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Why does working class not simply eat the rich?
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2023
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It's not even just politics either.
We are taught not to share what our wages are and to compete against and rat out our co-workers, all for the benefit of The Company and often the detriment of ourselves and other working class people.
I often see people vehemently against lower skill jobs like fast-food earning a living wage simply because "I do x and I don't make that much, why should they?"
That kind of attitude is exactly what they want you to have because in reality better wages for fast-food employees would force your employer to also raise wages.
They want us actively keeping each other down.
Unions are powerful because they bring members of the working class together.
Yep you’re totally right. I’m in a union making 15 dollars an hour more than I would outside of the union in my trade. And I get pension and top end benefits. Unions are the shit.
I work in a non union workplace and my wages are twice that of similar jobs in my company in other parts of the country, because unions are strong in this region so nonunion companies have to offer more just to keep workers. Unions are awesome. I wish there was a way for me to send some portion of my check to them as thanks for the benefits they've indirectly given me.
Yeah this is exactly right. Last time a union went on strike in my company, I kept hearing from people "fuck thise selfish union assholes, they want the company to pay for their health insurance, and I have to pay for my own health insurance - they should have to pay for their own health insurance like me"
I always would counter "why are you mad at the workers fighting to get free health insurance? Shouldn't you be mad our hundreds-of-millions-a-day making company doesn't want to pay for your health insurance? They clearly can afford to but they choose not to"
What's funny is almost everyone that heard it phrases that way agreed they would rather we all get free health insurance - it's like they never even thought of it on that way. Seems the human brain is wired by default to claw everyone down to their level, like fucking crabs in a bucket
Remember this as 340,000 UPS Teamsters workers may go on strike at the end of this month. They have been able to do away with a 2-tier wage system and have gotten agreement on air-conditioning in their trucks but are still negotiating with management over cost of living increases and wages for part-timers. Remember this as the Teamsters are looking to unionize Amazon.
Ordering mail-order stuff used to take a week or two to get to you, and nobody died for having to wait. If you absolutely needed it sooner you bought it locally. This was as recently as the mid-90's (Amazon went public at $18/share in 1995) not horse and buggy days.
We should be willing to wait patiently for parcel delivery or go local for as long as it takes to show solidarity with these workers!
That's fantastic if you have a car and can drive to get items from shops at the other side of the city or from a different town/city altogether. Much less convenient if you don't have one or can't drive at all. Like I would love to buy my homebrew supplies locally. In my old city that was an option. In my new one not so much...
We also need better public transport that would help with this but still. Some people can't even get groceries without having it delivered (especially the elderly and remote). Some people would literally starve if they couldn't get deliveries on time.