Twinkies on the brinky (Updated with news that plants will reopen)

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

Right to work: Freedom to contract for oneself as one sees fit.

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

Right to work: free to get abused by corporations without the protection of collective bargaining. That's the reality for most blue-collar workers.

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

Right to work: freedom to take a job that, at $20 an hour, you consider to be a good one even though lots of other folks don't.

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

I wonder, in all seriousness, just how much you know about blue-collar work in right-to-work states. I have plenty of experience working a job that requires me to wash the grease off my hands at the end of the day.

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

Bullshit. I live in a right-to-work state. None of us have had raises for three years because of a corporate mandate, not based on how hard we work or don't work or the quality of that product. My health insurance is ass and I don't get to choose a better form of coverage. I worked as the interim managing editor for 18 1/2 months because someone above me didn't give a shit that I was being overworked. My compensation for the extra work? Two Walmart gift cards for a total of about $800. One of those was to compensate me because I lost vacation days I had earned and the company "didn't want to set an example" by letting me retain them or giving me comp time. (I believe my publisher gave me the second Walmart card as compensation for that lost vacation time out of her own pocket.) I'd love to experience this system you seem to be advocating. It doesn't exist here.

(Sorry, BYM2, I was editing when you replied, [bluefont] but I suppose I need to get over it and be grateful I live in a right-to-work utopia.[/bluefont] )

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

[bluefont] That's your fault for not going in and individually bargaining for a better deal [/bluefont]

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

You are not compelled to work there. I strongly doubt a union would help. Except maybe help itself to dues out of your paycheck.

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

I do this in this Podunkville or I go and make window frames, probably for even less than I make now. That's my reality. What's yours? Because they're apparently completely different. I chose to point that out. And I honestly believe your reality is unique to you while mine is closer to what most people experience in daily life.

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

As hard as this may be for you to believe, your state's "right-to-workness" likely has absolutely nothing to do with why you haven't had a raise in three years. You may believe you have no choice with regards to where you'll sell your labor/skills/expertise -- I'm a journalist, dammit, that is my calling and I must follow it! My readers depend upon me! -- but you do.

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

So proud to see a Zombieland reference on first page. Well played.

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

No, trust me, I've tried. I quit once before and I had trouble finding a job because I found people don't know what to do with someone with a journalism degree. I ended up being a Walmart cashier because I needed money. I went from about $12 an hour to minimum wage. This isn't a metropolis. It's a town in southeast Kansas where the population's been declining since the 1960s and the average salary has declined with it. There's a lot of people working for $8 an hour because they're willing to take it. There's no choice for them.

This job provides me with steady income and some security. It also provides horrible health insurance and I can be fired tomorrow for no reason. It allows me to work within the limitations of my health situation. It forces me to work weekends and sometimes for 28 days in a row. But I also get 24 days of vacation every year and in two years, it'll be 30 days (of which I'll be required to use 10) should I choose to stay that long.

See, there's a tradeoff and in exchange for the good things, I put up with some bullshit. But there is bullshit. Unions have nothing to do with the fact that there is bullshit because they don't exist here. My state's "right-to-workness," as you put it, does not benefit me as much as you would like to pretend it does. The money I may be saving from not having to pay union does gets sucked right back out each time I have to pay full price (about $275) for Symbicort.

Again, my reality differs from yours. I hope you're enjoying yours.

 

Re: Twinkies on the brinky

I don't pretend that the fact that you don't have to pay union dues is some huge net benefit -- that wasn't me who argued that. All I am saying is that your state's "right to workness" doesn't really have an impact on those economic realities that are driving your situation. You're part of a profession that: A) has always been low-paying; and B) is undergoing serious, radical transformation. You practice said profession in an area undergoing protracted population decline. This is certainly counter to the "race to the bottom" metaphor that others have put forth; right to work (RTW) states have enjoyed population growth, not decline. No unionization will EVER do away with these realities. And, in aggregate, those who stay in Kansas to work $8-an-hour jobs choose to do so.

If you have taken away from my arguments that the fact that you live in a RTW state means that all you need to do is negotiate for a better package, I am sorry. That is not at all what I am implying. I locked myself away in the ivory tower a long time ago, but I am not divorced from reality. I am glad that your situation, while far from perfect, is somewhat manageable; would that many of my old friends in journalism could be so fortunate. I am grateful, in fact, that many live in RTW states. This means they have greater freedom/flexibility to find something to do.