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Major US corporations threaten to return labor to ‘law of the jungle’ (www.theguardian.com)
submitted 8 months ago by return2ozma@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world
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[-] Nobody@lemmy.world 124 points 8 months ago

If you want to see a resurgent left in America, please strike down the NLRB. Take away the one avenue of redress that labor still has.

It won’t happen that day. It won’t happen that year. But that decision will lead to blood on the streets.

As MLK taught, riots are the inevitable result of voices going unheard.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 44 points 8 months ago

I think it might happen quicker and I hope it does. Modern communications allow for the whole country to hear what Shawn Fain's shirt sais shortly after he steps outside. And the police has grown out of the custom to shoot striking or protesting workers.

[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 38 points 8 months ago

And the police has grown out of the custom to shoot striking or protesting workers.

I mean, it's not like they aren't itching to start again.

[-] Nobody@lemmy.world 12 points 8 months ago

Fain should run for president in 2028.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 8 points 8 months ago

Unionize Tesla first. I need to to have this Musk schadenfreude in my life.

[-] go_go_gadget@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Establishment is going to run Hillary again. Even if Biden wins 2024 he isn't going to accomplish anything that's going to make people feel like things are heading in the right direction. The rail union contract is expiring at the end of this year meaning Biden will call to block the rail strike again in 2025. 2028 is gonna be a mess.

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[-] karashta@kbin.melroy.org 89 points 8 months ago

"The law of the jungle".

So they must mean the one where we work cooperatively together to survive, since banding together has been the thing that kept us alive the most?

Or do they mean the "law" where we band together and purposefully exterminate entities like them which threaten our survival?

[-] Diplomjodler@feddit.de 33 points 8 months ago

They mean the "law" where they're the predators and we are the prey.

[-] Eezyville@sh.itjust.works 12 points 7 months ago

I think they meant the one where they sic'd the police on us if we got out of line.

[-] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

Oh, literal class war. We’ll bring our guns.

[-] Zehzin@lemmy.world 83 points 8 months ago

You mean the time where militant unions literally picked up arms to guarantee their rights? Sure let's see where this thought goes

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[-] pennomi@lemmy.world 51 points 8 months ago

I highly doubt that the rich would enjoy the law of the jungle.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

When the law of the jungle allows them to sit in their well-stocked bunkers guarded by an armed security force and possibly even drones, they can enjoy it for a significant amount of time.

[-] blanketswithsmallpox@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

Good, let them never come back out lol.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 43 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I don't see how this will end well for the corpos, should they succeed. It would allow them to further repress worker organization and wages, making a buck in the short term, but workers can organize, strike and shutdown businesses without the NLRB. Making life more painful for them would encourage them to act more not less. Sure it would be tougher but the extra hurt might just make them. For many this isn't a case where there's meat left on the bone to cut. Also modern communication might make these efforts easier than they used to be in the last century.

[-] DarkMessiah@lemmy.world 43 points 8 months ago

That’s the thing, though. Corporations are all about the short game. They don’t give two shits if a cost-saving measure now will end up costing them triple that next year. They don’t care if breaking environmental laws, disposal laws, safety laws, or even labour laws will give them fines in the billions later, so long as they can save millions now.

The corporation as a concept desperately needs to be overhauled if it’s going to survive at all. Problem is: it has massive momentum being as it is, and the entire business environment around the world is extremely hostile to that sort of change. So, effectively, the corpos are gonna push and push and push until something snaps. They just can’t conceive of another way to be.

When something does snap, people are going to die, by violence or negligence or nature saying NO. Then, maybe, we’ll be able to change things.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 13 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I agree and don't doubt the corpos gonna corp. I'm only unsure whether the courts are going to go along with them.

It's not even necessarily gonna cost them triple down the road, assuming no total economic collapse, which isn't impossible. The major shareholders offload their shares in the corpos they've brought to the brink before the losses hit and move on to the next one. The smaller fish and the corpo's workers are typically left holding the bag. To be honest I don't think the American publicity traded LLC will survive without strong unions. It either needs strong unions to counterbalance the major shareholders self-destructive profit maximizing, or things will start breaking as you said and the LLC as we know it would be eliminated.

I think the breaking point is pretty close for some and already here for many at the lower end of the wage scale. I think the last stat on people living paycheck to paycheck was over 50%.

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[-] Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world 8 points 8 months ago

but workers can organize, strike and shutdown businesses without the NLRB

*offer void for rail workers.

