The Destruction of American Workers
by Miki Saxon
What’s going on?
Why is there such a disconnect between management and minimum wage workers?
A disconnect that goes beyond all logic.
A disconnect that treats low wage workers more like serfs.
Two weeks ago it was Walmart’s efforts to enforce a dress code at their employees’ expense.
Now it’s companies such as Jimmy John’s sub shops requiring minimum wage workers to sign noncompete agreements.
But who knows, perhaps there is a proprietary trick to spreading mayo that I’m not aware of.
California outlawed most non-compete clauses on the basis that people have a right to earn a living.
And then there is the sexual harassment of low wage women workers.
The study showed that women reliant on tips made up the highest share of those who had experienced harassment and that those who lived in states where the tipped minimum wage was $2.13 an hour (the federal minimum for tipped workers) were twice as likely to experience sexual harassment as those who lived in places where a single minimum wage standard applied to all workers.
Whether large corporation or small business, it seems that those in the upper levels, who are financially secure, place little-to-no value on those who actually keep their company running.
And as for morality, well, that comes down to whether more employers decide that basic human decency requires viewing their workers not as interchangeable cogs to be paid as little as possible and worked to the bone but as valuable partners in building a company for the long term.
Centuries ago, when describing the actions of leaders, Lao Tzu ended by saying,
To lead the people, walk behind them.
Today it reads,
To lead the people, walk upon them.
Flickr image credit: Derek Purdy
