this post was submitted on 18 Mar 2025
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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That "never" is a pretty big claim. You could just as easily argue that since workers are competing against each other for the same jobs, they would "never" form together into unions, or choose to go on strike in solidarity with others instead of scabbing for an individual pay raise. Class consciousness works both ways, just as workers can benefit more from working together with each other, so too can companies. This is especially true in cases of monopolization (or near-monopolozation), when there are only a handful of companies that would have to coordinate.
Wages are not just determined by the value a worker contributes to the company but also by the power that the company and the workers hold relative to each other. If this were not the case, then there's be no reason to have unions at all.
Even if the most skilled/desired candidates are able to shop around, there will also always be less skilled/desired candidates who don't have the same individual bargaining power.
The idea that you're suggesting is called union busting. It only works in USA and very few sectors in Europe where sector agreements are not mandatory by law.
I'd argue that it also doesn't work in USA, since the companies end up spending more money on avoiding an agreement than what they'd save on salaries. They also waste a lot of time and resources on the individual bargaining, which provides no value for neither the company or the employee.
If the employers pay people more to not join a union, the union might even say: "Mission achieved without a fight. See ya'll next time inflation catches up."