy works for the already wealthy or the greedy. The difference between a living wage and the minimum wage would make little difference to the bottom line of millionaires and billionaires. Barbara Ehrenreich, author of “Nickel and Dimed” an “undercover account of the indignities of being a low-wage worker in the USA, and considered a classic in social justice literature.” She died last week, but leaves a legacy of writing and teaching in the areas of “the myth of the American Dream, the labor market, health care, poverty and women’s rights.” Highly recommended reading. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/books/barbara-ehrenreich-dead.html?smid=url-share
This deserves to be read more widely, especially by Republican supporters who might be converted. Perhaps we need a book on why workers' rights are not a threat to society, as capitalists would like everyone to believe. If Republican politicians try to get such books banned, goad them into burning copies and watch the sales and circulation go through the ceiling!
I really like Dr. Reich's dividing workplaces into the we vs. they model, and that union shops tend to be more we than they. My dad worked in a supermarket chain for 35 years. The union came in after about a dozen years. He always said that everything changed when that happened. He had liked working for the company before the union, but really liked it afterward. He was lucky that his union and bosses got along pretty well and only had one short strike while he worked for them. Turnover was low and people often retired from the company. On the other side, my niece worked for a non-unionized company where the employees hated being there. Managers often did not respect the other workers, mostly because they were encouraged not to. My niece always referred to work as they. She was made a manager which held a lot more responsibility than the workers but she earned only 50 cents more an hour. We could fix this if Congress would pass laws to stop the abuse of workers and to make it easier to organize. I get it that the Confederate states and confederate wannabees will heavily protest, but their economies aren't doing all that well right now. This Labor Day, here's to quality unions and the workers they support!
Can't agree more. Since workers are considered cost items rather than assets in most companies, they are treated as such.
The miners and their family members at the Ludlow Massacre would have described their employers as “They.” Bless the souls of those courageous people. We owe them a deep depth of gratitude.
as a seattle native (well, i started my life there until i left for a postdoc in NYC), it makes me sad to realise that a once-innovative company is now so horrible to its workers. i even tried to get a job there (when i was unemployed in NYC) but they refused to hire me. why? i was told later that starbux refuses to hire anyone who looks like they might start a bid to unionise the workers. as a PhD, i "looked like" someone who might unionise the place and therefore, i did not deserve a job. that's when starbux stopped being a "home away from home" for me.
We have to shut down the fascists.
How right you are! In a very long career (age 10 to age 87) I worked for a large variety of government agencies and private enterprise. the jobs I remember with fondness were all 'we' positions, where I felt I was an essential part of the entity, regardless of pay. Where management is 'top down' I could hardly wait for my next employment. Where management included all, I could hardly wait to get to work the next day. The jobs I liked best were where I felt 'valued' [teaching and IBM] the jobs I disliked, I felt like a cog in the wheel.
Your statement is clear and excellent, Robert, but please don’t use the word that was the very
last one in your article. Because it still isn’t considered respectful, it brought your point down. I realize that some will disagree with me. Fine.
Meanwhile, I liked the way you characterized workplaces as “we” or “they” places. I’m cheered by the fact that unions--the real ones, not the ones the make too many concessions to management--are making inroads. Amazon and Starbucks workers! Whoopee!
I feel betrayed by my own union because, as a New York City municipal retiree, I’m threatened with the privatization of Medicare. It turns out that the feds are offering the municipal unions $600 million in savings for the funds that take care of active employees IF they shoehorn retirees into Medicare Advantage (really private insurance companies), and charge them $191.57 a month if they opt out and choose to stay with traditional Medicare (which they’ve been getting for free). Right now the deal is being held up by a lawsuit brought by a group of retirees. Current employees are going to be played off against retirees who’ve put years into their service to the city. In the hope it might be useful, I’ll forward to you my letter to my union president about that. He’s gung-ho for the Medicare Advantage Plan although he’s a retiree himself. He’s been quoted that way in a recent article.
Yes, employers should put workers first. To fight the profit system is called socialism, but that’s no dirty word in my book.
In the early 1960's, when I was starting collage, I decided that I wanted to be a business generalist and found that a good track would be in what was then called "Personnel." That word contains the word "person," whereas the later term "Human Resources" is commoditization of the worker as in raw material resources , fuel resources, energy resources. Maybe this is not important, but I continue to think that words matter.
I think I accidentally deleted my comment. Oh, NUTS! I have to write it again. I was really trying to edit it.
Robert, I think your brief essay is wonderful, and I like your “we”-“they” comparison. It’s a good observation. I think it would have been better if you’d avoided the rough language at the end. It’s still considered disrespectful and it doesn’t help your point. It’s nasty. I realize we all are angry at the fascists these days.
Hoorah for unions--the real kind, not the ones that make big concessions to management. Starbucks and Amazon unions are to be loved. They have courage to stand up against the owners who spend millions trying to defeat them.
