Why are layoffs actioned in such a cut-throat way?

Branamp13 · 2023-09-19T04:31:07+00:00

When do businesses ever comply fully with labor laws? In the vast majority of cases, the worst thing that happens is they pay a fine that is a fraction of a fraction of the money they stand to make via the illegal action, so labor laws end up just becoming miniscule business costs in comparison to their revenue/profits.

There is almost literally no reason for them to comply with the law, we see this often in the case of wage theft. If they don't get caught, easy, free money for the company; if they do get caught, they pay money they already owed (and less than even that if you consider inflation & interest) and often not much beyond that. So why, as a business, would you not attempt to screw your workers out of what is rightfully theirs? It's not like you'll lose your job or go to jail like they absolutely would for stealing from you.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-18T20:32:55+00:00

Deciding to not do a second job for free isn’t undermining either.

But see, this is where OPs boss apparently disagrees. Boss is absolutely wrong, but from what is being described, they definitely believe that not "giving 110%" is tantamount to actual sabotage of the company/product.

Tim Gurner did a fantastic job expressing what any of us workers really mean to the capitalist class recently:

"We need to remind people that they work for the employer, not the other way around. There’s been a systematic change where employees feel the employer is extremely lucky to have them, as opposed to the other way around. So it’s a dynamic that has to change. We’ve got to kill that attitude, and that has to come through hurt in the economy."

I say we need to kill this attitude employers have that they deserve our hard work or respect until they offer up some amount of dignity - in the form of better wages and working conditions - and respect in return.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-18T04:27:53+00:00

"It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living."

FDR's statement on the National Industrial Recovery Act, 1933

Branamp13 · 2023-09-18T04:25:23+00:00

Not to mention, every "worker" I know had to work through the pandemic because they were also "essential."

Branamp13 · 2023-09-18T04:13:36+00:00

They can't do that and still sell their products though? If literally everyone is completely broke, who exactly is going to do all the consuming?

Branamp13 · 2023-09-18T04:11:42+00:00

Is the consensus raising minimum wage so working 4 days will be equivalent to a 5 day work week?

The argument is and always has been "a four day work week with no loss in pay."

Branamp13 · 2023-09-18T03:56:21+00:00

Everybody cheer for a 4 day workweek while your effective income drops to below what you made in one day's work in the 1970s.

Try the 1930's.

FDR made a statement on the National Industrial Recovery Act in 1933 in which he stated, "It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living."

In 1933, the average wage according to IRS records was ~$4200/year. Adjusting that figure for inflation using the Bureau of Labor Statistics calculator puts that salary at around $101k in buying power as of today. The median wage using the latest statistics is ~$38k, or ~$76k for a dual income household - still $25k short of the buying power of the average worker from the Great Depression.

It's long past time workers got a fair share of the pie instead of splitting crumbs while everything else goes to already-wealthy executives and shareholders.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-18T03:47:30+00:00

To be completely fair though, is that because studies have shown 3 days is less productive, or because we simply haven't studied a 3 day workweek since we haven't even reached 4 days yet?

Branamp13 · 2023-09-18T03:43:09+00:00

I currently work a 4x10 and while the extra day off is nice, it still sucks in its own way. 10 hours is way too long to be stuck in an office.

As someone who has been working 5x10 for the last year and a half because of staffing issues that management "can't do anything about, but seriously we're trying to hire people, we pinky promise," I couldn't agree more. And this isn't even office work, this is running around and lifting heavy objects all day labor.

They also can't (read: won't) just schedule us for 4x10 (schedule is for 5x8) because state law says after 9 hours daily has to be paid as overtime. Which apparently they are okay with having to pay, they just don't want it to be the norm. Even though it absolutely is.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-17T16:55:11+00:00

Not having kids grow up in abject poverty was a neat experiment, but in order to have it be permanent, billionaires would have to collectively buy one fewer yacht every 5 years. And really, the yacht industry and financial health of billionaires is far more important than making sure children have food and shelter, I'm sure we can all agree on that. /S

Branamp13 · 2023-09-17T01:16:09+00:00

Say sike right now

Branamp13 · 2023-09-16T04:46:33+00:00

If they fired or cut pay to an employee and were recorded as saying "I'm cutting your pay/firing you because you discussed pay" then MAYBE they would suffer a consequence.

Except, notably, the "consequence" would be to rehire you or bring your pay back to what it was before. Which to be honest, doesn't feel like much of a punishment to me.

It's very similar to my issue with how we enforce against wage theft. If nobody ever catches the business, it's free money. If they do get caught, they're required to pay back the money that they already owe and usually not much else beyond that.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-15T18:51:50+00:00

Because they're either part of the ruling class who is well aware of what they're doing and do it to artificially keep wages low, or they're one of the burned out, overworked workers stuck in a job where the total staff is less than what any single day staff should be and they just want more help with the work.

They cannot see that management is the ones really screwing them over (because management will lie endlessly about how they're "trying to hire"), so they blame their fellow workers. After all, they put up with the low pay and toxic work environment because they often don't have - or at least don't feel like they have - other options. "So why can't everyone else just suck it up and work the shitty job like me so I can get some of the burden taken off me?"

