I think that if any good can come from this horrible pandemic it is that people are realizing that they do not necessarily have to settle for a job that clearly mistreats their staff. Just look at how so many jobs out there are part-time and seasonal positions because big companies are not willing to offer benefits and retirement. Or how about the worker who’s standing at a cash register for a six and a half hour shift with a mere 30 minute break for lunch?
Kudos to Starbucks! Kudos to the hopeful beginning of a new union’s birth at Trader Giotto’s in Hadley, Massachusetts! I hope this is just the beginning of a revival of the American Union. We need protections badly.
I’m sure that virtually every subscriber to Substack has a story of being mistreated at their workplace at some point in their lives. And the sad thing is, for lots of us it is not yesteryear.
Thank you for this and all of your essays, Professor Reich. I learn something from you every day. 🌻
We also have a lot of foreigners. H1B visas, H 2A, etc. In Trump's properties, for example, lots of temporary foreign workers displacing US citizens and green card holders. Mostly from Slovenia, the Balkans.
In my old office, we handled H1B appeals also. In a staff attorney's office, files covered floor to ceiling from one company, Microsoft. The H-1B is a Specialty Occupation work authorization visa with a cumulative maximum duration of 6 years. The initial period of stay for those in H-1B status is three (3) years, with extensions available for up to three (3) years thereafter. https://h1bgrader.com/h1b-sponsors/microsoft-corporation-ew2x79yyk3
An awful lot of digital consulting companies rely on H1B visas, their excuse being the US doesn't graduate enough Computer analysts, technicians,programmers, etc.
The truth is the companies who make tremendous profits don't want to pay for
Americans when the can get educated workers from Asian countries like India, Pakistan and Russia to work for much less and with far fewer benefits.
Fay Reid ; My older brother worked in I.T. as a 'spaghetti' specialist, not literally pasta, but old terminology used by 'propeller heads' in computer work. After the fear of a great crash in entering the new millennium (2000), he and several coworkers were offered 'severance packages' worth much less than their expected retirement benefits that were in their contracts. It was a widespread practice that happened when a company changed hands and unethical, should have been illegal, but laws can be gamed, and they got away with it. Jobs were outsourced to India, Pakistan et al, where they could have three times the production for a pittance. 17 years with a company near Detroit that helped process government paychecks. My brother became a painter and worked alone painting homes and interiors. He had learned the skill while a student at Boston College and had worked residential and commercial jobs around Boston. Climbing ladders in his upper 50's, he was lucky to have experience and could get $38 per hour. Nothing like he had been earning at the I.T. job, but some of his co-workers pushed shopping carts in parking lots.
That is so typical of not just the American tech industry but corporate America, in general. Although the owners made astounding incomes, they saw no reason to share the wealth with workers, no matter how well educated, trained, experienced or inventive they (the workers) are. The greed in this country - which I think (opinion only) started with Reagan in 1980, is obscene. Why does anyone need 8 houses, 15 cars, etc. The main function of the Musk's. Bazo's, Koch's, etc. seems to be to die the richest man in the cemetery.
I do not want to imply that the Indian and Pakistani were not really good workers, They are. Many of my friends have become American citizens and continue working in the Consulting, Business Analyst, technical fields. However, this does not negate the reason why the corporations hired them in the first place. I did not have good experiences working with Russian men in the field so I won't comment on them, but I have many very dear friends among both Indian and Pakistani.
With all due respect, Daniel — apples and oranges. You speak of more white collared folks than the average person struggling to feed their family today, which is who I am talking about, and who needs the protection a Union could provide. This is not about immigration.
Will that not promote larger families? That is what happened in Quebec, Canada. They called it the Baby Bonus. But what happened was larger families created higher costs for food, clothing, etc. BUT, it also resulted in more abused children, battered wives, alcoholism, non-medical drug use, gambling, and all kinds of other social ills. Tax credits may be good on the surface, but below the surface they are destructive to families, and society is made up of families. The solution is NOT having more kids, but realizing that smaller fsmilies present fewer demands on parental capabilities--and therefore less social problems as children grow into adults and start having children of their owm.
I used to be a Canadian and the increased number of babies and accompanying abuse was far more complex. The same argument was used in California when I worked in welfare, The State passed a regulation limiting the number of children supported by welfare.
The argument was that women were producing more babies for the $110 extra payment per month. Hogwash. No woman in her right mind would deliberately get pregnant for a baby bonus. What happened was more children went hungry.
But their husbands would, and did, Times are a lot different now, except if you lose Roe v Wade, they could quickly turn back the clock. No one needs that. No one!
Canada Child Benefit (CCB), a tax-free payment targeting low- and middle-income families; has lifted about 300,000 of children out of poverty and has helped reduce child poverty by 40%. The budget for Canada Child Benefit was increased in 2019, increasing the annual benefit to a maximum of $6,639 for children under 6 and $5,602 for ages 6 through 17, allowing parents to provide more due to the increased cost of living.
$300 per month is merely subsistence. Child Tax Credit was to be reduced to $2,000 per child if modified adjusted gross income (AGI) in 2021 exceeded: $150,000; married and filing a joint return, or e filing as a qualifying widow or widower; $112,500 if you are filing as head of household.
I was talking the old Children's Allowance cheques, not the new Canada Child Benefit, The CCB actually seems to do some good without promoting larger families, and more social problems. Having grown up in a family of 10 kids, and a weak mother, my father tyrannized us. We were the model of a dysfunctional family. And "he" used all the Alliwance cheques not for us, but for himself. Many were the other familues in exactly the same positions. I was just trying to sound a warning bell.
We will have to agree to disagree. Your point is taken, Daniel, but we aren’t talking about migration. We are talking about UNIONS. Apples and Oranges.
Daniel Solomon ; Rubbish! Just like your flawed argument about Unions and how they can't happen now because things are different. 57% increase in applications for unions now. Young people know enough to try and will not be stopped. Tent cities are not attractive places to live.
Yes, we need unions. How can one individual negotiate with a multibillion dollar corporation with battalions of highly paid lawyers on anything? But we also need to change our attitude that those who are paid below-living wages don't deserve more. Imagine if you go to your favorite fast food restaurant and it's closed because there are no cashiers, cooks, trash collectors, floor and table cleaners, etc. Suddenly, those workers have a lot more value. Similarly, if all the workers in Amazon fulfillment centers disappeared, Amazon would have to cease operations. If Jeff Bezos suddenly disappeared, I'm sure Amazon would continue to operate just fine.
Your essays keep driving home to me how destructive the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, and its general attitude that money equals speech, really are to our society.
All your imaginings of "no workers" is exactly why I advocate the socialist ideal that all workers are of equal value, no matter their job or position. But the problem in a capitalist society is that businesses and corporations can fire workers who demand higher wages and better working conditions and they will have 100 people applying for that job, willing to work for lower wages in horrible conditions. THIS IS WHY HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HELP THE WEALTHY AND CRUSH THE WAGE SLAVES. Worker turnover actually benefits upper management. Everyone could quit at a fast food restaurant, but it would be up and running the next day.
Workers need to value their jobs more, and be unwilling to jump to fill every job opening. Make the business/employer fear not having any employees, and take away their power from the ground up!
All these facts infuriate me. I'm a 75 year old senior who still has to work 40 hours a week to support myself. How much longer can I do this. After 57 years, I'm tired of working. And I still get sales calls and just had to pay the price for hearing aids. We worry about losing our democracy to the right wing fascists. Given what you have laid out here about compensation, it seems to me that we have already lost our democracy - some years ago - and it only continues to deteriorate.
Frederick Lucies ; I feel the same as I continue to work into my 70's to be able to go to a dentist or get new hearing aids or eyeglasses. to have a newspaper ($200/year for my subscription to the local paper). Meanwhile everything is set up for the wealthy who don't pay taxes at the rate we pay, if they pay taxes at all. ; even our social security is taxed!
