cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/29566496
So slavery as indentured servitude is the American future. Way to “new model” the old model.
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/29566496
So slavery as indentured servitude is the American future. Way to “new model” the old model.
Fair to point out that Trump and Lutnick suck bad and aren’t really going to do anything to help factory workers. I guess that point feels obvious to me so I gloss over it in my comments. When I read an article like this, my takeaway may not always be the author’s intended point.
I still resist the idea that it must always be better to “escape” the factory and work elsewhere.
You say you aren’t shitting on factory work. But you also seem to feel that the ability to exit the factory is fundamental to having a good life. I agree that people should be able to choose what field they work in, so no I don’t think that every person should feel locked in to factory work, but I do think that we should focus on how to make factory work appealing, unlike it is now.
We need to be talking about more than just worker protections (although that is where policy needs to start and I agree they are the foundation for any further progress). We need to talk about government recommendations for management practices, grants for labor research, and possibly incentives for progressive management styles. We need to make factories into places that people don’t want to escape.
And as consumers, we need to push for the reality we want to see. If we have the ability, we should do our best to support companies with better labor practices - for example, the B corp and the Well certifications require certain employee wellness minimums, so when buying mass produced goods, prioritize ones with a certification like that.
Yeah I’ll admit “escape” didn’t do me any favors LOL, but I meant it more in the context of my family and the difference in social mobility. Factories can be, and ought to be, great places to work, I just don’t think a person can do that work for their entire life. Just like a factory should be a great place to work, it should also be possible for people to find other places to work.
By the way, it’s nice to be able to talk about it without it getting hostile in the way social media tends to do. :)
No, standing in front of a blast furnace all day just does kinda inherently suck and people tend to not do it when given the choice, and it puts a lot of stress on your health so it’s reasonable for people to want to exit. See the Soviet experience of industrial development - this was a country that had all the social benefits you mention but they still struggled to attract people to jobs in heavy industry especially after the war.
They came to the same conclusion - If you want workers in those kinds of jobs you have to add extra incentives.
I think we are generally in agreement that standing in front of a blast furnace all day would suck pretty badly. But I am not sure such work must always be miserable. To be fair I have never worked with a blast furnace, but I don’t see why someone’s job should be to do the same thing every day for years on end. Management should switch up worker roles frequently, perhaps multiple times a day if the task is particularly odious. And if there are ergonomic or environmental reasons it isn’t tolerable or safe, those reasons should be addressed, such as providing better PPE or custom built tools.
Adding extra incentives is part of making factory work sustainable in the long run, but it’s going to take more than an extra $(insert number)/hour to make workers safe and happy. And I really don’t think we should give up on trying to make factory workers safe and happy.
you want to be productive and efficient and that means promoting specialization/division of labor as much as possible