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This is what one-on-one relationships with our employers gets us

(where one-on-one means one worker's relationship to a chain of command, a department for compensation & benefits, ownership, board, and a network of investors & advisors coordinating on compensation, hiring practices, regulatory politics at a national level)



The alternative is unions correct?


Unions helped Detroit autoworkers so much. I'm not totally opposed to unions but if people don't want to buy the company's product at the price it's offered for (and costs), they can't sustainably force the company to pay workers more.


“ It is not good management to take profits out of the workers or the buyers; make management produce the profits. Don’t cheapen the product. Don’t cheapen the wage. don’t overcharge the public. Well-managed business pays high wages and sells at low prices. Its workmen have the leisure to enjoy life and the wherewithal with which to finance that enjoyment.”

– Henry Ford, Ford Motor Company


Who is today’s Henry Ford?


You mean the Henry Ford who brought in often violent internal company police to prevent unionization? I imagine there are many modern examples if not to the same degree.


Or, the one awarded a cross by Hitler. I can’t tell when someone quotes Ford today, who might they think is today’s Henry Ford.


Workers were not the cause of Detroit's downfall


No (primarily--although, at the time there were a lot of rigid work rules that surely didn't help). But they also weren't a solution.


There are various ways of organizing


> This is what one-on-one relationships with our employers gets us

Its what an economic slowdown outside of AI gets us, mostly, but yes, unbridled capitalism (with, among other things, neither unionization in the industry under consideration nor strong public protection of labor rights) magnifies that (it also, to be fair, magnifies the upswing in employment on the upward side of the business cycle, but, it also magnifies the adverse consequences of unemployment on either side.)


Exactly. These employers are not your friends and it's all a political game with your role and your manager.




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