The Secret War Against American Workers

[Hazumu]

By Robert S. Eshelman, Tomdispatch.com. Posted March 21, 2009.

In some cases, under the guise of "recession" pressure, they may be waging a secret war against their own workers, using even the most innocuous transgressions of work-place rules as the trigger for firings -- and so, of course, putting the fear of god into those who remain. In this way, company payrolls are not only being reduced by mass layoffs, but workers are being squeezed for ever greater productivity in return for lower wages, worse hours, and less benefits. The weapon of choice is the specter of unemployment, a kind of death by a thousand (or a million) cuts.

Companies stand to gain a lot these days from such small-scale but decisive actions. After all, they reap a double benefit. Not only do they pare down the size of their payroll, often without needing -- as in Juanita's case -- to consent to unemployment compensation, but they also contribute to a climate of intensifying fear. Workers who remain on the job are now not only on edge about lay-offs or scaled-back hours, but also know that a late return from a bathroom or lunch break might mean being shown the door, becoming another member of the legions of unemployed -- now at 12.5 million and rising fast.

[tekla]

Same as it ever was.  They blame it on the 'recession' but if it wasn't that, they would find another scapegoat.

[gennee]

I remember in the early 1990's when this stuff was going on at the place I worked at the time. I was glad when I did get laid off. About two years ago I met someone who I knew from the place. He informed me that a lot of the people in charge aren't so high and mighty now.

Gennee