Thursday, October 25, 2007
A thought about Unions and the plight of workers today
Until the 1920’s, bosses really were bosses. Employees worked very long hours for low pay. Along came the unions. It took a while, but across the board, conditions, hours worked and pay all improved.
And so it continued for 4 decades. But something went wrong! They let the power get to them. They didn’t know when to stop demanding more. They weren’t concerned if their demands finally meant the demise of some businesses. Then finally, there was a backlash against hem. It has got so bad, that the majority of people automatically presume that in a dispute between bosses and unions, the union is wrong. In America, and even supposedly liberal New York, the newspapers, sorry to stress the point, even that bastion of ‘liberal’ reporting The New York Times, side against the unions and everyone just believes what they read because hey, everyone knows if it’s in a newspaper it has to be true.
So where are we now? Working hours are increasing rapidly. Pay is increasing slowly. People are scared for their jobs if they don’t do more, more, more. I worked away from home for a short while and it seemed that we were expected to put in 10-11 hours at the office, then go back to the hotel and do more. My boss worked at the weekend and was surprised that I hadn’t. He actually set his alarm one day for 2am so that he could be working by 3. Maybe he’s just a workaholic. Maybe! But I can’t help thinking that if unions hadn’t forgotten their mandate; hadn’t got drunk on power and ultimately committed suicide and almost disappeared, this wouldn’t be happening now. The portion of the pie owned by the rich wouldn’t be the greatest it has been for decades and growing fast; professionals wouldn’t be fearing the sack if they work less than 60 hours a week; huge stores wouldn’t be employing people without benefits and getting away with it.
For all the evolving we Humans have done, the one thing that never changes is our greed. The powerful are always so overcome with it, that they gorge themselves until it kills them. So life continues in cycles. Hopefully, this one won’t last too long. But while people continue to believe what they read in newspapers, with their vested interest in the status quo, things will continue to get worse.
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And so it continued for 4 decades. But something went wrong! They let the power get to them. They didn’t know when to stop demanding more. They weren’t concerned if their demands finally meant the demise of some businesses. Then finally, there was a backlash against hem. It has got so bad, that the majority of people automatically presume that in a dispute between bosses and unions, the union is wrong. In America, and even supposedly liberal New York, the newspapers, sorry to stress the point, even that bastion of ‘liberal’ reporting The New York Times, side against the unions and everyone just believes what they read because hey, everyone knows if it’s in a newspaper it has to be true.
So where are we now? Working hours are increasing rapidly. Pay is increasing slowly. People are scared for their jobs if they don’t do more, more, more. I worked away from home for a short while and it seemed that we were expected to put in 10-11 hours at the office, then go back to the hotel and do more. My boss worked at the weekend and was surprised that I hadn’t. He actually set his alarm one day for 2am so that he could be working by 3. Maybe he’s just a workaholic. Maybe! But I can’t help thinking that if unions hadn’t forgotten their mandate; hadn’t got drunk on power and ultimately committed suicide and almost disappeared, this wouldn’t be happening now. The portion of the pie owned by the rich wouldn’t be the greatest it has been for decades and growing fast; professionals wouldn’t be fearing the sack if they work less than 60 hours a week; huge stores wouldn’t be employing people without benefits and getting away with it.
For all the evolving we Humans have done, the one thing that never changes is our greed. The powerful are always so overcome with it, that they gorge themselves until it kills them. So life continues in cycles. Hopefully, this one won’t last too long. But while people continue to believe what they read in newspapers, with their vested interest in the status quo, things will continue to get worse.
