Work Reform

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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.

Our Philosophies:

All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.

Our Goals

Higher wages for underpaid workers.
Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
Better and fewer working hours.
Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.

founded 2 years ago

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Cathy, do the math. (slrpnk.net)

submitted 1 day ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] ricecake 0 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

There's a limit to how much they can pay the ununionized workers before it becomes clear they're trying to interfere with the workers rights to free organization. In the image, it's quite likely that the extra 50¢ is union dues, or could be explained as related to costs.

Literally the first reply I sent you.

If you don't know the basics of labor law and how companies are ostensibly prohibited from preventing organization, you really don't have a lot of room to get upset when people think you don't know stuff.

That... is literally the thing being discussed here.

No, it's a nonsequitur you brought up out of nowhere. You asked why the company doesn't just pay the union less, and when people told you replied assuming that everyone knew that all the workers left the union.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

when people told you replied assuming that everyone knew that all the workers left the union.

Because that's literally the entire point! They want to pay people more if they leave the union so they can later cut wages without resistance, it's an extremely simple and basic concept. I have no idea why you're treating this as some bizarre, added assumption, like literally what are we even talking about if not that?

[–] ricecake 0 points 11 hours ago

How is it even legal to have explicitly preferential pay for people not in a union? Is there a limit to that, or can companies just say, "Anyone who joins a union will be paid minimum wage."

What I'm saying is that if they can set "$0.50 above union rates" as the company policy for everyone, they can also set "$5 above union rates" as the company policy for everyone and then cut union rates by $5.

That's you. That's what we're talking about: why they can't "set "$5 above union rates" as the company policy for everyone and then cut union rates by $5".

You were told it's because of the unions contract that they can't cut union rates, and paying people not to join is a violation of labor law.
You then replied about how that wouldn't work because everyone left the union so they don't have bargaining power.
And yeah, if the union has no power they probably don't have a good contract, but that's aside from the point of "a unions contract prevents their pay from being cut on a whim".

I'm treating it like a weird add-on to the discussion because it is. They can't cut pay because of their contract, unless their contract doesn't stop that, in which case they can.