The McJob: Corporate Hobos Manufacturing Needy Degenerates
September 6, 2004
Today is Labour Day. While the labour movement across North America gets together for traditional Labour Day picnics and barbeques to celebrate, there actually is not much to be festive about.
In Europe and North America, today's labour movement is a far cry from the movement of days gone by. Many of the tactics that unions used to stand up for their members and potential future members have been outlawed by governments in bed with corporations. Outlawed labour tactics in much of North America include boycotts, compulsory union membership, constraints on anti-scabbing actions and even strikes -- the most powerful tool at union has.
This year the Canadian Labour Congress in a survey found that worker's salaries had barely increased (less than 1%) from the year before, yet the cost of consumer goods increased anywhere from 1% to 3% a month! This is by no means a new process -- this has been happening for several decades now. However, it has been happening so slowly that every year only those at the full-blown bottom of the socioeconomic food chain feel the impacts of this process. No bloody wonder the rich and getting richer and the poor are getting poorer -- the rich are charging more for their products and paying what amounts to less to their employees, while the regular employed person has to spend more on goods on a salary that is supposed to stretch farther than ever before. This is not a process that can continue.
With the consumer price index, the minimum wage anywhere in North America, is more difficult to live on today than it was 30 years ago. This is outrageous. The McJobs that we see at retails outlets and at fast-food restaurants are just not doing it for people. As a matter of fact, while the minimum wage job seems to pay, it is actually costing society even more money than it brings in. Enter the societal and government subsidization of corporate welfare bums.
Since it is impossible to subsist independently on a minimum wage job, people working those jobs are forced to be dependent on other sources of income to subsist. Since many minimum wage earners are young, they are often subsidized by their parents. Since when should parents be forced to subsidize the minimalist wages of fast food or retail giants that earn hundreds of millions of dollars in profits every year? Parents, as well as spouses, partners and friends, are in essence subsidizing the multi-million dollar profits of companies like Burger King, McDonalds, Wal-mart, Zellers and so forth.
This does not only make it more difficult for minimum wage workers to be independent, it forces them to stay in relationships that are not necessarily to their benefit -- for example a woman is more likely to stay in an abusive relationship if she has to depend on her partner for subsistence. The minimum wage job makes achieving an education and enjoying life all the more difficult.
Beyond just the forced dependence and strain on relationships that minimum wage jobs create, everyone in society pays for the minimum wage earner. Where government services are offered, individuals who earn minimum wages are more likely to use them. As a matter of fact, a recent study out of Berkley found that thanks to government services paid for by you, the taxpayer, companies like Wal-mart and A&W are saving millions in benefits that they do not have to pay out. So services that would normally be covered by a health plan (that companies like Wal-mart or Subway can afford to pay) are being covered by you because a company already earning millions of dollars would like to maximize its profits even more. That is nothing but pure greed.
Something must be done to minimize and reverse this trend. If nothing is done, within our lifetimes we will see the middle class of Canada and the US dissolve into just the upper and lower classes. In order to spend money, people must earn money. In order to live decent lives beyond the bare minimum, people must earn decent wages that can afford to purchase goods at decent prices. Today's society is steadily moving away from the idea of decent lifestyles in the interest of a gluttonous profit-hungry corporate elite.
Enter the need for better unions and/or better governments that put working people first. While the average union worker today earns about $5 more than the average non-union worker, within the same jobs unionized employees only earn about 1% more than non-unionized employees according to a recent study at UC Berkley. As a matter of fact, unions are today bowing to the corporate demand for profits and agreeing to have their wages slashed. Today, more than ever, we need governments that will stand up for working people, and unions that will do that same. Yet neither of these seem to be visible on today's horizon.
Working people, unions and governments may not realize it, but they are being pillaged and taken advantage of by profit-seeking establishments. To start changing this today, we/unions/governments cannot return to our roots because today's world is not the same as the one of the past. New methods and tactics must be taken into use. Civil disobedience may be one step, but an even bigger step will be bringing awareness of this to those saturated by the corporate media -- after all knowledge is power. This is not something that should wait, educating people and working to change this must be started today, otherwise we will all face a much tougher future.