Well, except for that top 1% of Aristocrat scum living on the top by living off all the rest.
There are 6 billion ++ people in the world who need clothing, food, clean water, sewage, transportation, housing, education for their young, care for their elderly, healthcare, retraining when their jobs go obsolete, vacation ... everyone should be able to see the Great Wall of China and the Grand Canyon in their lives. There is more work to do for all of us than time to do it in.
There are not enough resources for everyone to have their own 400 foot yachts, 10 servants and 20 room mansions (um... do the math). However, we should be smart enough to get everyone working so that everyone can get what they need, and even some of what they want.
Earth is a factory, let’s make it work it efficiently so we all have free time and we all have opportunity. We need a hard working, honest public sector, and we need a non exploitive, vibrant private sector.
I don't have a new nirvana-ism to save us. I know that the goody two shoes isms fail cuz they rely on people being what they are NOT - selfless. Typically when people are selfless, it is actually in their self interest. Chew on that one. Too much selfishness typically costs more than some selflessness - and since we're all too busy watching "I have a Dream" and sobbing into our Kleenexes, we don't know how to cost out our selflessness or selfishness, never mind balance them out. Until someone figures out the cost nirvana-ism, we need to make stuff work for us in the here and now.
We need fair work rules that apply to everyone everywhere - otherwise we end up with what we have now - work rules which benefit the pigs at the top.
Which Side Are You On - Natalie
I think competition is fine. Fair competition can bring out the best in us. If someone invents a google or a warp drive or a penicillin caliber drug, I’ve got no problem that person earning enough to cash out and sit on a beach forever, sipping gin and tonics.
However, competition without fair rules is NOT fair competition. When the competition is structured so we all break our butts for the benefit of the pigs at the top, then the best doormat, the best boot licker, the best butt wipe, the best sycophant and the best back stabbers are the best compensated, we end up with the crap we have today.
When the people with money make the workers' rules about competition, the competition benefits those with the money. The winners of the daily foot races of productivity get false promises and the senior management pockets the surplus. For every inventor of a google or penicillin who gets their deserved rewards, there are how many of those from money - the trumps, gates, hiltons, bushes ... who are ushered into all the right doors with all the right opportunities, and who rarely invent the google, the pencillin, the wheel or reinvent the mouse trap, but who have the re$ource$ do spend their time staying in charge of all us?
My work rules for working hours need to apply to all the globe's working people. From what I've seen in the last 4 decades of my 50 years, unless you have enough interest income and or dividend income to live on, you're a worker. Managers are workers, it is just rare that they are useful managers or useful workers. From what I've seen, most senior managers are most focused with rigging the system to take a undeserved huge cut of the pie before anyone else gets a fair share of the pie, even though it takes EVERYONES' work to make the pie. Most senior managers are senior so that they can be on top, first in line, TAKING a chunk of the communities' wealth they do NOT deserve.
Earth is a factory, grow up and get over it. Let’s make Factory Earth work efficiently so we all have free time and we all have opportunity and our factory is nice place to work and a nice place to live. We need a hard working, honest public sector, and we need a non exploitive, vibrant private sector. All the globe's citizens need good rules about working hours so that we have the energy to do more in our community than work ourselves into the grave. Having more energy after work means we can be better family members and better parents and better community members.
We need fair work rules that apply to everyone everywhere.
+++++AN INITIAL DRAFT OF GLOBAL WORK RULES FOR FULL TIME WORK:
- overtime is 1.5 times your hourly rate.
- 2 breaks at 15 mins. each, paid.
- lunch at least 30 mins.
- overtime starts after 8 hours of work.
- If you show up when you are supposed to, you are owed at least 4 hours of pay.
- your work days must be contiguous.
- your days off must be contiguous.
- overtime starts after 40 hours in a work week.
- a work week is 7 days in a row, and an organization can only change its work week once every 5 years.
- your contiguous days of work can't change without a 1 month notice.
- the scheduled time of your start can't vary by more than 2 hours in any 6 week interval.
- if the scheduled time of your start will change by more than 2 hours, you get 1 month notice.
- your next shift can't start before 10 hours after the end of the shift you're working.
- overtime hours can be paid as comp time at 1.5 times your hourly rate by mutual agreement ONLY.
- 10 paid holidays a year.
- 10 personal / sick days a year, no use it or lose it, bankable to 50 days.
- 15 days vacation a year, no changes to agreed vacation time off 3 months before the time off.
- salary workers work max 40 hours a week, then overtime rules start.
- any owner or combination of owners can't have more than 20% of their workers be part time.
- ALL workers defined as management get a proportional share of ALL Exec office stock options, bonuses, company housing, company transportation, Any and ALL non paycheck perks ...
- employer pays to retraining fund for layoffs, the fund is NOT controlled by employers or any owners of the enterprise.
- employees earns 2 months retraining at last hourly rate per year of service, benefits available after 5 years continuous employment.
- managers who use firing to avoid layoffs get 10 years in prison, NO parole.
- managers who abuse the rules above get 10 years in prison, NO parole.
- abusive managers will be tried and prosecuted from funds collected from employers and paid into a fund dedicated to pay for abusive manager prosecution.
+++++ END OF LIST FOR NOW.
I don't know what to do about part time work.
If anyone has some PRECISE suggestions, please chime in!
I've been paid by the case of fish processed, by the weight of the catch, by the hour, by the day, by the month, by the stock market - I've broken almost every rule above trying to take the job of some broken down 35, 45 or 55 year old.
I'm in my 6th year of being in the Seattle teacher's union. I think it is a complete DISGRACE that ALL unions haven't fought for better working hours for EVERYONE. When you ONLY fight for YOUR union instead of ALL working stiffs, then why should ALL working stiffs fight for you?
We can either all work under reasonable rules, or we can all continue working the races to the bottom so the pigs on top can stay on top and stay pigs.
Which Side Are You On - Florence