Strikes aren’t bad for the US economy. They’re the best thing that could happen | Robert Reich
www.theguardian.com
Auto workers, writers, actors, Starbucks workers, Amazon workers, UPS drivers, flight attendants – labor isn’t a ‘special interest’. It’s all of us

Auto workers, writers, actors, Starbucks workers, Amazon workers, UPS drivers, flight attendants – labor isn’t a ‘special interest’. It’s all of us

  • Queen HawlSeraEnglish
    12•1 year ago

    A friend of mine had this saying, that if you know someone who is greedy, you don’t really know someone who is greedy you know someone who is stupid.

    If your company encourages a strong well paid Workforce that can afford to take their earnings and invest it back into the company, then you’re going to be doing all right for yourself. But if you continuously try to squeeze blood from a Stone, everyone is going to hate you for it and no one is going to be able to afford your product.

    Like seriously these businessmen need to look up Henry ford, and how he couldn’t sell cars, he asked his employees why they weren’t buying cars, when they told him that they couldn’t afford cars he gave them raises and told them to buy cars. This actually worked because a consumer based economy can only work if the consumers can afford to consume.

    • @ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
      12•1 year ago

      Unfortunately it’s a myth that Ford treated his employees well. Yes, he greatly raised pay, but that was to reduce employee turnover. For example, in 1913 Ford hired 52,000 people to keep a workforce of 14,000. Ford literally had his own secret police who would monitor employees and beat ones who were caught slacking. On top of that, the increase in pay was about half a bonus for meeting “character requirements” enforced by the Socialization Organization.

      This was a committee that would visit the employees’ homes to ensure that they were doing things the “American way.” They were supposed to avoid social ills such as gambling and drinking. They were to learn English, and many (primarily the recent immigrants) had to attend classes to become “Americanized.” Women were not eligible for the bonus unless they were single and supporting the family. Also, men were not eligible if their wives worked outside the home.

      https://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2012/03/04/the-story-of-henry-fords-5-a-day-wages-its-not-what-you-think/?sh=52f04893766d