I meant to reply to you earlier, Laurie, but I work full time at my age - I hate my job, etc. I just ordered hearing aids myself - now to find a way to pay for them I find that i am, daily, overwhelmed by email, and am tending to just delete most of it - I don't find many journalists who have nailed the source of all of our problems - the Republican Party, those who have no policy ideas other than to protect the wealthy. punish ordinary people, and wage infuriating culture wars that have no basis in fact. I am extremely shocked by the recent move to ban book. I started my life as a Roman Catholic priest, lasting only 3 years, and now I am an avowed atheist. The church burned lots of books (and people) in the past. Why is religion so insistent on forcing their beliefs on other people. I can rant for hours and I don't mean to bore you, but I greatly appreciate your reply to me.
I agree. I moved to Tallahassee on the first day of the lockdown in 2020 - I still don't know anyone here and it's lonely to stew in my astonishment about what is happening to our country, but I have no doubt about who to blame!
Frederick Lucies ; It is a very dark time for everyone who cares about Democracy, fairness and security. This forum has helped me to avoid disillusionment and confusion. Our news media has not helped much and here is a guide through some of the misinformation. The news networks are pulling out the stops right now in roiling up anxiety for so many; the abortion issue and voting rights, the incessant proclamations that Biden and the Democrats are losing and will lose and are to blame for everything from 'inflation' to monkeypox (spread by homosexual activity after all, and we all know who supports that!), Putin's war and threats that he will use nukes and is telling the Russian people that this may be a sacrifice to end life with nuclear bombs, that will have to be made! They want to freak us all out and think we can't solve anything ; even elementary children being massacred! "Don't look at the fat men behind the golden curtain!"
Laurie, it is a very dark time indeed. I have found some wisdom also in daily emails from Heather Cox Richardson. The right has gone complete off the edge of sanity. On every issue, as a scholar, she put's things in stunning historical context. My only hope at this point is that there may be enough sane people going to the polls to elect a party that wants to do things for people and does not go to a "party" in Hungary who has destroyed democracy and yesterday imposed martial law in the country. Without a democratic victory (not that they are all that great), we are headed in the wrong direction. I'm hopeful that with all this culture war garbage and the attacks against abortion, and rights of all kinds, the right is doing everything that can to attack voting and rights. Perhaps the insanity of the recent shooting will bring out enough voters to get them all out of office. Lawrence O'Donnell recently quoted a former Chief Justice who said that if he were to right the constitution, there never would have been a 2nd amendment. Did you know that the dictionary defines WOKE as people with an affinity for human rights and civil rights? So all these culture wars are clearly for the opposite. Have a good day.
The re-unionization of the US cannot happen quickly enough. The follow-on is that union members must retain control of their unions: the mafia or other groups are attracted to power and the money associated with collectives. In my graduate studies in economics, the orthodoxy was that unions were 'bad' for profits and 'limited' productivity. I believed that for a while until the historical context - and necessity - for their emergence became clear to me after being in corporate positions. As the toxic-masculine-capitalist-mindset will fight this trend, there will be blood in the streets. Decent people globally need to see the re-vitalization of the collective spirit that honors and upholds the dignity and rights of the individual. The US can lead that. Will we?
If you have not seen this year’s Kentucky Derby, watching it will put you in the middle of this union story. If you watch the race at this link, you’ll get to see Rich Strike, his trainer, jockey, groomer and owner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_8ZgLZSWMk
Last year, April 2021, Churchill Downs was in a pickle. Horse racing is still the sport of kings, rich white men and the princes of oil kingdoms, but horses can’t win anything without grooms, valets, saddlers, jockeys and exercisers. In 2021, the valets’ union at Churchill Downs was asking for a raise from $16./hour to $20./hour. Churchill Downs said no and come April, they faced a strike that would shut the Kentucky Derby down. Now, let’s put this in perspective…
While Churchill Downs runs only 70 races a year, their annual revenue is $900-Million. The Kentucky Derby alone, brings in 20% ($180-Million). There are only thirteen – 13 – valets at Churchill Downs, and the pay increase would have cost a meager $108-thousand a year. $180-Million or $108-thousand is not rocket science and 13 valets got a raise.
This year, April 2022, the infamous leech, Donald Trump, held a fundraiser at Churchill Downs during the Kentucky Derby. When Trump came up on the screens, people booed and people cheered (it was just about half and half). No one had any idea, that the race itself, would shove “WIN” and “RACISM” in Trump’s face.
You see folks, Rich Strike, this year’s Kentucky Derby winner, was a cheap horse (purchased for a paltry $30,000.) Rich Strike’s groom is Jerry Dixon Jr. (who happens to be a black man). Rich Strike was a long shot (80:1 odds against him). Rich Strike was ridden by a jockey (who happens to be an immigrant from Venezuela). I think Dixon explained these relationships best…
“If you are going to wake up at 4 a.m. in the morning and come clean stalls, fill water buckets, feed them, you have to take pride in that,” said Dixon. “We spend more time with the animal than the trainer, than the jockey, than the exercise rider, so if you do not form that bond, it is fighting a losing battle.”
Dixon said the win proves you can be considered an underdog and still be a champion.
“Being a black man grooming horses, I have always had to prove myself to show myself to people in a different light and I am thankful and grateful I have had that opportunity.”
You make an excellent point, it's always the people behind the scenes doing the grunt work that make success possible. There are no inferior jobs, what there is, however, is inferior wages. Unions take care of that for vulnerable workers. Great story!
Robert Reich has shown a compelling set of facts that highlights the value of unions. It is a mystery to me why a local establishment Democrat seems to be anti union. I can't help but wonder why. Another establishment Democrat I spoke with was rabidly against Bernie Sanders when he was winning a few years ago. They sounded like Republicans. I wonder if these people are in the stock market?
The problem is that just about everyone who works is affected by the markets...and that includes union members.
I support Robert, but I have been on all sides. As a young lawyer, I represented management and separately some unions, where we had no conflicts of interests. When we represented some public entities, like school districts, our budgets were open to the public. We'd tell unions that if they could show us how to benefit their membership given our budget, we'd let them run the district.
We had, on both sides, difficulties selling deals to our principals.
Whereas unions are required to be democratic institutions, most employers are authoritarian.
Also the power of unions has been diminished, through state right to work laws and by federal legislation. I did not hear NLRB cases but did hear Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 cases, that regulates labor unions' internal affairs and their officials' relationships with employers. I did not hear the criminal aspect. The LMRA, sometimes referred to as the "Taft-Hartley Act," applies to all employees whose labor-management relations is subject to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board. (29 U.S.C. § 152, et seq.). Therefore, section 186 does not apply to labor-management disputes involving employees in the railway and airline industries [see Railway Labor Act at 9-139.103], employees of the Federal Government, and employees of state and local governments, or of corporations wholly owned by such governments (other than the United States Postal Service which is subject to the LMRA). The LMRA protects minority rights of union members.
There are other risks. Many industries killed the goose that laid the golden egg by offshoring jobs, or by subcontracting, using "contract" gig workers, using H2B foreign workers and by robotizing work to avoid use of human "capital". In most cases these companies got tax breaks for dismantling their companies. Most got short term profits, destroyed their own future value.
Clearly Daniel you are well versed on this subject, I appreciate this conversation even it is depressing about the quality of American life and a snail's pace future for anything better. Ugh, the Taft-Hartley Act! I haven't heard a word on that for years. Good point, AND, the Right to Work states, 28 of those. I believe both of these were disasters for workers in this country and brought us to where we are today. The first Right to Work law goes back to 1944 with Constitutional amendments in Arkansas and Florida. It's taken 78 years but we're now on the cusp of becoming the one-party political system, the authoritarian/totalitarian state Karl Rove and the GOP mused about many years ago as Bush came to power with the first anti-democratic stroke of the, wait for it, Supreme Court.
