Robert Reich

Nurses went on strike.

Then graduate students.

Then school teachers.

Now it’s hotel employees, writers, and actors.

UPS drivers and auto workers may be next.

Many strikes, similar story:

Workers are sick and tired of billionaires and corporations hoarding wealth and power.

Jul 21, 2023 at 4:06pmWeb
Show threadAutisticMumTo3Jul 21, 2023
@rbreich
Over here in the UK its also the govt's treatment of public service workers such as NHS staff, teachers, etc.
Show threadAutisticMumTo3Jul 21, 2023
@rbreich
We have a govt of the rich for the rich.
Show threadM-Democrats-BLMJul 22, 2023
@AutisticMumTo3 @rbreich America is sadly the same.
Show threadAutisticMumTo3Jul 22, 2023
@DemMimiBLM @rbreich
Yep
Show threadStewartvmJul 21, 2023
@rbreich I don't give a damn about the billionaires and millionaires. The problem is the government that doesn't tax them, doesn't protect their workers, doesn't hold them accountable for environmental damage. A government for hire.
Show threadHolly Jahangiri 🌻🖋️Jul 21, 2023
@stewartvm @rbreich indeed. Or hold them accountable for any wrongdoing at all. Or enforce antitrust laws to encourage the kind of economic competition they claim to be in favor of, or... yeah. All that and more.
Show threadEkinnajay 🇧🇻Jul 22, 2023
@stewartvm @rbreich they've purchased the govt. You only have to look at the gifts or congress people, and Supreme Court, get to see three influence they wield. They even get to vote twice. We don't need mega millionaires or billionaires, and yes, the ones we have, and the corporations they represent, all need to be taxed, and at an even higher level than regular folk.
Show threadanitavondannenJul 21, 2023
@rbreich it’s still not enough. Nothing’s going to change until the #generalstrike
Show threadMaureen LycaonJul 21, 2023
@anitavondannen @rbreich We appear to be working up to that.
Show threadanitavondannenJul 21, 2023
@MaureenLycaon @rbreich I dearly hope so.
Show threadThaiis Thei 𓁟Jul 21, 2023
@rbreich Working your way up to a general strike...
Show threadSkepticJul 21, 2023
@rbreich
It doesn't seem that long ago that CEOs said their workers were their greatest asset. Now it seems that CEOs only care about their shareholders and stock options, while forgetting who built their business.
Show threadStu Duerson, machina exo deusJul 21, 2023

@rbreich

Raising workers' wages is only half the answer.
This will sound mean and vindictive, but it's the truth.
Management and owners will just raise the price of goods, to maintain profits. The skimming done by the top salaries directly, and stock buybacks indirectly, will still increase the wealth of the top tier. The cake needs to be sliced differently, with the aid of legislation, taxation and social education.

Eat the rich.

Being a billionaire needs to be so bounded that any wealth beyond a limit gets plowed back directly into society. 100% taxation. If one thousand times one million dollars is not enough for one person, that person needs to find a different planet...lookin' at you, Elon!

Show threadHis Churlessness HimselfJul 21, 2023
@rbreich Any fines for the elite are simply business expense. Not until some or most suffer real consequences will we start to rollback their incessant profiteering.
Show threadWndlBJul 21, 2023
@rbreich Wouldn't it be nice to have an actual Labor Secretary? #ThanksRepublicans
Show threadRosae Crux: Angra MainyuJul 21, 2023
@rbreich
Maybe, the power of unions is gutted enough, and maybe those strikes need to be in parallel, and maybe one needs more people enabling our everyday life.
But before people change something, they rather send their children back to work and gut their protections too.
Show threadAT-AT Assault 🏳️‍⚧️Jul 21, 2023

@rbreich

And the people lucky enough to be in the middle class will bitch about all their creature comforts being interrupted. And the people in the working class who fawn over those middle class people, will take that as gospel and turn on those of their own class striking for better pay for all.

Show thread🥥 Tucker Carlson's Nuts 🥥Jul 21, 2023
@rbreich
🥥 Eye just stopped by to append the hashtag, #GeneralStrike to this toot from the eminent economist Dr. #RobertReich.
In the meantime, I'm purchasing stock in #pitchfork, #torch, and #tumbril companies just in case. 🥥
Show threadReginarJul 21, 2023
@rbreich coincidence! I just organised cobalt mine for hoarders destressing.
Show threadWalkingthetallkingJul 21, 2023
@rbreich damn right. And we're sick of them trying to divide us with their personal media empires and bought super PACs and funded social media influencers.
Show threadM-Democrats-BLMJul 22, 2023
@rbreich also they are standing in line when it comes to passing out Grants & PPP or any other money they don’t have to repay. Red States give out quite a of money I was not aware of. Not announced much except among the themselves. I’m wondering what % grant $ goes to Republican businesses v Democrats businesses. Web pages change a little to fast for many people to see. Tn.gov Agricultural & many more Tn.gov Grants
Show threadM8_dJul 22, 2023
@rbreich grocery stores, shipping and delivery, warehouses, airlines, truckers, drivers, keep going...the best are big techs or b..ks, hh
Show threadJohnWJul 22, 2023

@rbreich

This may eventually turn into a general strike just due to the momentum.

Show threaddeath knoxxxJul 22, 2023
@rbreich it’s time to stand up and do something… that’s exactly what we did to england in the day!!! and they say history has a way of repeating itself.
Show threadLee 🌏Jul 22, 2023
@rbreich
Everyone needs to join a Union
Show threadJoanna CzechowskaJul 22, 2023
@MrLee @rbreich Including a European Union.
Show threadSbhinclusionJul 22, 2023
@rbreich #Canada anecdote-Fed Ex and Purolator in #Saskatchewan drop off packages at small town businesses for rural customers to pick up- there is no compensation to the local grocery store or insurance agency who hold, store and distribute the packages. Fed Ex and Purolator rely on these charitable contributions or the alternative is rural customers have no access to consumer products unless they drive 1+ hours to a city.
Show threadMallisqoJul 22, 2023
@rbreich and Republicans probably tell MAGAts that “this would never happen under Trump because he’d crush these unions” with none of them getting the tragedy that they too would be crushed.
Show threadHanover FisteJul 25, 2023
@rbreich when do the torches and pitchforks come out? When will Marie Antoinette be taken out? When will the people who actually work for a living be treated fairly? When will the teachings of Christ not be perverted by hypocrites? When will the world become a place where humanity is the norm and not the exception?
Show thread🗺 etc.Jul 26, 2023
@rbreich Yet, it's the consumers who keep giving corporations & billionaires wealth & power AND it'll also be the consumers who suffer from the effects of said strikes. #makeitmakesense
Show threadAdrian MoralesSep 16, 2023
@rbreich You called it.