[-] idiomaddict@feddit.de 6 points 8 months ago

What are they going to do? It’s skilled work. If we want to pull a South Korea and just arrest a huge number of skilled workers for striking, it won’t go well for us.

[-] avidamoeba@lemmy.ca 5 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

And if you have high unionization rate like Sweden, other unions could join in paralyzing the operation of any corp like what's happening to Tesla there.

I'm really curious what's gonna happen in SK.

[-] natarey@lemmy.world 30 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I've reached such a state of pessimism politically that, reading this article, I came away with the assumption that declaring the NLRB "unconstitutional" is basically a fait accompli at this point, and there's very little anyone can do about it.

My schematic for interpreting the news has become, "Imagine the worst case scenario. Make the impact 10% less severe. Put the stupidest person you've ever met in charge of the solution."

[-] go_go_gadget@lemmy.world 14 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

Labor can't win under these conditions. On the one hand Republicans are chipping away at worker rights and establishment Democrats cut off opportunities for us to fight back legally.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/biden-calls-on-congress-to-block-potential-railroad-strike

The cognitive dissonance people seem to have about how much damage the Republicans are doing while defending Democrats who prevent us from fighting back when we can is crazy. This is a class war. If we're not willing to take any risks we lose.

[-] natarey@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I mean, taking risks sounds great and all, but what specific, actionable things could someone do -- even if they're risky -- to thwart collusion between an unelected supreme court and these massively powerful corporate actors to further curtail my civil rights?

[-] disheveledWallaby@lemmy.ml 13 points 7 months ago

Country wide general strike. Tank the stock market by withholding the engine of commerce. Demand to reforge our democracy and if needed eat the rich.

[-] ShepherdPie@midwest.social 2 points 7 months ago

How realistic is that, though? If you were around for Occupy Wallstreet, the media quickly painted the movement as a bunch of kooks, crackpots, and criminals simply by focusing on the few nutty people in the crowd and it died not long after.

What we need is leverage against these two bloated, entrenched parties who don't need to do anything for us to win our vote because they'll get it anyway.

[-] Crikeste@lemm.ee 4 points 7 months ago

Shawn Fain is (or was) trying to get unions on board for an annual general strike in the coming years. I doubt it will succeed, but there is at least an idea!

[-] go_go_gadget@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

For one thing people could have held demonstrations prior to the midterms demanding Democrat senators and Biden vow to not block the rail strike. A contract which expires this year by the way. If the rail workers attempt to strike Biden and Democrat senators will block it again.

[-] Dead_or_Alive@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

Declaring the NLRB unconstitutional works both ways.

Corporations have stacked the deck when it comes to the current rules and regulations surrounding Unions. Disbanding the NLRB gives corporations even more power, but Unions will also be unchained. The government is going to have a lot less say in how strikes are executed and how unions are formed. States that outlaw or attempt to clamp down on labor are going to see much more unionized political activism than they see now.

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[-] ComradePorkRoll@lemmy.world 22 points 8 months ago

Are you sick and tired of corporations trying to all-but-enslave you to your job? Become a a Wobbly and fight back.

[-] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 11 points 8 months ago

Everyone get your wooden shoes ready.

[-] squidman@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Excellent! I -- I mean, too bad.

[-] Mediocre_Bard@lemmy.world 10 points 7 months ago

Don't worry, you can still beat the shit out of some corpo fuck. - a teamster in good standing.

[-] Olhonestjim@lemmy.world 9 points 7 months ago

You're in the jungle baby. You're gonna die!

[-] dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 7 months ago

Just like the good ol days right? Where exploited workers would straight up beat their boss to death if they were abused.

[-] Facebones@reddthat.com 5 points 7 months ago

"Calling us out for breaking the law is unconstitutional"

[-] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 4 points 7 months ago

I’ve read this before.

[-] harderian729@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

Work for yourself.

In any way you can, avoid contributing to the system.

[-] TheCoralReefsAreDying69@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

I've thought about it. It's a lot harder to pull off when rent is $1500 a month.

[-] moitoi@feddit.de 1 points 8 months ago

The US needs a revision of the entire constitution. But, it will not happen soon if it happens at all as they created a cult around it.

[-] deadbeef79000@lemmy.nz 12 points 8 months ago

It's as if it needs amending, with some sort of amendment.

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this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2024
355 points (98.4% liked)

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