Your last paragraph presents the paradoxical nature of Unions quite nicely. Offshoring, subcontracting, gig workers, H2B foreign workers, all of it are very disruptive of Unionization. This is probably why current Unionization seems to be so focused on service sector employees.
Daniel Solomon ; You mentioned that "Many industries killed the goose that laid the golden egg by offshoring jobs". It may be good that there is a trend that shows that offshoring jobs is not as popular now, after supply chain problems. That could be helpful to unions.
Right. But the old union manufacturing jobs aren't coming back. No evidence that GM or Ford are closing their muchadara Mexican plants although there are some new electric vehicle plants planned. Tesla manufacturing in China and relocating to Texas, a right to work state.
Robert doesn't say it but we are both products of failed petite bourgeois families. Once upon a time every Middlesex and village had local shopkeepers. Couldn't compete with "big box" stores. One Walmart would displace dozens of small businesses. Same with Amazon. That middleclass wasn't unionized. In a perfect world public policy would favor small business.
Moreover the trend in higher education is against tenure track. Adjunct professors and instructors have tried to organize but school is out on viability of this sector.
I worked in a union environment for 42 years. I am a 75 year old educated white woman. I invested in real estate and mutual funds. I bought individual stocks. I have been able to support family going to post high school education, travel and donate to my community. I have always been an active volunteer for causes I believe in. I appreciate what unions did for my financial security. I also worked hard and created within my field. I had the support of my family and of mentors in my field. Yes, I am privileged and I made good decisions.
This is an interesting time, I do not blame, I look for opportunity, I give a hand up not a hand out. Living in an extended family has given me many blessings and chief among those is a sense of security. I do believe that certain sectors of our economy have gamed the system to their advantage and others disadvantage. We have a problem when financial people make more than someone who creates and builds things. We cannot have a democracy when so many children are in generational poverty. Attacking Public Education is not productive. Religious leaders taking political positions that enrich them is not part of a free society. I would hope that the Pope would remove the Bishop that said Pelosi will not be given communion. TV commentators that encourage violence and present information that encourages division and then fall back into what they do is entertainment need consequences. Alex Jones needs to have all of their assets taken by those they hurt. People who undermine the security of our elections need consequences. So many issues to address. I guess I will focus on those where I can make a difference no matter how small.
I am a member of SAG-AFTRA and I can say that the only people truly represented by this Union are the actors who don't need a Union because they have Agents, Managers, and Lawyers to negotiate and protect them. The rank and file are an afterthought and the wages they earn are pitifully small. Some Unions, like this one, are as bad as Wall Street banks. Film and TV producers should try making their projects without the background actors they so badly abuse saying they are not "worth" as much at the box office. Shameful BS!
I live near Hadley, MA and it is exciting to see that they are the frontrunners of unionizing at the local Trader Joes. I don't go there much because it is so busy that it's hard to get in the store, and crowded in the aisles when you do get in. That company must be making great money! Their workers should get at least a living wage! Also, my town across the river just got a new Starbucks. It will be interesting to see if they get unionized!
Reminds me of a time when Ye’s baby mama actually thought it was ok to say, from her cemented privileged position, to women specifically, they need to get their a***s up and work. I think she was right about one thing, seems like no one wants to work these days.....for low non-livable wages in a poor work environment.
I just saw something on Nextdoor.com you may appreciate. I've also mentioned in earlier discussions working with these very people after I retired:
================================================
Something to think about....
What if you were a single parent with a child . You work full time for $14.00 hr. You bring home roughly $800 .00 per paycheck (bi-weekly).
Your bills:
$1, 000 . 00 / rent
$150 .00 / electrical
$250 .00 / car payment
$150 .00 / car insurance
So let’s do the math :
You bring home about
$1,600 .00 a month & your bills average about $1,550.00 (give or take).
You’re making it, but barely.
This doesn't even include groceries, internet, cable, cell phone, etc .
(nor does it include child tax credit, or child support)
Now, it’s a really cold December and you get a power bill for $600 .00
How do you pay that?
To put it simply , you don’t.
Because you can’t.
So your power gets shut off.
But you know what your lease says?
It says you get evicted if your utilities are terminated.
So now you’re in court crying to a judge who doesn’t care, & you have 10 days to get out.
Well you’re in luck, because you found somewhere with 3 days to spare & it’s only $650.00 a month!
But to get in, you must pass a background & credit check. Which you can’t because you just got evicted.
You’ve never been a criminal, but even if you could pass it, you’re looking at $1300 to move in, after paying the deposit & first month’s rent.
Time’s up ....
Landlord shows up at 7am with the police & changed your locks.
So, now you’re living in your car with your 7 year old son & everything you need to get by.
You tried to get a storage unit, but you don’t have a billing address so they won’t sell one to you. So you could only take what would fit in your backseat.
You pay to shower at local truck stops & eat whatever can be cooked in a gas station microwave. Someone sees you & your son living like this & calls C.P.S; guess what happens next ? ? ?
They remove your child from your care.
As if this isn’t devastating enough, you lose your job too. (Because “an employee losing their child reflects poorly on this company .”)
So now, you apply for an apartment with the region where the waiting list is 3-7 years.
Then you go into Wal-Mart to put in an application.
When you get back to your car you see that your back window has been smashed & someone helped themselves to your belongings. Remember that it is December & really cold. Now you have damage to your only shelter.
You call your car insurance, who says your deductible is $1,000.00
~ AND ~ they’re going to increase your monthly rate since you’re now
“ high risk .”
You call the homeless shelter as a last resort & all their beds are full.
I’ll stop here .....
Because I think you get the point .
The people we work with everyday are these people .
WE ARE THESE PEOPLE .
We are all so close to homelessness & don’t even realize it .
All it takes is :
* one unexpected bill📃~
* one fender bender🚙💥🚗~
* one lay-off 📊~
* one house fire 🏠🔥 , etc.
Instead of talking trash about people who are poor , homeless , or need assistance , why don’t you try being grateful that you’re not in their shoes ...... YET !
I’m sorry where? Talking trash? If you didn’t understand my comment, just ask. My intention was only to provide an example that most people today are able to understand because most people knew of the commentary made by this person, just as many of us know that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock. However for anyone who missed it, Ye’s childrens’ mother aka Kim Kardshian, basically the wall street banker that just happens to “work” in big wall street banks holding her privileged place while getting fat paychecks with her audacity said to women(America’s low wage workers with non privileged positions already working hard and many holding down two or more jobs) that they needed to get the “F” up and work because it seemed like noone wants to work these days, and while her “paid-what-your-worth” mentality is showing! The revival of union activism across America suggests that workers are getting the message..…noone wants to work these days for non-livable wages that they have been made to assume they could do nothing about. Nonetheless I apologize for my use of the term “baby mama” which is the only actual “trash talking” you might have referred to as it was an intentional dig at someone I believe didn't deserve any further mention and could be easily identified by her children’s father, Ye (kanye west).
Also,
I just saw something in my journal you may appreciate.
================================================
Something to think about....
I actually am a single parent with 3 children . I work full time for $18.00 hr. I bring home roughly $1200 .00 per paycheck (bi-weekly).
My bills:
$3, 000 . 00 / rent
$150 .00 / electrical
$250 .00 / car payment
$250 .00 / car insurance
$1million dollars / gas
So let’s do the math :
I bring home about
$2,400 .00 a month & my bills average about $3,650.00 (give or take).
I’m not making it, and
This doesn't even include groceries, internet, cable, cell phone, etc .
(nor does it include child tax credit, or child support)
Now, it’s a really busy December and I’m trying to get to the school to pick up one out of the 3 kids on time on my lunch break and I get a speeding ticket for $300 .00
How do I pay that?
To put it simply, I cant but I will
Because I find a way. I have to.
Because I can’t let my license get taken/suspended I won't be able to get to work, or get 3 kids anywhere.
