Hi Fediverse! We're a collective of international workers at Red Hat organizing for fair working conditions.
We'll be using this platform to discuss a range of issues in our industry, strengthen solidarity between tech workers, and dispel myths when it comes to unionizing.
#TraderJoes United, the independent labor union for Trader Joe's employees, is currently not calling for a boycott in response to management's attack on the constitutionality of the #NLRB (National Labor Relations Board).
Right now they are "asking folks to support Trader Joe’s United by signing on in solidarity and letting us know you’ll stand with us if we call for a customer strike!"
Your periodical reminder that all clothing is hand made by humans, usually underpaid!
Polyester doesn't breathe and sheds microplastics when manufactured, worn and washed!
Cotton farming takes immense amounts of water and pesticides!
Viscose can be made from recycled fibres & waste cellulose, but it's a fairly toxic process!
Linen is more ecological to grow but expensive!
America's return-to-office has been a "lagging return," reports the Washington Post: Even with millions of workers across the country being asked to return to their cubicles, office occupancy has been relatively static for the past year. The country's top 10 metropolitan areas averaged 47.2 percent...
The US Department of the Treasury just released a comprehensive new report about labor relations and the middle class that affirms what the workers have been screaming out for at least 150 years no…
Just because I was thinking about it - you do know every single piece of clothing you wear was made by human hands, right?
Currently there exists only a handful of garment manufacture processes that can be done by robots, and very few that it's not cheaper to have some underprivileged human do it instead.
Every single stitch that puts together one fabric piece to another, though? Put there by a human with human hands, every time. We should pay them!
When Red Hat was a smaller corporation, it was common to see the following quote — attributed to Mahatma Gandhi — used internally and in external marketing:
"First they ignore you.
Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you.
Then you win."
Interestingly, this quote didn't originate from Gandhi at all. It originated from Nicholas Klein, a trade union activist addressing the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America.
Today is Labor Day for our American colleagues, and it's a perfect occasion to discuss reasons for unionization.
Some facts:
Workers' productivity has steadily grown in the past 45 years, yet their pay hasn't kept up with this increase. The workers generate more profits each year, but these profits do not return to workers proportionally to their productivity levels.
Did you already know every single garment you wear (with the possible exceptions of socks and some machine knit tops) was made by human hands, by a human? Somebody sat in what was likely a grim or bland factory and made that thing. Unless you made that thing yourself!
In which case you also know what a fucking hassle it is to hem a button up shirt nicely when the button placket is even a little bit thick, fuck.
Pay humans more to sew!
Restaurants in America are in crisis because they can't hire and retain qualified workers. To stave off oblivion, restaurateurs are exploring options like replacing tipping with mandatory service fees, reducing waitstaff in favor of counter ordering, and dynamic pricing, where you pay more or less according to demand. Business Insider's food reporter Corey Mintz delves into the issues, concluding: "The fundamental problem is that restaurants have long mistreated their workers. So when many veteran employees had a chance to get out of the industry during the pandemic, they did." Which of these solutions would you be prepared to swallow?
Q. if you are unable to legally strike, how close have we come to some #publicsector workers being press-ganged into service?
If you are forced to work (given that having no job/being sacked would under current benefit arrangements be severely detrimental to wellbeing) then its no wonder it might be against those aspects of #internationallaw related to #workersrights.
But I guess the #Tories will see this as breaking Int.Law in a 'limited & specific way'!
Any Texan, in particular, can cast propaganda aside and simply look around to see that our state is built, maintained, and improved every day by unauthorized workers.
Workers are Resisting Calls to Return to Offices - Slashdot (it.slashdot.org)
America's return-to-office has been a "lagging return," reports the Washington Post: Even with millions of workers across the country being asked to return to their cubicles, office occupancy has been relatively static for the past year. The country's top 10 metropolitan areas averaged 47.2 percent...
New US Treasury report confirms that unions are good for everybody (boingboing.net)
The US Department of the Treasury just released a comprehensive new report about labor relations and the middle class that affirms what the workers have been screaming out for at least 150 years no…