Research Notes #19
Labour day and workers
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Hello again! Today is Labor Day in the United States. The worker’s holiday. A day to remember the struggle for workers’ rights and to stand in solidarity. The labor movement in the United States has won many battles in the war against workers, waged by a capitalist economic system that privileges the wealthy at the expense of the working class. But there are still many battles to fight to reach true worker equality across class, race, gender, ability, and many other identity dimensions.
In recent months we have seen many ways in which the owners have attempted to continue remaining profitable in the midst of a worker shortage driven, not by laziness, but by a refusal to continue being paid poverty wages to do difficult work. A worker shortage directly correlated with the loss of human life from the covid-19 pandemic. A worker shortage that shows organizing in the 21st century is thriving, despite the best efforts of the bourgeoisie. And yes, a worker shortage that directly correlates to Marxist principles of labor and worth. (You didn’t think I was going to talk about labor and leave Karl out, did you?)
Thanks for joining me on this journey of discovery through research. Striving toward a better future for all workers is in each of our best interests. Society is a collection of individuals that need to work together to make a brighter future. We can do it!
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Unions are for everyone
What would the labor movement be without unions? Collective bargaining is truly the only way for individual workers to be seen and heard by management. If you have ever worked in a non-union establishment, you know that not having the union there to advocate for you as a worker can be detrimental to your mental and physical well-being. It can also mean long hours of work without benefits or even basic necessities on the job.
This past week it was announced that an Amazon warehouse is going to be built in Clarksville, TN (where I currently reside) and while the government officials in the area (Republican and Democrat alike) are super excited, it is not the best news from the perspective of worker security and fairness. Amazon is going to pay $15/hour, which they consider a good rate. Since the minimum wage in Tennessee is set at the Federal level of $7.25/hour, offering $15 makes Amazon look tremendous. As I discussed in a previous post (#10), the minimum wage has not increased since 2009 and at that rate, with a 40 hour per week job, an individual will only make $15,080/year (pre-taxes.) This is below the poverty rate and explains why many workers have to work 2-3 jobs to make ends meet in the minimum wage workforce.
Since this is the current state of minimum wage work in the U.S., Amazon can swoop into a small or medium-sized town, open a warehouse, pay the workers $15/hour ($31,200/year), and look like the best employer in town. But unions are saying otherwise. Recently, in Bessemer, Alabama, unionization almost won out at an existing Amazon warehouse. The labor movement has been chipping away at these locations inch by inch and my only hope for the Clarksville warehouse is that the union will be able to organize successfully this time around. An Amazon warehouse with a union advocating for the workers would be a much better scenario.
It isn’t just about the pay, but even more about the working conditions. In warehouses across the country, Amazon workers have reported long hours with extremely short breaks and barely enough time (in some cases, zero time) to take bathroom breaks or digest the lunchtime meal before getting back to work on the floor. The demands of quotas also cause serious issues for the workers who are unable to keep up. Overall, Amazon workers could benefit from unionization in so many ways and I hope that Clarksville can be the place where it happens. I’ll be keeping a close eye on this and maybe have a chance to join the movement.
Useful links
Commentary: Right to work means less freedom for workers, not more by Billy Dycus (tennesseelookout.com)
Labor Day demands supporting Nabisco’s striking bakery workers by Hayes Brown (msnbc.com)
The NLRB Says Amazon Cheated in the Bessemer Union Election. What Happens Next? by John Logan (truthout.org)
Celebrating workers, unions, and an opportunity for a sustainable future the Labor Day by Ray Curry (thehill.com)
Labor Day lessons from the American union movement’s hidden history by Kim Kelly (nbcnews.com)
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