So I ask for extensions but I miss the deadlines because I’m busy trying to raise 3 kids and sometimes it’s just more important that I focus on them having food in their bellies than the occourts having a balance paid.
So even more late fees are attached now
But you know what my citation says?
It says show good proof of hardship signed by a military officer, judge judy, or dr phil and this may or may not be forgiven.
My registration is on hold with the DMV now because I couldn’t pay the original citation in the given time which leads to another violation, no registration.
There’s maybe another late fee added, cause why not.
Then a failure to appear which also adds to the fees.
So now I’m in court crying to a judge who doesn’t care.
Only to be reminded of a judge who didn't care my grandfather was murdered by Orange County deputies in the Orange County Jail. Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates (both the sheriff and coroner), provided an incredibly inaccurate investigation and autopsy report. He claimed the cause of death was accidental due to complications related to alcohol intoxication, to be exact a pulmonary edema due to acute drunkenness. At the family's request a second autopsy was performed however several parts of my grandfather's body were missing and not available.
My grandfather was brutally beaten to the extent that Brad Gates, along with other sheriff-coroner personnel, had to hide it. These “missing” body parts would have been crucial to determining this was no accident, but a clear homicide. His murder was one of at least 18 mentioned in a letter to the US Attorney launching an FBI investigation. It took 10 months of investigating at least 50 deaths only to find there were no prosecutable cases. It was disclosed each death was a result of suicide, natural causes, or complications arising from drug addiction or alcohol abuse and I’m still not sure which of those causes would explain my grandfathers missing body parts but to no avail the case was closed.
And just to be fair, sometimes you can find a judge that cares. In fact, Central Orange County Municipal Court Judge Bobby Youngblood wrote the 9 page letter notifying the US Attorney of my grandfathers homicide coverup as well as the inhumane treatment happening in the jail that he once likened to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. The outcome came as no surprise to either side. Youngblood stated “there is a vast difference between not prosecutable and not guilty”. He cared enough to put a target on his back knowing justice would not be served but, “Someone’s alive over there today because of all the attention.”
BUT I’m in luck, because my grandma was never told her husband was murdered. She proceeded to bring her daughter, my mom 12yo at the time, and her siblings to this country not knowing their father, her husband, was just murdered.
Something to think about
You're a single parent of 6 and you don’t even know it yet. Your “american dream” starts with the nightmare of your husband's horrific jail beating. You have no income, a language barrier and 6 children to take care of, good luck.
Something else to think about
You’re the eldest of 6 coming to this new country to finally reunite with your father. When greeted you realize there will be no reunion, you’ve only arrived to say goodbye. At 12yo you are the eldest sibling in a now single parent family and you are relied on heavily causing you to ‘grow up’ without the mind/body having time to appropriately mature. You also need to learn English, so good luck.
I’ll stop here .....
Because I think you get the point .
Yes I know, WE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE .
I’ve been these people. I’m several products of these people.
Not in their shoes YET? I was born into their shoes, BEEN IN THESE SHOES MY ENTIRE LIFE, so I’m very grateful to have any shoes.
Be humble? Sir, I've been sitting down.
Also it may be kind of you to try to understand a comment first, instead of judging or assuming to know just how ungrateful I am. I have to admit I still am having trouble finding how I’ve seemed to offend anyone who isn't “Ye’s baby mama” with my original comment, but I’m grateful for the interaction, ty!
Ye, he’s a who formerly known as Kanye West. “Baby Mama” is my attempt to avoid the mother of his children’s name, but also often used as a term to belittle the mother of one’s child, giving her little to no significance as a person and reducing her to just a mama of someone’s baby. Which was ugly of me :/
Great! Your reasoning describes the very epicenter of why there are so many disaffected people; the same people who have now become Tr... er, "Putin's Friend" supporters. The whole whirlpool of disastrous results, things like wasted rust belt towns and cities, drug addiction, the whole mess stem from this systematic problem causing root.
Frankly, the Democratic party has been brain dead on all of this for a very long time. (The rise of Ronald Reagan may be the origins of the transition). This, combined with race, is why the R party has picked up all of these used-to-be reliable former Democratic voters. (The worst was when Hilary Clinton tisk, tisked coal miners in W Va and called hillbilly Republicans "deplorables.") She virtually insisted that a big block of these people shift strongly to "R".
I suppose I've got a bit of a more diverse and lengthy job history than most . My grandfather was a motherless Irish immigrant who opened his own coal and ice business as a young man back in 1917. Which then morphed into a heating oil and bulk haulage firm. He had employees who stuck with him for decades(small non-union firm) . Simply because he treated them as family . The business lasted for just shy of 100 years . Fair wages and fair treatment and mutual respect carry weight with the average employee . Although years later working a union job for the Bell Telephone Company one felt the same comradary and mutual respect. Were there disagreements between labor and management ? Absolutely . But those were handled as a function of the union/management relationship. And my young impression was that the system worked . When I migrated west, indeed there were both management and union members at my bon voyage. Point being, as the divide and conquer approach to dealing with the average American by both our corporate leaders along with the trumps, bezoses, musks amongst us, as well as corporately corrupted elected officials, it's that mutual respect, humanity and compassion which wanes. It's the lack of morals and empathy towards our fellow man which sorely lacks in our society today . If it were there, present, assumed and flourishing, there would be no need for unions. BUT IT ISN'T.
Not in todays me me me world . And that is the reason for unions. To help instill that fair play, the mutual respect, the humanity, morals and consideration so lacking today. And maybe some of that trickle down economy ronnie raygun bs'd his dumbed down supporters with. UNION YES ! ! AND HOW ! !
We went off onto the wrong path after I graduated from college. Before that, when I was still in college in a public university night school, tuition and books were steep but affordable. I also worked full time for much of it so it took me longer than four years to finish but I did. I had union jobs, usually USW. We had health insurance, vacation pay.
Not long after that Corporate America began offshoring. Today all of the mills I worked are just brownfields. Some guy in another country, probably in Asia, is making the stuff I used to make. I had a white collar career in financial markets and public accounting, but what about my former coworkers. I often think about them. What are they doing now, if they are even still alive?
The only thing better than a strong union is an employee-owned corporation or a co-op.
A strong union should require its members to uphold a high standard of work performance. Every new member deserves a mentor to help them improve, and if they struggle, guide them to the resources they need for education, physical therapy, or mental health. If a member just can't or won't meet union standards, then they should be dismissed from the union.
Corporations with strong unions would easily outperform their competitors, not despite paying higher wages, but because they were willing to pay for quality workers. And the surrounding community would benefit from the higher wages and proud workforce.
How refreshing it would be to read an in-depth study of a huge co-op conglomerate in Basque, Spain, called Montragon, formed in 1950's, perhaps. For sure E'ees of co-ops are not going to vote to send jobs to China. See Richard Wolff on YouTube.
I think that if any good can come from this horrible pandemic it is that people are realizing that they do not necessarily have to settle for a job that clearly mistreats their staff. Just look at how so many jobs out there are part-time and seasonal positions because big companies are not willing to offer benefits and retirement. Or how about the worker who’s standing at a cash register for a six and a half hour shift with a mere 30 minute break for lunch?
Kudos to Starbucks! Kudos to the hopeful beginning of a new union’s birth at Trader Giotto’s in Hadley, Massachusetts! I hope this is just the beginning of a revival of the American Union. We need protections badly.
I’m sure that virtually every subscriber to Substack has a story of being mistreated at their workplace at some point in their lives. And the sad thing is, for lots of us it is not yesteryear.
Thank you for this and all of your essays, Professor Reich. I learn something from you every day. 🌻
The worker standing at the cash register is different than the trend.
