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The Inherent Bias of Profitability
Sep. 5th, 2019 05:56 pmHey, DW. Been away a while, I know. Stuff.
Quick catch-up: I have a job. It's one of the few with an active union, in which I am also active (a bit). And something has been bugging me of late.
I you are an employee of the company and you pay your dues, you can participate in the unions doings. You don't have to be whip-smart and legally-trained. You just participate. And that means you can submit motions for consideration and all kinds of other stuff. You can affect your workplace. I've done it myself. I was personally responsible for bringing a major contract violation to the attention of the local; my grievance closed that violating practice (which allowed a lot of people to actually take the vacation they earned).
But we are not paid, we union members. It's just a thing we can do if we are so interested. Our efforts to help people improve their working lives and even help people keep their jobs is just feel-good activity on our part.
( However… )
I just makes me sad.
Quick catch-up: I have a job. It's one of the few with an active union, in which I am also active (a bit). And something has been bugging me of late.
I you are an employee of the company and you pay your dues, you can participate in the unions doings. You don't have to be whip-smart and legally-trained. You just participate. And that means you can submit motions for consideration and all kinds of other stuff. You can affect your workplace. I've done it myself. I was personally responsible for bringing a major contract violation to the attention of the local; my grievance closed that violating practice (which allowed a lot of people to actually take the vacation they earned).
But we are not paid, we union members. It's just a thing we can do if we are so interested. Our efforts to help people improve their working lives and even help people keep their jobs is just feel-good activity on our part.
( However… )
I just makes me sad.
