southernhybrid
Contributor
Hopefully, anyone interested should be able to read the entire article that I'm linking for the next two weeks.
https://wapo.st/3BUc4d4
The article, if you don't feel like reading it, discusses strikes as well as workers quitting their jobs, mostly due to feeling under appreciated due to low pay, being over worked, or not receiving adequate benefits. I have several friends who are still in the workforce and they are very underpaid. Some are expected to work all sorts of hours at a moment's notice. One who is a manager of a chain shoe store hasn't received a raise in years. She finally spoke up for herself and received a raise of 1.50, but that still puts her pay at 17.50 an hour in a job she has worked at for many years. Her son makes 15.50 an hour working for Walmart, which isn't too bad for a 19 year old working at his first job, but I doubt it was due to the generosity of Walmart. Walmart is just desperate for workers, as are most retail stores, factories, and health care facilities in my area and probably in most of the country.
What took it so long for workers to decide to do something about the way they were treated? While Congress is slow to raise the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour, it appears that employers are gradually doing it on their own, due to the problem of finding workers. I realize that some small businesses may not be able to pay that much, but then maybe they shouldn't be in business if they can't treat their workers better. Despite the fact that I'm retired and made very low pay for a professional RN, I'm happy to see that those who are still in the work place are starting to rebel. Some economists say that these wages aren't why inflation is increasing. I don't think increased pay should be adding to inflation when these large corporations are making billions off of the cost of their labor. Most can afford to increase employees pay and benefits. It's just exciting to see people start to say something like "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore".
Any thoughts on this? If you are still in the work place, do you think your pay is fair? Have you asked for a raise this year or received a decent raise? What impact will this have on the over all economy? Does government need to be involved or can the workers unite and do this on their own?
Not all of the efforts of these workers worked. It explains some of the problems and accomplishments of the workers in my link.
Finally, for those of you who don't live in the US, is anything like this happening in your country?
https://wapo.st/3BUc4d4
The labor activism runs the gamut of American industry, powered by the same grievances about wages, benefits and quality of life driving the Great Resignation
Listen to article
Marcial Reyes could have just quit his job. Frustrated with chronic understaffing at the Kaiser Permanente hospital where he works in Southern California, he knows he has options in a region desperate for nurses.
Instead, he voted to go on strike.
While Americans are leaving their jobs at staggering rates — a record 4.3 million quit in August alone — hundreds of thousands of workers with similar grievances about wages, benefits and quality of life are, like Reyes, choosing to dig in and fight. Last week, 10,000 John Deere workers went on strike, while unions representing 31,000 Kaiser employees authorized walkouts. Some 60,000 Hollywood production workers reached a deal Saturday night, averting a strike hours before a negotiation deadline.
All told, there have been strikes against 178 employers this year, according to a tracker by Cornell University’s School of Industrial Labor Relations. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, which records only large work stoppages, has documented 12 strikes involving 1,000 or more workers so far this year. That’s considerably higher than 2020, when the pandemic took hold, but in line with significant strike activity recorded in 2019 and 2018.
The article, if you don't feel like reading it, discusses strikes as well as workers quitting their jobs, mostly due to feeling under appreciated due to low pay, being over worked, or not receiving adequate benefits. I have several friends who are still in the workforce and they are very underpaid. Some are expected to work all sorts of hours at a moment's notice. One who is a manager of a chain shoe store hasn't received a raise in years. She finally spoke up for herself and received a raise of 1.50, but that still puts her pay at 17.50 an hour in a job she has worked at for many years. Her son makes 15.50 an hour working for Walmart, which isn't too bad for a 19 year old working at his first job, but I doubt it was due to the generosity of Walmart. Walmart is just desperate for workers, as are most retail stores, factories, and health care facilities in my area and probably in most of the country.
What took it so long for workers to decide to do something about the way they were treated? While Congress is slow to raise the minimum wage to 15 dollars an hour, it appears that employers are gradually doing it on their own, due to the problem of finding workers. I realize that some small businesses may not be able to pay that much, but then maybe they shouldn't be in business if they can't treat their workers better. Despite the fact that I'm retired and made very low pay for a professional RN, I'm happy to see that those who are still in the work place are starting to rebel. Some economists say that these wages aren't why inflation is increasing. I don't think increased pay should be adding to inflation when these large corporations are making billions off of the cost of their labor. Most can afford to increase employees pay and benefits. It's just exciting to see people start to say something like "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore".
Any thoughts on this? If you are still in the work place, do you think your pay is fair? Have you asked for a raise this year or received a decent raise? What impact will this have on the over all economy? Does government need to be involved or can the workers unite and do this on their own?
Not all of the efforts of these workers worked. It explains some of the problems and accomplishments of the workers in my link.
Finally, for those of you who don't live in the US, is anything like this happening in your country?