We have massive migration. Where I live, Baghdad By the Sea, mass migration from cold weather states, California. The main office may be in NY, Boston, San Francisco, but the employees work virtually via internet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_net_migration
We also have a lot of foreigners. H1B visas, H 2A, etc. In Trump's properties, for example, lots of temporary foreign workers displacing US citizens and green card holders. Mostly from Slovenia, the Balkans.
https://www.uscis.gov/working-in-the-united-states/temporary-workers/h-2b-temporary-non-agricultural-workers
In my old office, we handled H1B appeals also. In a staff attorney's office, files covered floor to ceiling from one company, Microsoft. The H-1B is a Specialty Occupation work authorization visa with a cumulative maximum duration of 6 years. The initial period of stay for those in H-1B status is three (3) years, with extensions available for up to three (3) years thereafter. https://h1bgrader.com/h1b-sponsors/microsoft-corporation-ew2x79yyk3
An awful lot of digital consulting companies rely on H1B visas, their excuse being the US doesn't graduate enough Computer analysts, technicians,programmers, etc.
The truth is the companies who make tremendous profits don't want to pay for
Americans when the can get educated workers from Asian countries like India, Pakistan and Russia to work for much less and with far fewer benefits.
Fay Reid ; My older brother worked in I.T. as a 'spaghetti' specialist, not literally pasta, but old terminology used by 'propeller heads' in computer work. After the fear of a great crash in entering the new millennium (2000), he and several coworkers were offered 'severance packages' worth much less than their expected retirement benefits that were in their contracts. It was a widespread practice that happened when a company changed hands and unethical, should have been illegal, but laws can be gamed, and they got away with it. Jobs were outsourced to India, Pakistan et al, where they could have three times the production for a pittance. 17 years with a company near Detroit that helped process government paychecks. My brother became a painter and worked alone painting homes and interiors. He had learned the skill while a student at Boston College and had worked residential and commercial jobs around Boston. Climbing ladders in his upper 50's, he was lucky to have experience and could get $38 per hour. Nothing like he had been earning at the I.T. job, but some of his co-workers pushed shopping carts in parking lots.
That is so typical of not just the American tech industry but corporate America, in general. Although the owners made astounding incomes, they saw no reason to share the wealth with workers, no matter how well educated, trained, experienced or inventive they (the workers) are. The greed in this country - which I think (opinion only) started with Reagan in 1980, is obscene. Why does anyone need 8 houses, 15 cars, etc. The main function of the Musk's. Bazo's, Koch's, etc. seems to be to die the richest man in the cemetery.
I do not want to imply that the Indian and Pakistani were not really good workers, They are. Many of my friends have become American citizens and continue working in the Consulting, Business Analyst, technical fields. However, this does not negate the reason why the corporations hired them in the first place. I did not have good experiences working with Russian men in the field so I won't comment on them, but I have many very dear friends among both Indian and Pakistani.
With all due respect, Daniel — apples and oranges. You speak of more white collared folks than the average person struggling to feed their family today, which is who I am talking about, and who needs the protection a Union could provide. This is not about immigration.
Migration and immigration are similar, but not the same. People have been migrating...reminds me of the depression....Grapes of Wrath.
Most of us haven't had human service since the pandemic started.... everything within reason is automated or delivered.
That's why I keep advocating discussing benefits. That $300 per child per month tax credit is more important. It would eliminate most poverty.
Will that not promote larger families? That is what happened in Quebec, Canada. They called it the Baby Bonus. But what happened was larger families created higher costs for food, clothing, etc. BUT, it also resulted in more abused children, battered wives, alcoholism, non-medical drug use, gambling, and all kinds of other social ills. Tax credits may be good on the surface, but below the surface they are destructive to families, and society is made up of families. The solution is NOT having more kids, but realizing that smaller fsmilies present fewer demands on parental capabilities--and therefore less social problems as children grow into adults and start having children of their owm.
I used to be a Canadian and the increased number of babies and accompanying abuse was far more complex. The same argument was used in California when I worked in welfare, The State passed a regulation limiting the number of children supported by welfare.
The argument was that women were producing more babies for the $110 extra payment per month. Hogwash. No woman in her right mind would deliberately get pregnant for a baby bonus. What happened was more children went hungry.
But their husbands would, and did, Times are a lot different now, except if you lose Roe v Wade, they could quickly turn back the clock. No one needs that. No one!
Republican talking points. BS.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada_Child_Benefit#Replacement_in_2016_by_the_Canada_Child_Benefit_(CCB)
Canada Child Benefit (CCB), a tax-free payment targeting low- and middle-income families; has lifted about 300,000 of children out of poverty and has helped reduce child poverty by 40%. The budget for Canada Child Benefit was increased in 2019, increasing the annual benefit to a maximum of $6,639 for children under 6 and $5,602 for ages 6 through 17, allowing parents to provide more due to the increased cost of living.
$300 per month is merely subsistence. Child Tax Credit was to be reduced to $2,000 per child if modified adjusted gross income (AGI) in 2021 exceeded: $150,000; married and filing a joint return, or e filing as a qualifying widow or widower; $112,500 if you are filing as head of household.
I was talking the old Children's Allowance cheques, not the new Canada Child Benefit, The CCB actually seems to do some good without promoting larger families, and more social problems. Having grown up in a family of 10 kids, and a weak mother, my father tyrannized us. We were the model of a dysfunctional family. And "he" used all the Alliwance cheques not for us, but for himself. Many were the other familues in exactly the same positions. I was just trying to sound a warning bell.
Agree
We will have to agree to disagree. Your point is taken, Daniel, but we aren’t talking about migration. We are talking about UNIONS. Apples and Oranges.
The issue is place.
Without place, tough to unionize.
Daniel Solomon ; Rubbish! Just like your flawed argument about Unions and how they can't happen now because things are different. 57% increase in applications for unions now. Young people know enough to try and will not be stopped. Tent cities are not attractive places to live.
Daniel, take it up with the Professor. I disagree with you and think you want the last word and I am too weak to argue with you.
Yes, we need unions. How can one individual negotiate with a multibillion dollar corporation with battalions of highly paid lawyers on anything? But we also need to change our attitude that those who are paid below-living wages don't deserve more. Imagine if you go to your favorite fast food restaurant and it's closed because there are no cashiers, cooks, trash collectors, floor and table cleaners, etc. Suddenly, those workers have a lot more value. Similarly, if all the workers in Amazon fulfillment centers disappeared, Amazon would have to cease operations. If Jeff Bezos suddenly disappeared, I'm sure Amazon would continue to operate just fine.
Your essays keep driving home to me how destructive the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, and its general attitude that money equals speech, really are to our society.
All your imaginings of "no workers" is exactly why I advocate the socialist ideal that all workers are of equal value, no matter their job or position. But the problem in a capitalist society is that businesses and corporations can fire workers who demand higher wages and better working conditions and they will have 100 people applying for that job, willing to work for lower wages in horrible conditions. THIS IS WHY HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES HELP THE WEALTHY AND CRUSH THE WAGE SLAVES. Worker turnover actually benefits upper management. Everyone could quit at a fast food restaurant, but it would be up and running the next day.
Workers need to value their jobs more, and be unwilling to jump to fill every job opening. Make the business/employer fear not having any employees, and take away their power from the ground up!
Touché, Carolyn. 🌻
All these facts infuriate me. I'm a 75 year old senior who still has to work 40 hours a week to support myself. How much longer can I do this. After 57 years, I'm tired of working. And I still get sales calls and just had to pay the price for hearing aids. We worry about losing our democracy to the right wing fascists. Given what you have laid out here about compensation, it seems to me that we have already lost our democracy - some years ago - and it only continues to deteriorate.
Frederick Lucies ; I feel the same as I continue to work into my 70's to be able to go to a dentist or get new hearing aids or eyeglasses. to have a newspaper ($200/year for my subscription to the local paper). Meanwhile everything is set up for the wealthy who don't pay taxes at the rate we pay, if they pay taxes at all. ; even our social security is taxed!