I’m disappointed in my own union. I’m a New York City municipal retiree. The NYC municipal unions--most of them--have tried to sell us out. I’ll forward to you the letter I wrote to my union president complaining about this. He was quoted in a recent article advocating for the plan, as he has for awhile. Originally it had been voted in secretly.
Essentially, they’re trying to shoehorn municipal retirees into privatized--for-profit--Medicare. If we opt out of the plan, we’ll be charged $191.57 a month for staying in Traditional Medicare, when up until now it’s been free. The reason for this is that if we get the privatized Medicare or have to pay that big premium for not taking it, active workers will benefit; the unions will save about $600 million a year from the feds in a fund for active workers. Active workers are being played off against retirees; after all our years of service, this is how they’re treating us. Privatized Medicare puts profits before healthcare. The feds should obviously not be doing this, either, but Washington is a big corporate benefactor/beneficiary. For now, the plan is being held up by a lawsuit brought by a group of retirees. Hooray! But the Mayor and Unions are trying hard to get around the lawsuit.
Thanks for all your hard work, Robert.
Robert, I don’t believe you understand what it takes to run a business or be in a union. Let’s call this intellectualizing versus experiencing. Howard deserves credit for what he has accomplished with a coffee shop . He is a shining example of what businesses should do for its employees. See, this is not a fantasy for me. I belonged to steelworkers USW union. They were mostly corrupt and only interested in monthly dues. Far from utopia you’re suggesting unions offer. Having employees run a business like it were their business is the goal for most businesses. Being in a union and running a small business is a experience and not just a theory about reality. I visited Starbucks every day for years. It’s a hard job but the employees are highly motivated and use all their benefits to educate themselves, stock participation in the company, healthcare etc. They are paid $12-$15 hourly depending on level of responsibility. Howard accomplished the nearly impossible by having 8 teenagers show up at 5am to meet dozens of customers expecting perfection with complicated drinks. They are taught customer interactions using empathy, kindness and truly a caring attitude all while hustling at breakneck speed. I don’t write theories but I have ran a business over 45 years. I had a wonderful connection with my business family like Howard has accomplished. You cannot fake trust you have to truly be trustworthy. I had a disgruntled employee one time that I remember and he turned me into the IRS. They showed up at my door spent one day with me my secretaries who told them you’re in the wrong place, this guy does not deserve to be examined for anything. He is 100% honest with everything he does and he does it basically for himself first. They left after two hours. Also I don’t think a coffeeshop deserves being in a union. This is not the type of business that unions benefit. Robert, I hope this serves somewhat as a reality check. My opinion is your not thinking correctly. Howard is a one of a kind businessman and sets a example of success and inclusion for everyone. Pretty rare in today’s world. The employees are prepared to be better citizens and are happy. Not perfection but certainly positive
My first school was a 2room school house. My class had 1st through 5th grade. Miss Ruby remains won of my favorite people. While she taught one group, the other grades worked in their groups cooperatively with the material. It was my best educational experience. Later, a sociology experiment, tested rural and urban children by telling 2 children that they were to play 4games of tic tax toe with a prize for the winner at the end of each round. The rural children did not talk to each other, ut made sure that they each won 2 games and each got 2 prizes. The urban children used completion instead of cooperation and usually the Cat won all games and the children walked away with no prizes. If we started teaching cooperation early, these are lessons that are never forgotten. When we moved into town I was in the second grade. During my first spelling test, I did what I had done in the past and discussed it with my desk mate. The teacher called me to the fron of the class and advised everyone that I was cheating. I didn’t even know what the word cheating was,, it I knew I was being publicly humiliated. Even though it had only been one year, I have held onto the importance of cooperation and it’s value for work. Hopefully America can drop it’s adolescent praise of the rugged individualist with the need for everyone to have a gun, and grow up and realize caring for others and cooperation is better for all.
As a public school teacher, I belonged to the NEA and it’s state and local affiliates (and still belong to the retirees division). When I first began teaching, there was a definite “we” mentality. Today it’s more like survival of the fittest. “They” include not only your principal, superintendent, and school board, and not just the parents of your students, but every resident of your community. You are, after all, paid by their taxes. Therefore, all of these entities feel they have the right to determine what you teach and how you teach it. If they don’t agree with teaching the good, the bad, and the ugly in history, science, and literature, you must skip over whatever “they” choose. Imagine a job where the workers get phone calls, texts, and emails from not only their boss, boss’s boss, etc., and not only from every customer who buys what they produce, but from everyone, everywhere, making church sermons and national headlines. Imagine all of them telling the workers how to do their job, even though they have little or no experience in that field. (Of course, give anyone a book and a roomful of kids, and they can teach. You know, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t teach.”) Add to that the perception that the NEA and AFT are hugely powerful and that teachers earn plenty and have the summer off, and it becomes a nightmare. Ask most teachers and you’ll hear that it’s not just a “we” OR “they” culture. It's “us” VERSUS “them” these days. So glad I’m retired.