To Check Power of Greedy Bosses, Workers Need to Bargain in New Ways

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http://www.alternet.org/labor/check-power-greedy-bosses-workers-need-bargain-new-ways



ork looks a lot different today than it did 100, 50, or even 10 years ago: It’s faster, it’s automated, and it’s complex. We used to pin these shifts on globalization; now we’re tying everything to the rise of an on-demand sharing economy. And while it may seem like progress in terms of how quickly and cheaply we can get things, we can’t forget that it’s happening at the expense of regular people and their ability to work full time and earn a decent living.

That’s because, for far too long, greedy CEOs have held all of the power, giving those of us doing the work very little room to make our voices heard. Corporate interests have been on a decades-long bender to depress wages, benefits and job standards, trapping you and me and other everyday people in an economy that’s completely out of balance for the benefit of a wealthy few. In fact, half of the world’s wealth is now controlled by the top 1 percent of the super rich.

The rest of us are just trying to keep up. But despite all of the concentrated wealth at the top, the so-called trickle down just isn’t making its way into our pockets. We’re not seeing the family-supporting jobs that offer enough of us the freedom to live a dignified life and provide for our loved ones. Mothers find themselves hustling between three jobs and still having to put back items they can’t afford at the grocery store. Fathers can’t help save for their children’s education because they’re drowning in their own student debt. Across the board, most bosses are looking out for their own bottom line, not ours.

At the heart of this struggle is the reality that we’re no longer working in traditional, family-sustaining careers. As the way we work continues to change in this country, isn’t it time that the rules and standards governing our workplaces do too?