I meant to reply to you earlier, Laurie, but I work full time at my age - I hate my job, etc. I just ordered hearing aids myself - now to find a way to pay for them I find that i am, daily, overwhelmed by email, and am tending to just delete most of it - I don't find many journalists who have nailed the source of all of our problems - the Republican Party, those who have no policy ideas other than to protect the wealthy. punish ordinary people, and wage infuriating culture wars that have no basis in fact. I am extremely shocked by the recent move to ban book. I started my life as a Roman Catholic priest, lasting only 3 years, and now I am an avowed atheist. The church burned lots of books (and people) in the past. Why is religion so insistent on forcing their beliefs on other people. I can rant for hours and I don't mean to bore you, but I greatly appreciate your reply to me.
Frederick Lucies ; I find it healing to be able to share with others my thoughts, hopes, and ideas about our present situation in our world.
I agree. I moved to Tallahassee on the first day of the lockdown in 2020 - I still don't know anyone here and it's lonely to stew in my astonishment about what is happening to our country, but I have no doubt about who to blame!
Frederick Lucies ; It is a very dark time for everyone who cares about Democracy, fairness and security. This forum has helped me to avoid disillusionment and confusion. Our news media has not helped much and here is a guide through some of the misinformation. The news networks are pulling out the stops right now in roiling up anxiety for so many; the abortion issue and voting rights, the incessant proclamations that Biden and the Democrats are losing and will lose and are to blame for everything from 'inflation' to monkeypox (spread by homosexual activity after all, and we all know who supports that!), Putin's war and threats that he will use nukes and is telling the Russian people that this may be a sacrifice to end life with nuclear bombs, that will have to be made! They want to freak us all out and think we can't solve anything ; even elementary children being massacred! "Don't look at the fat men behind the golden curtain!"
Laurie, it is a very dark time indeed. I have found some wisdom also in daily emails from Heather Cox Richardson. The right has gone complete off the edge of sanity. On every issue, as a scholar, she put's things in stunning historical context. My only hope at this point is that there may be enough sane people going to the polls to elect a party that wants to do things for people and does not go to a "party" in Hungary who has destroyed democracy and yesterday imposed martial law in the country. Without a democratic victory (not that they are all that great), we are headed in the wrong direction. I'm hopeful that with all this culture war garbage and the attacks against abortion, and rights of all kinds, the right is doing everything that can to attack voting and rights. Perhaps the insanity of the recent shooting will bring out enough voters to get them all out of office. Lawrence O'Donnell recently quoted a former Chief Justice who said that if he were to right the constitution, there never would have been a 2nd amendment. Did you know that the dictionary defines WOKE as people with an affinity for human rights and civil rights? So all these culture wars are clearly for the opposite. Have a good day.
The re-unionization of the US cannot happen quickly enough. The follow-on is that union members must retain control of their unions: the mafia or other groups are attracted to power and the money associated with collectives. In my graduate studies in economics, the orthodoxy was that unions were 'bad' for profits and 'limited' productivity. I believed that for a while until the historical context - and necessity - for their emergence became clear to me after being in corporate positions. As the toxic-masculine-capitalist-mindset will fight this trend, there will be blood in the streets. Decent people globally need to see the re-vitalization of the collective spirit that honors and upholds the dignity and rights of the individual. The US can lead that. Will we?
If you have not seen this year’s Kentucky Derby, watching it will put you in the middle of this union story. If you watch the race at this link, you’ll get to see Rich Strike, his trainer, jockey, groomer and owner. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_8ZgLZSWMk
Last year, April 2021, Churchill Downs was in a pickle. Horse racing is still the sport of kings, rich white men and the princes of oil kingdoms, but horses can’t win anything without grooms, valets, saddlers, jockeys and exercisers. In 2021, the valets’ union at Churchill Downs was asking for a raise from $16./hour to $20./hour. Churchill Downs said no and come April, they faced a strike that would shut the Kentucky Derby down. Now, let’s put this in perspective…
While Churchill Downs runs only 70 races a year, their annual revenue is $900-Million. The Kentucky Derby alone, brings in 20% ($180-Million). There are only thirteen – 13 – valets at Churchill Downs, and the pay increase would have cost a meager $108-thousand a year. $180-Million or $108-thousand is not rocket science and 13 valets got a raise.
This year, April 2022, the infamous leech, Donald Trump, held a fundraiser at Churchill Downs during the Kentucky Derby. When Trump came up on the screens, people booed and people cheered (it was just about half and half). No one had any idea, that the race itself, would shove “WIN” and “RACISM” in Trump’s face.
You see folks, Rich Strike, this year’s Kentucky Derby winner, was a cheap horse (purchased for a paltry $30,000.) Rich Strike’s groom is Jerry Dixon Jr. (who happens to be a black man). Rich Strike was a long shot (80:1 odds against him). Rich Strike was ridden by a jockey (who happens to be an immigrant from Venezuela). I think Dixon explained these relationships best…
“If you are going to wake up at 4 a.m. in the morning and come clean stalls, fill water buckets, feed them, you have to take pride in that,” said Dixon. “We spend more time with the animal than the trainer, than the jockey, than the exercise rider, so if you do not form that bond, it is fighting a losing battle.”
Dixon said the win proves you can be considered an underdog and still be a champion.
“Being a black man grooming horses, I have always had to prove myself to show myself to people in a different light and I am thankful and grateful I have had that opportunity.”
You make an excellent point, it's always the people behind the scenes doing the grunt work that make success possible. There are no inferior jobs, what there is, however, is inferior wages. Unions take care of that for vulnerable workers. Great story!
We are all in this together no matter who we are or what we do.
I'm with you, Paula.
Susan - Thank you for making the point so succinctly (its a talent that escapes me). :)
Robert Reich has shown a compelling set of facts that highlights the value of unions. It is a mystery to me why a local establishment Democrat seems to be anti union. I can't help but wonder why. Another establishment Democrat I spoke with was rabidly against Bernie Sanders when he was winning a few years ago. They sounded like Republicans. I wonder if these people are in the stock market?
The problem is that just about everyone who works is affected by the markets...and that includes union members.
I support Robert, but I have been on all sides. As a young lawyer, I represented management and separately some unions, where we had no conflicts of interests. When we represented some public entities, like school districts, our budgets were open to the public. We'd tell unions that if they could show us how to benefit their membership given our budget, we'd let them run the district.
We had, on both sides, difficulties selling deals to our principals.
Whereas unions are required to be democratic institutions, most employers are authoritarian.
Also the power of unions has been diminished, through state right to work laws and by federal legislation. I did not hear NLRB cases but did hear Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959 cases, that regulates labor unions' internal affairs and their officials' relationships with employers. I did not hear the criminal aspect. The LMRA, sometimes referred to as the "Taft-Hartley Act," applies to all employees whose labor-management relations is subject to the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board. (29 U.S.C. § 152, et seq.). Therefore, section 186 does not apply to labor-management disputes involving employees in the railway and airline industries [see Railway Labor Act at 9-139.103], employees of the Federal Government, and employees of state and local governments, or of corporations wholly owned by such governments (other than the United States Postal Service which is subject to the LMRA). The LMRA protects minority rights of union members.
There are other risks. Many industries killed the goose that laid the golden egg by offshoring jobs, or by subcontracting, using "contract" gig workers, using H2B foreign workers and by robotizing work to avoid use of human "capital". In most cases these companies got tax breaks for dismantling their companies. Most got short term profits, destroyed their own future value.
Clearly Daniel you are well versed on this subject, I appreciate this conversation even it is depressing about the quality of American life and a snail's pace future for anything better. Ugh, the Taft-Hartley Act! I haven't heard a word on that for years. Good point, AND, the Right to Work states, 28 of those. I believe both of these were disasters for workers in this country and brought us to where we are today. The first Right to Work law goes back to 1944 with Constitutional amendments in Arkansas and Florida. It's taken 78 years but we're now on the cusp of becoming the one-party political system, the authoritarian/totalitarian state Karl Rove and the GOP mused about many years ago as Bush came to power with the first anti-democratic stroke of the, wait for it, Supreme Court.
