Labor Movement Puns

With Biden saying he won't cancel any student debt, the mask has slipped. Democrats hate working people just like their Republican "opponents." This is where lesser evilism has gotten us. Sure, the party in power is not filled with white nationalist conspiracy theorists, but is that really the bar we want to set? We can do better.

Republicans are Capitalism's sword and Democrats are its shield. "The United States is also a one party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them." - Julius Nyerere

We are on the verge of the Second Labor Movement, and its time we tell all these kleptocrats what we think of them. And while it is true that Democrats are friendlier to organized labor, there's a catch. They want unions that can be controlled. Unions that only encourage further lesser evilism rather than working class solidarity.

We need a union that can't be bought. A union that was founded in solidarity. Fortunately for us, a union like that already exists. If you want this new Labor Movement to truly free us from this dystopian nightmare, join the Industrial Workers of the World. Grassroots economic democracy that is unafraid of challenging entrenched power is the only way that we're gonna get out of this mess: https://www.iww.org/

Say NO to labor hierarchy! Say NO to lesser evilism! Join the IWW today! A better world is possible!

Consider this a follow-up to my post as to why you have a class interest in being a socialist and in joining the IWW: https://www.reddit.com/r/antiwork/comments/r1z1hl/why_you_should_be_a_socialist_and_join_the_iww/

This new American labor movement obviously started with lower paying jobs- retail, food, etc. Being in an ok-paying corporate job (with a horrible boss and no upwards future) myself, I can see the screws are starting to come loose in the "white collar" world. People are starting to resign over a huge range of issues and leaving at an increasing clip. There has been a significant change in just the last few weeks.

We all need to do our part to keep it going. Stop trying to work hard. If your company wants you to go back in office- complain. Take on more work? Complain. Complain about pay. Say no to things. Log on later and log off sooner. Impossible to get promoted? Stop trying. Cost of living raise under 5%? Stop trying. Poor leadership? Stop trying. Bad boss? Stop trying.

The great resignation mania needs to start hitting office/higher paying jobs more and more. I am so happy with what has been accomplished thus far in food and retail, but the office sector needs to be crushed as well. Be difficult and raise hell in whatever way you can. We cannot keep this labor revolution centered around fast food jobs, every inch of the economy needs to be shook top to bottom.

I was over on r/ABoringDystopia and was reading the following article.

One thread was going into prison labor and how factories are using prison labor at pennies on the dollar and I hadn't really thought of that or knew about that. I understood community service being working "for free" to help better the community and to amend for the crimes you committed. But I had no idea they "hire" prisoners to work at private companies doing labor for less than minimum wage.

Hire is quoted because it doesn't feel like hire to me but more like "we are going to pay you just so we can SAY we pay you and keep morality off our back. "

https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/req92e/candle_factory_inmates_dead_guard/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Edit: I love the support, the passion, the perspectives, and the references that have sprung up here everyone. Thank you!

I understand the anti-work sentiment, and am currently not working at the moment after quitting my job in April. This sub could command tremendous bargaining power if common goals are agreed upon. For example:

We the people of the anti-work subreddit, of which there are currently 66 thousand members, refuse to work until the following conditions are met:

1. health insurance in times of unemployment
2. the right to wages that would allow one to eventually retire
3. advanced notice in scheduling, fair PTO practices
4. child care services
5. maternity leave
6. advanced benefits including stock ownership
7. treatment with decency, courtesy, respect at all times

etc etc

edits: spelling, removal of a word, grammatical

On October 21st, 2021 Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was seriously injured due to a prop gun unknowingly containing a live round. The incident took place at 1:50 pm on the 21st.

Before this took place the film crew had been very vocal about the lack of safety issues, low pay, 17 hr days 6-7 days a week, not being able to sleep in hotels/beds, and more. They even reported that a prop gun had already misfired 3 TIMES. The crew said there were no safety meetings and when they brought things up the bosses only cared about money and keeping things moving in a rushed pace.

“A crew member added, "We cited everything from lack of payment for three weeks, taking our hotels away despite asking for them in our deals, lack of Covid safety, and on top of that, poor gun safety! Poor on-set safety period!"

A text from the crew to the production manager “We’ve now had 3 accidental discharges. This is super unsafe,” This wasn’t just an accident, this happened because they refuse to take their crews safety seriously and spend time and money making sure things were done in a safe manner. We see this happen from Boeing to the film industry. Money over lives is always the most important thing nowadays.

#This next part is probably the most important of the whole story.

6 hours before the fatal shooting there was a mass walk off of crew members. Instead of fixing the issues they were replaced BY NONUNION and only replaced half of the people that walked off, so the crew was stretched thin even more than before.

Instead of fixing issues, making the set safer, making conditions better so accidents didn’t happen, etc they decided to replace the experts with nonunion scabs. Just like with John Deere we see the damage that is caused by hiring non union/hiring scabs. Now these people will have a life time of trauma and they probably consider themselves lucky.

This is the dangers of greed. This is the dangers of cutting corners. This is the dangers of treating your workers like livestock. This is the dangers of hiring scabs. It has happened at businesses from John Deere to Boeing to Hollywood. If it can happen there it can happen at your job.

