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Rebecca Schoenkopf's avatar

Man, I read just about this whole post to my mom, including pulling up the PREVIOUSLY so I could detail what the Ford workers are getting.

There's a whole lot of CHEERING in my house right now!

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Crip Dyke's avatar

>> Our economic problems are not caused by poor people asking for too much, they are caused by companies that don’t want to pay their workers enough to participate in the economy on more than a “basic needs” basis. We have done the “austerity for job creators’ sake” model for enough years now that we know it doesn’t work and we know it doesn’t actually keep these companies from raising prices. <<

1. Women are famously more reluctant to negotiate for higher wages on being hired and to ask for a raise during review periods. This has been shown in the data of methodologically strong studies to contribute to decreased wages generally and to the gender wage gap.

2. Anecdote, not data, but... When my anti-violence shelter went to large granting orgs who supported us and asked why they didn't support a higher overall salary that could pay salaries more consistent with living wages and the need to pay back student loans the granting agencies said... "We assumed you were asking for living wages. If you need more, ask for more."

3. There is no reason to expect that what resulted in decreased wages for women and non-profit employees will suddenly maximize wages for unionized auto workers.

4. The UAW is doing the right thing, and anyone criticizing them for asking for higher wages doesn't know the research, hasn't been paying attention to the anecdotes, and fails to understand the entire frickin' purpose of a union.

5. Sing along with me:

"Now, you gals who want to be free,

You gotta take a little tip from me

Get you a raise from a union strike

and fight together for another hike

cause a worker's life ain't hard

if you got a union card

Oh, you can't scare me, I'm sticking to the union

I'm sticking to the union till the day I die"

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