Your last paragraph presents the paradoxical nature of Unions quite nicely. Offshoring, subcontracting, gig workers, H2B foreign workers, all of it are very disruptive of Unionization. This is probably why current Unionization seems to be so focused on service sector employees.
Daniel Solomon ; You mentioned that "Many industries killed the goose that laid the golden egg by offshoring jobs". It may be good that there is a trend that shows that offshoring jobs is not as popular now, after supply chain problems. That could be helpful to unions.
Right. But the old union manufacturing jobs aren't coming back. No evidence that GM or Ford are closing their muchadara Mexican plants although there are some new electric vehicle plants planned. Tesla manufacturing in China and relocating to Texas, a right to work state.
Robert doesn't say it but we are both products of failed petite bourgeois families. Once upon a time every Middlesex and village had local shopkeepers. Couldn't compete with "big box" stores. One Walmart would displace dozens of small businesses. Same with Amazon. That middleclass wasn't unionized. In a perfect world public policy would favor small business.
Moreover the trend in higher education is against tenure track. Adjunct professors and instructors have tried to organize but school is out on viability of this sector.
I guess it may help to be a lawyer or someone studying laws that affect various workplaces and unions,
I worked in a union environment for 42 years. I am a 75 year old educated white woman. I invested in real estate and mutual funds. I bought individual stocks. I have been able to support family going to post high school education, travel and donate to my community. I have always been an active volunteer for causes I believe in. I appreciate what unions did for my financial security. I also worked hard and created within my field. I had the support of my family and of mentors in my field. Yes, I am privileged and I made good decisions.
This is an interesting time, I do not blame, I look for opportunity, I give a hand up not a hand out. Living in an extended family has given me many blessings and chief among those is a sense of security. I do believe that certain sectors of our economy have gamed the system to their advantage and others disadvantage. We have a problem when financial people make more than someone who creates and builds things. We cannot have a democracy when so many children are in generational poverty. Attacking Public Education is not productive. Religious leaders taking political positions that enrich them is not part of a free society. I would hope that the Pope would remove the Bishop that said Pelosi will not be given communion. TV commentators that encourage violence and present information that encourages division and then fall back into what they do is entertainment need consequences. Alex Jones needs to have all of their assets taken by those they hurt. People who undermine the security of our elections need consequences. So many issues to address. I guess I will focus on those where I can make a difference no matter how small.
I am a member of SAG-AFTRA and I can say that the only people truly represented by this Union are the actors who don't need a Union because they have Agents, Managers, and Lawyers to negotiate and protect them. The rank and file are an afterthought and the wages they earn are pitifully small. Some Unions, like this one, are as bad as Wall Street banks. Film and TV producers should try making their projects without the background actors they so badly abuse saying they are not "worth" as much at the box office. Shameful BS!
I live near Hadley, MA and it is exciting to see that they are the frontrunners of unionizing at the local Trader Joes. I don't go there much because it is so busy that it's hard to get in the store, and crowded in the aisles when you do get in. That company must be making great money! Their workers should get at least a living wage! Also, my town across the river just got a new Starbucks. It will be interesting to see if they get unionized!
Hey, Laurie - I'm in Easthampton. Where are you?
My barber shop is at 26 Franklin street, parallel to Adams street, off Cottage street. My home is in the south part of town near the Southampton line.
I'll be danged!
Small world !
Reminds me of a time when Ye’s baby mama actually thought it was ok to say, from her cemented privileged position, to women specifically, they need to get their a***s up and work. I think she was right about one thing, seems like no one wants to work these days.....for low non-livable wages in a poor work environment.
I just saw something on Nextdoor.com you may appreciate. I've also mentioned in earlier discussions working with these very people after I retired:
================================================
Something to think about....
What if you were a single parent with a child . You work full time for $14.00 hr. You bring home roughly $800 .00 per paycheck (bi-weekly).
Your bills:
$1, 000 . 00 / rent
$150 .00 / electrical
$250 .00 / car payment
$150 .00 / car insurance
So let’s do the math :
You bring home about
$1,600 .00 a month & your bills average about $1,550.00 (give or take).
You’re making it, but barely.
This doesn't even include groceries, internet, cable, cell phone, etc .
(nor does it include child tax credit, or child support)
Now, it’s a really cold December and you get a power bill for $600 .00
How do you pay that?
To put it simply , you don’t.
Because you can’t.
So your power gets shut off.
But you know what your lease says?
It says you get evicted if your utilities are terminated.
So now you’re in court crying to a judge who doesn’t care, & you have 10 days to get out.
Well you’re in luck, because you found somewhere with 3 days to spare & it’s only $650.00 a month!
But to get in, you must pass a background & credit check. Which you can’t because you just got evicted.
You’ve never been a criminal, but even if you could pass it, you’re looking at $1300 to move in, after paying the deposit & first month’s rent.
Time’s up ....
Landlord shows up at 7am with the police & changed your locks.
So, now you’re living in your car with your 7 year old son & everything you need to get by.
You tried to get a storage unit, but you don’t have a billing address so they won’t sell one to you. So you could only take what would fit in your backseat.
You pay to shower at local truck stops & eat whatever can be cooked in a gas station microwave. Someone sees you & your son living like this & calls C.P.S; guess what happens next ? ? ?
They remove your child from your care.
As if this isn’t devastating enough, you lose your job too. (Because “an employee losing their child reflects poorly on this company .”)
So now, you apply for an apartment with the region where the waiting list is 3-7 years.
Then you go into Wal-Mart to put in an application.
When you get back to your car you see that your back window has been smashed & someone helped themselves to your belongings. Remember that it is December & really cold. Now you have damage to your only shelter.
You call your car insurance, who says your deductible is $1,000.00
~ AND ~ they’re going to increase your monthly rate since you’re now
“ high risk .”
You call the homeless shelter as a last resort & all their beds are full.
I’ll stop here .....
Because I think you get the point .
The people we work with everyday are these people .
WE ARE THESE PEOPLE .
We are all so close to homelessness & don’t even realize it .
All it takes is :
* one unexpected bill📃~
* one fender bender🚙💥🚗~
* one lay-off 📊~
* one house fire 🏠🔥 , etc.
Instead of talking trash about people who are poor , homeless , or need assistance , why don’t you try being grateful that you’re not in their shoes ...... YET !
This is about staying humble & being kind .
👏👏👏
I’m sorry where? Talking trash? If you didn’t understand my comment, just ask. My intention was only to provide an example that most people today are able to understand because most people knew of the commentary made by this person, just as many of us know that Will Smith slapped Chris Rock. However for anyone who missed it, Ye’s childrens’ mother aka Kim Kardshian, basically the wall street banker that just happens to “work” in big wall street banks holding her privileged place while getting fat paychecks with her audacity said to women(America’s low wage workers with non privileged positions already working hard and many holding down two or more jobs) that they needed to get the “F” up and work because it seemed like noone wants to work these days, and while her “paid-what-your-worth” mentality is showing! The revival of union activism across America suggests that workers are getting the message..…noone wants to work these days for non-livable wages that they have been made to assume they could do nothing about. Nonetheless I apologize for my use of the term “baby mama” which is the only actual “trash talking” you might have referred to as it was an intentional dig at someone I believe didn't deserve any further mention and could be easily identified by her children’s father, Ye (kanye west).
Also,
I just saw something in my journal you may appreciate.
================================================
Something to think about....
I actually am a single parent with 3 children . I work full time for $18.00 hr. I bring home roughly $1200 .00 per paycheck (bi-weekly).
My bills:
$3, 000 . 00 / rent
$150 .00 / electrical
$250 .00 / car payment
$250 .00 / car insurance
$1million dollars / gas
So let’s do the math :
I bring home about
$2,400 .00 a month & my bills average about $3,650.00 (give or take).
