The dismissive tech worker discourse around #WGA and #SAGAFTRA #union workers striking basically fall into a predictable pattern:
a) They think actors and writers are a lot better off than most of them are;
b) They have made careers in an industry without any union protection, and somehow think this makes them virtuous;
c) They have no goddamn clue whatsoever how badly they themselves are being exploited.
You know, I'll admit that prior to being laid off in 2022 I might have fallen into that camp; it wasn't until I realized how disposable I was to these billionaires that I started seeing how necessary unions might be.
Story time: I was one of the fools who bought Robert Kiyosaki's books about getting rich. When watching one of his training videos about his game (it's very informative, BTW), one of the bad cards in the game was "Downsized". Meaning you were fired and lost income for two turns.
Downsized, I thought... what an interesting word 🤔
And that should tell us all about it. Workers aren't getting fired because we're inadequate or because we screwed up at work. No, those were the old times, when having a job was supposed to be perpetual and it was the company's obligations with society to provide you with a job.
Not anymore. The moment the company desires, you're getting downsized and good luck on your own.
Our grandparents never got to see this. They need to understand that you can get fired at any moment because the company's owner fucking wants to. This is one of the rules of today's world. This fact alone should tell us that we need a safety net for society, because corporations don't give a shit about us anymore.
Grandpa won't understand that. He still believes that if you work hard you get paid well and ascend the corporate ladder. It doesn't work like that anymore, gramps. We've come back to the time of robber barons, key-locked factories and whip-equipped foremen.
It's time to unite once again and declare strike.
Peter Cohen
tombert
Cyber Yuki