Edit:

Here are the sources

https://www.insider.com/rust-shooting-alec-baldwins-armorer-worried-she-wasnt-ready-for-job-2021-10

https://deadline.com/2021/10/rust-movie-gun-internal-review-safety-issues-production-camera-crew-walkout-1234860497/

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-10

I was just listening to Noam Chomsky on NPR discuss the current state of US and global affairs and it is clear that neoliberalism, corporate greed and republican propaganda are existential threats to our country (duh). These systems have completely deadlocked the political system from addressing inequality, climate, healthcare, homelessness, retirement etc etc. We are staring directly in the face of a fascist movement coupled with a pending mass extinction event. It is now clear that the only way to address these issues is to grind the economy to a halt. We currently have dispersed leadership IRL, we need someone(s) with time and energy to stand up and truly organize us. This sub is fantastic but it’s only the first step. National organization is needed. As a millennial with a family, limited time and much to lose, Gen Z I’m looking at you. Lead us to the better future, please.

Every major political movement has committed numerous acts that were considered criminal at the time in order to force change and make gains for the downtrodden. The old labor movement unionized, striked, and fought back back when such things were considered illegal. The civil rights movement engaged in sit-ins, protests, and other acts of defiance in ways that broke Jim Crow law. Suffragettes engaged in unlawful behavior to force change, anti-war protestors engaged in unlawful assemblies, so many successful movements broke the law to get things done, so why not this labor movement?

So many unions are scared shitless to do anything remotely unlawful, so many nonprofits constantly advise strict adherence; but these laws were designed to defang the movement and render it weak and ineffective. This country is going to shit, and yet so many are unwilling to do what is necessary to fight for a better future.

My teacher said this once.

I feel that similar concepts to Social Democracy like the New Deal also came about to diminish fascism - People don't turn to alternative governments unless they're disillusioned with theirs.

So the answer is to make a pretty expansive but decent government that diminishes economic inequality and problems.

You guys realize the game testers went on strike because of massive cuts and working conditions right? That is why the game is an unplayable, buggy mess. Activision/Blizzard are going through massive lawsuits against them for sexual harassment and treating their employees like shit. We should be standing with the workers who make these games possible instead of complaining every day that the game is broken. It’s broken because Activision treats their employees terribly. If you like good quality video games, it’s time to get serious about workers rights and the labor movement. Support developers, coders, and testers. Don’t buy anything until Activision does something to change.

www.iww.org

I personally advise EVERYBODY to unionize. I will entirely admit that I am biased. I am a syndicalist, I believe wholeheartedly in the strength of democractic Unions, and I want to help expand a Union which aligns rather well with my beliefs politically. We're all tired of getting fucked, and the best way to turn the tables is to unionize. The IWW is a fantastic resource to help you unionize your workplace, and I seriously want the labor movements present to be expanded by the presence of organization. This subreddit is quickly growing, and filling with workers who don't understand why they're so miserable. The absurdity of Capitalism in the US is a sign, clear as day, that it is failing, and the surge of popularity in this sub shows that workers want change.

There is no feasible way for us to orchestrate a decentralized attack on capitalism, Blackout Black Friday is a fantastic idea on paper, and I hope with everything I have, that it functions, and strangles the profits of those asshats who force us to slave away and pay us in peanuts. You need centralized organizations to attack the system. We have to organize, plan, and execute attacks on the system to see change occur. Unionize, Plan, and Strike. You have the opportunity to exploit their weakness. There's a fight to be had, and if you cannot escape, your best option is to band together.

Take care, friends.

Does anyone else here also frequent r/antiwork? I am a server who is very sympathetic to the r/antiwork movement and worker’s rights in general, but I feel that our industry is much harder to organize in because of certain institutional factors unique to this line of work. Consider this a space to share your views, ideas, and any successes you’ve had in organizing service workers.

The idea here is to have a general strike starting May 1st with as many participants as we can get across the entire country (U.S.) or possibly the world. The demands being better healthcare access, higher pay, paid sick leave, paid parental leave, etc. in order to end the strike & go back to work.

However, you cant have negotiations with CEO’s of possibly thousands of different companies & organizations from all sorts of different industries & ask them all to agree to the same set of demands for everyone right? What we are really looking for is legislation isn’t it? Force the federal gov. to pass laws such as: make minimum wage rise with inflation, universal healthcare coverage, make every employer offer paid sick time, parental leave, etc. Thats the only way to force every industry & every employer big & small to abide by the same set of rules/demands.

And if thats the case you need pro union/ pro worker rights lawmakers on your side to draft this legislation hopefully before the strike starts on May 1st so it can be voted on. Even then you can expect exactly zero republicans in congress to support a bill like that. And president Biden could be on board as long as its politically advantageous for him & the party. Which if a significant # of workers are striking, getting the economy up & running again is pretty motivating. Passing a broad workers rights bill would certainly help come re-election time but it would be weighted against pissing off all their corporate campaign donors too. You need a Bernie Sanders or AOC type person to back this movement & then you will see huge numbers of people joining the cause!

It’s time for pharmacist to demand better working conditions from these companies. There is a mass labor movement across different sectors of industry happening in America right now. We need solidarity amongst pharmacists. We are essential healthcare workers and deserve better.

These cards are inspired in part by the personality identification playing cards, used during the 2003 invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition.

While the combat cards contained “the wanted person's address and, if available, the job performed by that individual.”, what should be listed in these new cards? What should be printed in the obverse?

Please note that at no time is this in any way to incite nor condone the use violence nor harassment in relation to any of the individuals who may be named / suggested. It is just an exercise to bring attention to the top individuals who interfere with or create the most damage to the anti-work/pro-worker movement in the USA, and in doing so, help all users gain knowledge of where to focus their efforts to seek change by lawful means, from peaceful protests, the boycott of products and services, to union drives and more.