A century ago, workers were a lot more “flexible” than they are now. Veritable Gumbies in the mills and mines and factories they were, distorting their lives to slog 10 or 12 hours a day, for six—even seven—days a week.
Then came the 40-hour week. And weekends. And eventually sick days. And paid vacation days. Now, bosses at mills and mines and factories regard these rules as coddling and believe the workers accustomed to them are resisting corporate demands....
The GOP has an app for that. It’s called the Working Families Flexibility Act. This legislation that the Republican majority in the U.S. House is expected to pass this week would force some old-time flexibility into 21st-century workers. The forced flexibility act would award bosses the power to “offer” compensatory time off instead of overtime pay. Bosses, not workers, would determine when the comp time could be taken. The proposal puts control in corporate hands, obliging wage earners to bend over backward for bosses exactly like their Gumby ancestors were compelled to....
The GOP forced flexibility act is part of a list of proposals House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Virginia, calls “Making Life Work.” That’s right, Republicans intend to make life nothing but work. No eight hours for sleep. No eight hours for anything you will. Just work, Gumby, just work.In These Times
The Gumby Act: The Republican Plan to Bend Workers Into Pretzels
Leo Gerard, United Steelworkers President
4 comments:
Without the government-enforced/backed credit cartel, companies would have been forced long ago by economic necessity to "share" not only profits but power with their workers by paying them with common stock (and perhaps some fiat for the workers' tax liabilities) and by accepting that common stock back for the goods and services the companies produced.
This is not good!
I hope the AFL-CIO actually gets radicalized, for once in a, damn, while, and does something about this.
I mean, if it just lets this fly by, what's to say it wont let a whole lot of other anti-worker and anti-middle class legislation to pass under their noses.
Dave has eric cantor worked a day in his life?
Since he thinks that government cannot create jobs, by his own standard he hasn't worked a day in his political life.
@ Jaan Jared
The neoliberals have all but destroyed the power of labor unions and now have an open field to roll back previous gains resulting from collective bargaining. This is just the beginning. The Dickensian age is the neoliberal dream.
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