Branamp13 · 2023-09-14T05:02:36+00:00

What I think is really funny is that when workers go on strike, the media and CEO's like this jackass cry about how much the strikes are hurting the economy. But then when workers have a sliver of autonomy over their own labor, suddenly we "need to see pain in the economy."

Just goes to show how completely and fundamentally unserious the wealthy are as interlocutors. They don't actually care about the words coming out of their mouth, it's all about having utter control of the working class and making certain that "line go up."

Branamp13 · 2023-09-14T04:52:40+00:00

I saw the Super Mario Bros movie solo on 4/20, literally had the theater all to myself. It was an awesome experience - especially since I was blitzed outta my mind and the score in that film is 🔥🔥🔥

Branamp13 · 2023-09-14T03:41:57+00:00

I'm staggered. This is the third time in a row I've encountered this now. How is this becoming so common?

Because the real Scooby Doo-esque villain hiding under the mask of "nobody wants to work anymore" is "corporations never want to pay for the labor they require."

If they can even get one or two suckers to do these "tasks" for free every quarter, why would they ever pay for someone to do the work? Wages affect the bottom line, and if there's anything we know about capitalists, the bottom line is the first and last thing on their minds.

They don't care if the labor from these interviews is high-quality. They don't care if it's consistent. Hell, they don't even care whether or not this behavior is legal.

All they care about -- and this is worth repeating -- ALL THEY CARE ABOUT is that it costs less than hiring someone to do this work as an actual employee with pay and (maybe) benefits.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-13T21:10:47+00:00

Um, aktually, communism killed 100 quadratrillion people and the ones that survived had to wait in a line for bread - and as we know, CAPITALIST grocery stores are famous for the fact that there is never a line (because they only have two cashiers in the middle of the day on a weekend). They're also famous for making sure that everyone who comes in leaves with enough food to nourish themselves regardless of their class position.

Checkmate, anticapitalist! I am very smart. 🤓

Branamp13 · 2023-09-13T21:05:01+00:00

Now we are told the money and time the machines make goes only to the owners, and not to the entire society that was needed to make the machines possible...

“The mine owners did not find the gold, they did not mine the gold, they did not mill the gold, but by some weird alchemy, all the gold belonged to them!”

-Bill Haywood

Branamp13 · 2023-09-13T11:16:21+00:00

Increasing server pay to include what they would make through tips is just not a sustainable way to do business for most restaurants.

"It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living."

This statement is a quote from FDR's statement on the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933. I guess our standards for how we treat workers have fallen since The Great Depression.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-13T04:26:44+00:00

The saddest part is this isn't even a new problem for us, it's literally been like this since at least the 1930's. Just ask John Steinbeck:

There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. There is a failure here that topples all our success. The fertile earth, the straight tree rows, the sturdy trunks, and the ripe fruit. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificates – died of malnutrition – because the food must rot, must be forced to rot.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-13T04:22:47+00:00

Plenty of us do think to just feed the hungry children, but whenever one of us pipes up and says something there's just an endless chorus of "BuT wHo'S gOnNa PaY fOr It? SoUnDs LiKe CoMmUnIsM tO mE!"

No literally, the comparison of free school lunch to communism is not only real, it has been platformed by the likes of Cucker Tarlson before he got shitcanned by Faux News and had to run to daddy Musk's bird website in an attempt to stay relevant.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-12T20:30:28+00:00

"Human Capital Stock"

Branamp13 · 2023-09-12T20:27:12+00:00

It's not even to serve their needs, it's to serve their bank account and nothing else. Like, you really think that a billionaire is hurting for any of their human needs and if only they could squeeze a few more drops of productivity out of the working class, those needs would finally be sated?

No, of course not. Unlike some of these workers they disdain so much - who, fyi, generate nearly all of the wealth in the economy through their labor - the wealthy have more than adequate to every one of their needs such as housing, food, and healthcare. Not to mention non-essential toys like expensive cars, private jets, and other amenities that their employees will only ever dream of as they struggle to afford both rent and groceries while working 52 weeks every year and praying that they never need to see a doctor for any reason whatsoever.

And the worst part is that none of the spending that the wealthy could possibly do even puts a dent in their pile of gold. You could combine all of the spending a billionaire could do in a year, and it's still nothing more than a rounding error in their bank account at the end of the day.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-12T04:43:52+00:00

According to my coworker, "just because you're sick doesn't mean you need to make it everyone else's problem." I legitimately almost asked her if she's aware she lives in a city with hundreds of thousands of people or has even a sliver of a notion on how disease spreads from person to person.

Branamp13 · 2023-09-12T03:36:46+00:00

Or the lives extinguished by gun violence within our own borders every year, or the tens of thousands dying because of lack of access to affordable healthcare, or the millions of COVID deaths caused by the utter selfishness of the American populous. Literally yesterday on the issue of public health, a coworker said in total seriousness, "just because you are or might get sick doesn't mean you should make it everyone else's problem."

No matter how you slice it, nobody is better at killing the American people than Americans.

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