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Byron

Member

From: Florida, USA

Registered: 2002-05-16

Posts: 844

Re: Let's revolt against our bosses! - Why we don't get the pay we deserve...

I'm bringing this post from the "Naming of Mars Settlements" thread....it has become rather unstable (even the board software is feeling the heat of that debate..lol    ) and I realized that my post really should be in its own thread anyhow...

The real problem with Americans today...and I'm talking about the general population, rather than race or gender, is that we do not demand what we are worth in the workplace.  Instead, we sit back and take what our bosses deem fit to pay us.  I mean, when was the last time any of you actually told your boss that you *demand* higher pay?  Anyone that's brave enough to actually pull something like would likely be shown the door...  The truth of the matter, most of us are are wage slaves...and I emphasize the word slave, for that is what most workplaces are about.  If you work for Corp AYZ, you must think like Corp AYZ, otherwise you're not considered "loyal to the company," and you will likely be sacked sooner or later, or at the very least, held back.  Employers have enormous reach into the personal lives of their employees, to the point of spying on private phone and e-mail messages, random drug testing, and the conduct of personal behavior outside the work place (so-called "moral conduct" policies).

And us apathetic Americans, who supposely value our freedom so much, just sit back and take it for the sake of a paycheck.  What I would love to see more than anything else is to see everyone making less than $10 or $12 an hour (especially the immigrants!) to go on strike for a full month.  Let's see how America would be then... 

Please take a moment really think about what would happen...every supermarket would close.  Every restaurant.  Every gas station.  Garbage would not be collected.  The shopping centers and malls would be devoid of people. The entire travel industry (such as the Orlando theme parks) would grind to a halt.  Most importantly, the ripening crops in the fields of central California  and elsewhere would go unpicked and begin to rot.  This, in turn, would severely distrupt the entire nation's food supply.  People would begin to go hungry (even after some grocery stores re-open with the use of higher-paid managers). 

After a full month of zero work by the entire service sector, the overall economy would likely go into total collapse, causing many of the higher-paid workers to lose their jobs.  America would quickly slip into full-blown depression.  Chaos would reign, and the loss of federal tax revenue and greatly increased costs of government services would likely cause the Treasury to go broke as well, throwing the country into even further disarray.

Now, I really do not want to see this scenario unfold, considering the tremendous hardships that would inflicted upon everyone, but I'm merely attempting to demonstrate the tremendous power that the *lower paid* workers truly have over their employers, should they chose to exercise it en masse.  I think it's highly unfortunate that we have such a high "work ethnic" in the the US, as this allows employers to hold most, if not all the cards over their underpaid underlings.  If only the majority of workers would wake up and smell the polluted air...it's not a pretty picture.  They can fire you at will, cut your pay without a thought, and oh yeah, do the "unequal pay" thing....because of one reason: they can get away with it.

I for one, think our government should immediately implement a "Worker's Bill of Rights" which would include such things as a high minumum wage, indexed annually to inflation, European levels of vacation, privacy and whisleblower protection, the right to be free from harrassment and bullying by bosses and co-workers, and the right to do whatever you like "off the clock," even if it's contrary to the company's interests(provided you're not breaking the law, of course).  Sure, these proposals would probably put a dent in the nation's economy, but it'd be the folks at the top that would be hurt, while the folks at the bottom would finally get what they deserve.

In a country as rich and powerful as the United States, I just don't see why workers must pinch pennies and depend on food stamps and the like just because employers are unwilling to pay a so-called "living wage."  As a society, I think it's our responsibility to ensure everyone is paid a fair and decent wage (which is way, way more than the current Federal min wage at $5.15 an hour), and to be treated with kindness and respect, in the workplace, and outside it as well.

B