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Major US corporations threaten to return labor to ‘law of the jungle’
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 11 Mar 2024
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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I'd like to agree with you, but I'd like to note that the 13th amendment of the US constitution specifically states slavery is allowed as a punishment for a crime.
So all you need to do is manufacture laws which make something common criminal and put heavy sanctions on it.
Like say... draconian drug laws around cannabis, or making abortion carry the same sentences as murder. Criminalising trans healthcare. Three strike laws in which you can sentence someone to prison for life for stealing $14.
https://law.utexas.edu/humanrights/projects/legalized-slavery-in-the-united-states-implemented-through-the-justice-system/
Thats how the US subsidises labour. Enslaved prisoners.
So you can violence your way into efficient human labour without repealing the 13th amendment. Perhaps there's a point at which it won't work anymore, but seems to have worked fine for the past 50-70 years or so
I’d make the argument that slavery provides a higher quantity of workers, but since it’s against the workers’ wills, it is not as efficient (units of work per unit of time).