A couple of sad slices of a very rotten pie...

[CoffeeCat]

These are just little snapshots about workers in America, but I feel they speak to
the bigger picture about how corporations are taking advantage of workers; overworking
them,treating them like chattel and disrespecting them in general.

As they watch DC politics--corporations understand the messages very well. Corporations
can get away with anything and the people have little or no rights.

This past weekend, I experienced two examples of this and it reinforced that workers of
all stripes are being abused by corporation that have too much power and very little
respect for the people who work so very hard for them.

I was at the mall, and I just walked out of Claire's and the twenty-something worker pulled
down the gate, "Taking your lunch?" I said to her. She didn't even look up and she said, "No,
I'm wiping the gate down. We don't get a lunch break or any other breaks when we're here alone
during the day."

I didn't say anything because I was stunned. I know that state law in Iowa requires that this
woman have a 15 minute break every four hours she is at work, and also a half hour at lunch.
Obviously, these companies are cutting down on payroll, leaving one worker to handle it all.
Thus, no breaks.

Sunday night, I went to a local convenience store and the friendly checker behind the counter
told me that their store had sold the most Powerade in the state in a promotional contest. The
workers were incentivized to sell as much as possible and they were promised a $50 gift card
to a local grocery store as well as Powerade coupons. The checker told me that they were
presented with a gift bag with their winnings--and the $50 gift card was not included. When
they inquired about it, they were told it was never offered. The checker told me that all
promotional materials about the contest were gone, and they had no recourse. The owner of
all of these convenience stores is a multimillionaire. His son, ran for Congress here in
Iowa (as a Republican, of course) and lost. The owner of this chain of convenience stores lives
just up the street from this particular store--in a huge mansion with a backyard that looks
like a large park with a lake running through it and a bridge that connects to another house that
is used for entertaining. Lots of rich people are nice. However, this very wealthy person
made the decision to deny his workers (who make minimum wage or close to it) a measly $50
gift card. The checker said to me, "I counted that gift card in my grocery budget for next
week, and now it's gone and things will be tight."

I'd like to complain to the store owner and give him a piece of my mind, but I don't want to
get the workers in trouble, or be the cause of them losing the jobs. I feel like buying
the gift cards myself.

I feel like the abusers are winning. I feel as if our politicians and their pro-corporate,
anti "We The People" policies are dog whistles to the rest of the greedy bastards out there
who enjoy screwing people if it means another quarter in their coffers.

It's a sad commentary on the behavior of corporate leaders, and the treatment of American workers
in general.

[lonestarnot]

1. No count fuckers will never get a dime out of me. No more shopping at any fucking mall.

Edit to ask if you asked her if she had any peas?

[CoffeeCat]

3. Well.....

If she had any peas, she wouldn't have an opportunity to eat them
since she doesn't get a lunch break--or any other break for that matter.

:sad:

[lonestarnot]

7. Truly fucking outrageous in America. Saddest part is that she either has to take the treatment or

worse is "willing" to do so. I'd rather fucking be homeless! I had better be careful what I'd rather, as we all may be soon.

[Lifelong Protester]

2. Boy, those are two good descriptions of what is going on in

this country.
But know this, you were having a human connection with them, inquiring about them, showing they were human and not just a 'thing'. Having what Martin Buber called and "I and Thou" moment, not an "I and It". That made a small difference to those folks. I know you probably felt like you didn't do much, or as you said, wanted to do more, but you did do something, you saw those workers as human, and for a moment, they felt like someone noticed.

Sometimes all we can do is acknowledge the humanity in others... and reaffirm the humanity in ourselves. Regardless of this crappy corporate controlled state we inhabit.

Was it a Casey's? If it was, I'll boycott them too, along with Kwik Trip (major repub. a**holes)

[CoffeeCat]

5. It was Caseys...

...and I'd just like to clarify something. I'm unclear if Powerade denied them the gift card--or
if Casey's did.

However, I want to make the point that Caseys needed to make this right--no matter
who promised the gift card. If it was the Powerade company that denied them the
$50 gift card they were promised, then Caseys should have leaned on the beverage
company and made them deliver. Or else, Casey's should have stepped in and given
them the gift cards.

After all, these workers busted their butts to sell tons of Powerade. They made
a lot of money for Casey's--and Casey's should have made sure those workers got
what they were promised.

[madrchsod]

9. i guess you answered my question...

casey`s has the highest turn over rate in this area. they are always looking for "managers".

[Lifelong Protester]

10. I say Casey's is ultimately on the hook for this, and they

have to dough to have made it right. So I agree with you.

[badgerpup]

13. I took a mighty oath years ago...

...to not treat people in the public sector as 'staff', but as People...real live human beings.

Eye contact, something more than a social noise 'How ya doing?'...let them know they're SEEN, not just 'registered on my radar'...and appreciated for the job they are doing.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

4. the fuckers.

:grr:

[Booster]

6. We, the people, need to bring back the unions. I, of course, don't

really know how to do that, but that's the answer to this type of abuse by companies/corporations. People also have to start speaking up and reporting these assholes to the labor boards in their states. It will only get worse if everybody just takes it. I'm retired but the best thing that ever happened to me was joining the union where I worked. Unions mean just that: people standing together to fight abuse.

[CrispyQ]

12. About three years ago, the local grocer's union was negotiating their contract.

I asked a young clerk how the negotiations were going & she smugly stated, "I don't know. I would never join a union." I asked her, "Do you have health benefits? Do you get vacation & sick time? Do you get overtime? You can thank a union for all of that & more. Management did not give those things to the workers out of the goodness of their hearts & if they can, they will find a way to take it away from you."

She looked at me like I'm an old fart.

Anyone born after 1980, all they've ever heard from the media & a growing number of politicians, is that unions are bad. There's never a discussion of what unions provide & what conditions were like before unions - just that they are bad for business. So many of our institutions are failing us so badly. I don't know if we can get out of this mess within the system.

on edit: grammar

[madrchsod]

8. ----

[Enthusiast]

11. As bad as corporate treatment of workers is now

it pales when compared to that of past ages. But we can expect to see more mistreatment as the nation's protections of collective bargaining are systematically removed.

Millions of American workers still believe that "Unions have outlived their usefulness." Well, they are about to find out that this is simply untrue.

Even winning the right to organize caused bloodshed.

One instance of 19th century coal field unrest came about when miners demanded that the scales that weighed a man's daily labor, and determined his pay, was accurate. For a long time these scales were always WAY pessimistic in favor of the mine owners. Imagine working like a beast of burden and having to dig 2,400 pounds of coal to get paid for 2,000 pounds of coal.

Of course we all know about child labor and unsafe working conditions.

One of the side benefits of organized labor has been the way a rising tide has lifted all boats. Every working American has benefited from organized labor's efforts.