(Mohamed Ajaj – Morocco)
In essence, this desire expresses young people wishing to change the concept of the job and the form of the relationship within institutions and companies between the employee and the manager. A large proportion of young Americans are able to cut their lives down to a predetermined career path: go to college with massive loans, graduate, only to find that they end up working for McDonald’s, Amazon, or Walmart. Here, their years pass between paying house rents and paying off loans with minimum salaries.
Let’s take examples of America’s workers. At Starbucks, after achieving its first union victory late last year, two company-owned stores have joined in, while more than 64 company-owned stores from Massachusetts to Tennessee and Arizona are preparing for union elections. In contrast, Amazon employees seem to have a clearer idea of the future of the job under the management of artificial intelligence. In March of last year, internal documents obtained by the investigative news website The Intercept showed that some Amazon management teams were aware of the fact that employees, especially delivery drivers (working on loose contracts, rather than From social security there is health care from Amazon), they used to spend their needs in water bottles and defecate in bags because there was not enough time to enter the bathroom! Their shift schedules are crammed with AI-determined delivery orders due to their sheer number. With Corona’s procedures and people staying at home, delivery requests increased exponentially. Which turned their lives into hell for $15 an hour, and accumulated huge fortunes in the hands of the company’s shareholders. This scene is reflected in the comparisons given to the founder of “Amazon” and its former CEO, Jeff Bezos, as Lex Luthor, the archrival of “Superman”, in an attempt to show what the company is doing with its more than one million workers. Amazon is the second largest company in terms of the number of jobs in the United States, and it has a long history and exploits in exploiting these people until their last breath.
4.5 million workers
It is the number of voluntarily resigning from their jobs in America, according to figures issued to the end of 2021, and these represent about 3% of the workforce.
Although the rate of union affiliation did not change much between 2020 and 2021, according to an opinion poll conducted by Gallup, the approval rate for union affiliation in America approaches its highest level, registering 68% in September 2021, which is the highest percentage. Since 1965, when it reached 71%, its focus is youth. According to Gallup, the age group between 18 and 34 years agrees to join unions at a rate of 77%.
But is it not surprising that there is a negative mood about unions among workers in the first place? In fact, searching for an answer to this question reveals complex and sometimes tragic aspects. In a paper presented by Kerwin K. Charles, Dean of the Yale School of Management. He and his colleagues conclude that part of the problem is caused by China. How is that? Charles says that the rate of union organizing in the United States has fallen sharply over the past four decades, and that this decline accelerated in 2000. Meanwhile, Chinese imports rose in the 1990s and then accelerated in 2000 after China joined the World Trade Organization, which Economists call it the “China shock.” Charles and his team identified two separate mechanisms for this effect. They assume that competition reduces profitability in companies directly exposed to Chinese imports, meaning that potential gains from unions are smaller for workers. In other words, since they are negotiating a smaller pie (because of Chinese competition), the unions will only offer them a very small wage increase so that the companies can compete with China in prices, thus reducing their motivation to join the unions.
Well, this may seem logical, but the issue is more profound. In Charles’s opinion, competition facing manufacturers causes them to reduce overall employment rates and wages in the labor market, making workers more reluctant to join unions because union organizing increases the “risk of job loss” due to companies’ ability to “retaliate” against workers who lead organizational efforts And because successful regulation may lead companies to lay off jobs. Amazon, for example, with the aim of dissuading workers from joining unions last year, in Bessemer, Alabama, launched a campaign calling for warehouse employees to hold anti-union meetings, and pressured the United States Postal Service to install a “private hut” so that workers would feel watched when the process was over. vote, but also changed the timing of local traffic lights to the detriment of labor regulators! It was so scandalous that the judge rejected the results of the vote at the time, and today, the new results of the vote have expired in favor of the formation of a union.
Since the end of the closure and stone measures in America, there has been a wide desire among workers for the union bloc
On the other hand, hints at a report published in the “New York Times” entitled “Do today’s unions have a fighting chance against American companies?” To the bad timing for unions, especially in the private sector, unions have been weak for decades while companies have become stronger. In 2000, the percentage of the labor force within unions was about 13.5%, while it is now only 10.3%. Over the past 20 years, the average revenue of the world’s largest publicly traded companies has tripled, according to a recent study in the Review of Finance. Companies are willing and able to pay for anti-union consultants and lobbyists who influence policy and legislation, allowing for laws to be passed against the interests of the poor and the working class. Hence, Chinese competition cannot really be blamed. These companies only use that hanger to accumulate wealth.
A Labor Victory at Amazon
In one of the biggest worker victories in American labor history, Amazon warehouse workers on Staten Island voted to be represented by the Amazon Workers’ Union, or ALU. Al-Ittihad received 2,654 votes, while 2,131 voted against it. The company issued a statement indicating “disappointment” with the results, and said that it was considering objecting to the results, as it has a five-day objection law. Amazon has a long history that includes 28 years of union violations that began in 1994 with Jeff Bezos founding the company in 1994 as an online bookseller, while Amazon leaders spent a lot of time and money to beat union campaigns and others.
The boundary between work and home is blurring
In an interview published in Scientific American, it was stated that the shift to “remote work” led to the complete breakdown of the boundaries between the workplace and the home. Poorly timed or endless Zoom meetings interfered with people’s ability to get work done, and sometimes hurt relationships with colleagues. The core workers discovered that the employers’ only strategy to cover increased demand was more uncompensated work. After the closure of the leisure and fitness facilities, it became difficult for everyone to relax and recover from the constant fatigue. Because of these changes, workers experienced more stress, became more negative and cynical about the workplace, and felt self-confidence eroded. In contrast, those with comfortable home offices and few parental responsibilities found benefits in working remotely. Being on their own gave them more control with fewer distractions. And the absence of mobility gave people more time and energy while saving them money. People who used to work in unpleasant or hostile workplaces are now free from unpleasant encounters. This situation has taught many people that the job does not have to be the way it was. This realization may be one of the reasons why many are not returning to their old jobs and has led to major resignations.