I’m not making it, and
This doesn't even include groceries, internet, cable, cell phone, etc .
(nor does it include child tax credit, or child support)
Now, it’s a really busy December and I’m trying to get to the school to pick up one out of the 3 kids on time on my lunch break and I get a speeding ticket for $300 .00
How do I pay that?
To put it simply, I cant but I will
Because I find a way. I have to.
Because I can’t let my license get taken/suspended I won't be able to get to work, or get 3 kids anywhere.
So I ask for extensions but I miss the deadlines because I’m busy trying to raise 3 kids and sometimes it’s just more important that I focus on them having food in their bellies than the occourts having a balance paid.
So even more late fees are attached now
But you know what my citation says?
It says show good proof of hardship signed by a military officer, judge judy, or dr phil and this may or may not be forgiven.
My registration is on hold with the DMV now because I couldn’t pay the original citation in the given time which leads to another violation, no registration.
There’s maybe another late fee added, cause why not.
Then a failure to appear which also adds to the fees.
So now I’m in court crying to a judge who doesn’t care.
Only to be reminded of a judge who didn't care my grandfather was murdered by Orange County deputies in the Orange County Jail. Orange County Sheriff Brad Gates (both the sheriff and coroner), provided an incredibly inaccurate investigation and autopsy report. He claimed the cause of death was accidental due to complications related to alcohol intoxication, to be exact a pulmonary edema due to acute drunkenness. At the family's request a second autopsy was performed however several parts of my grandfather's body were missing and not available.
My grandfather was brutally beaten to the extent that Brad Gates, along with other sheriff-coroner personnel, had to hide it. These “missing” body parts would have been crucial to determining this was no accident, but a clear homicide. His murder was one of at least 18 mentioned in a letter to the US Attorney launching an FBI investigation. It took 10 months of investigating at least 50 deaths only to find there were no prosecutable cases. It was disclosed each death was a result of suicide, natural causes, or complications arising from drug addiction or alcohol abuse and I’m still not sure which of those causes would explain my grandfathers missing body parts but to no avail the case was closed.
And just to be fair, sometimes you can find a judge that cares. In fact, Central Orange County Municipal Court Judge Bobby Youngblood wrote the 9 page letter notifying the US Attorney of my grandfathers homicide coverup as well as the inhumane treatment happening in the jail that he once likened to the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. The outcome came as no surprise to either side. Youngblood stated “there is a vast difference between not prosecutable and not guilty”. He cared enough to put a target on his back knowing justice would not be served but, “Someone’s alive over there today because of all the attention.”
BUT I’m in luck, because my grandma was never told her husband was murdered. She proceeded to bring her daughter, my mom 12yo at the time, and her siblings to this country not knowing their father, her husband, was just murdered.
Something to think about
You're a single parent of 6 and you don’t even know it yet. Your “american dream” starts with the nightmare of your husband's horrific jail beating. You have no income, a language barrier and 6 children to take care of, good luck.
Something else to think about
You’re the eldest of 6 coming to this new country to finally reunite with your father. When greeted you realize there will be no reunion, you’ve only arrived to say goodbye. At 12yo you are the eldest sibling in a now single parent family and you are relied on heavily causing you to ‘grow up’ without the mind/body having time to appropriately mature. You also need to learn English, so good luck.
I’ll stop here .....
Because I think you get the point .
Yes I know, WE ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE .
I’ve been these people. I’m several products of these people.
Not in their shoes YET? I was born into their shoes, BEEN IN THESE SHOES MY ENTIRE LIFE, so I’m very grateful to have any shoes.
Be humble? Sir, I've been sitting down.
Also it may be kind of you to try to understand a comment first, instead of judging or assuming to know just how ungrateful I am. I have to admit I still am having trouble finding how I’ve seemed to offend anyone who isn't “Ye’s baby mama” with my original comment, but I’m grateful for the interaction, ty!
Would you please tell me who or what Ye is and what is a baby mama? I have the feeling I am not going to like either answer.
Ye, he’s a who formerly known as Kanye West. “Baby Mama” is my attempt to avoid the mother of his children’s name, but also often used as a term to belittle the mother of one’s child, giving her little to no significance as a person and reducing her to just a mama of someone’s baby. Which was ugly of me :/
Thank you for the information.
Right on!
At one time in NY city there was a tune "LOOK FOR THE UNION LABEL". I say this because
I think we should do something to make the members of unions feel proud.
Great! Your reasoning describes the very epicenter of why there are so many disaffected people; the same people who have now become Tr... er, "Putin's Friend" supporters. The whole whirlpool of disastrous results, things like wasted rust belt towns and cities, drug addiction, the whole mess stem from this systematic problem causing root.
Frankly, the Democratic party has been brain dead on all of this for a very long time. (The rise of Ronald Reagan may be the origins of the transition). This, combined with race, is why the R party has picked up all of these used-to-be reliable former Democratic voters. (The worst was when Hilary Clinton tisk, tisked coal miners in W Va and called hillbilly Republicans "deplorables.") She virtually insisted that a big block of these people shift strongly to "R".
IMHO we still outnumber them. Our problem has been the ground game.
We have the capacity to get people registered and get out the vote. Save the world!
https://www.fieldteam6.org/
I also endorse Fieldteam6.
I suppose I've got a bit of a more diverse and lengthy job history than most . My grandfather was a motherless Irish immigrant who opened his own coal and ice business as a young man back in 1917. Which then morphed into a heating oil and bulk haulage firm. He had employees who stuck with him for decades(small non-union firm) . Simply because he treated them as family . The business lasted for just shy of 100 years . Fair wages and fair treatment and mutual respect carry weight with the average employee . Although years later working a union job for the Bell Telephone Company one felt the same comradary and mutual respect. Were there disagreements between labor and management ? Absolutely . But those were handled as a function of the union/management relationship. And my young impression was that the system worked . When I migrated west, indeed there were both management and union members at my bon voyage. Point being, as the divide and conquer approach to dealing with the average American by both our corporate leaders along with the trumps, bezoses, musks amongst us, as well as corporately corrupted elected officials, it's that mutual respect, humanity and compassion which wanes. It's the lack of morals and empathy towards our fellow man which sorely lacks in our society today . If it were there, present, assumed and flourishing, there would be no need for unions. BUT IT ISN'T.
Not in todays me me me world . And that is the reason for unions. To help instill that fair play, the mutual respect, the humanity, morals and consideration so lacking today. And maybe some of that trickle down economy ronnie raygun bs'd his dumbed down supporters with. UNION YES ! ! AND HOW ! !
We went off onto the wrong path after I graduated from college. Before that, when I was still in college in a public university night school, tuition and books were steep but affordable. I also worked full time for much of it so it took me longer than four years to finish but I did. I had union jobs, usually USW. We had health insurance, vacation pay.
Not long after that Corporate America began offshoring. Today all of the mills I worked are just brownfields. Some guy in another country, probably in Asia, is making the stuff I used to make. I had a white collar career in financial markets and public accounting, but what about my former coworkers. I often think about them. What are they doing now, if they are even still alive?
The only thing better than a strong union is an employee-owned corporation or a co-op.
A strong union should require its members to uphold a high standard of work performance. Every new member deserves a mentor to help them improve, and if they struggle, guide them to the resources they need for education, physical therapy, or mental health. If a member just can't or won't meet union standards, then they should be dismissed from the union.
Corporations with strong unions would easily outperform their competitors, not despite paying higher wages, but because they were willing to pay for quality workers. And the surrounding community would benefit from the higher wages and proud workforce.
How refreshing it would be to read an in-depth study of a huge co-op conglomerate in Basque, Spain, called Montragon, formed in 1950's, perhaps. For sure E'ees of co-ops are not going to vote to send jobs to China. See Richard Wolff on YouTube.