The Working Class VS. Corporations
The following is something I wrote as a make-up for a missed assignment in my Labor Unions class. I thought I might share it with you all since it is a perspective unique to the mainstream. I hope you enjoy the article.
West Coat Dock Workers
I read through an article online about the West Coast dock workers dispute in 2002 as a background and then compared it to what is happening in more recent times. It seems things have calmed down a lot, now that workers are being paid such high wages. In the San Francisco news website, I discovered an article about the West Coast dock workers, written in 2008. It proposes a ‘what if’ the negotiations are terrible and the workers go on strike again. This would have an even worse effect on the already stifled global economy. It would also create a domino effect on companies. Once the factory runs out of parts, the factory it supplies cannot function and so on.
Another point of view presented is that the awards the workers got for their strike (six figure salaries, etc.) were justified and that the working class deserved these wages. This would be reminiscent of the time when GM jobs paid very well and everyone in the middle class had an abundance of things. The article called it the working class royalty.
This really makes me consider where I stand in terms of corporations vs. workers. This class has been about taking an unbiased standpoint and ruling based upon law. But what about the morality of it all? Whose side should I be on, the worker or the corporation? On one hand, my business schooling would say root for the corporation. I’m an entrepreneur; I’ll be on that side of the fence someday. Corporations taking risks deserve rewards for their actions. On the other hand, I am the son of a GM laborer. I saw the feeling of riches and wealth slowly erode away over the years, despite the fact that my dad was still working hard and still just as committed.
To solve this problem, I needed to look at it from multiple perspectives, not just those two. I must look at it from the perspective of society as a whole and the direction each path would take everyone; more money for the workers and power to the people, or rewarding corporations for their risk and effort. If we were to award workers handsomely, we would be rewarding them for trading their time for money and being at the mercy of another entity. Rewarding the worker benefits only the worker and where the worker chooses to spend his or her earnings. Now what if we focused on letting corporations keep their profits, what would this be saying about our culture? Well, corporations can only make money if they are creating value for their customers. It makes sense then that money goes to the companies who create the most value the most people want.
It is sad to think that the working class is a dying segment of society, but it only means the birth of something better. I think the difference between the working-class father and the entrepreneurial son is a great metaphor for the dawning of a new era. An era where people take control over their own financial destinies and create value for others based upon their own creative ideas. This will be an era where people break free of the chains of corporate slavery and live their lives free of the 40 hour work week, where income depends on one’s ability to be creative and create value for others. This is the dawning of a new age and the question we must ask ourselves is “Are we ready?”
West Coat Dock Workers
I read through an article online about the West Coast dock workers dispute in 2002 as a background and then compared it to what is happening in more recent times. It seems things have calmed down a lot, now that workers are being paid such high wages. In the San Francisco news website, I discovered an article about the West Coast dock workers, written in 2008. It proposes a ‘what if’ the negotiations are terrible and the workers go on strike again. This would have an even worse effect on the already stifled global economy. It would also create a domino effect on companies. Once the factory runs out of parts, the factory it supplies cannot function and so on.
Another point of view presented is that the awards the workers got for their strike (six figure salaries, etc.) were justified and that the working class deserved these wages. This would be reminiscent of the time when GM jobs paid very well and everyone in the middle class had an abundance of things. The article called it the working class royalty.
This really makes me consider where I stand in terms of corporations vs. workers. This class has been about taking an unbiased standpoint and ruling based upon law. But what about the morality of it all? Whose side should I be on, the worker or the corporation? On one hand, my business schooling would say root for the corporation. I’m an entrepreneur; I’ll be on that side of the fence someday. Corporations taking risks deserve rewards for their actions. On the other hand, I am the son of a GM laborer. I saw the feeling of riches and wealth slowly erode away over the years, despite the fact that my dad was still working hard and still just as committed.
To solve this problem, I needed to look at it from multiple perspectives, not just those two. I must look at it from the perspective of society as a whole and the direction each path would take everyone; more money for the workers and power to the people, or rewarding corporations for their risk and effort. If we were to award workers handsomely, we would be rewarding them for trading their time for money and being at the mercy of another entity. Rewarding the worker benefits only the worker and where the worker chooses to spend his or her earnings. Now what if we focused on letting corporations keep their profits, what would this be saying about our culture? Well, corporations can only make money if they are creating value for their customers. It makes sense then that money goes to the companies who create the most value the most people want.
It is sad to think that the working class is a dying segment of society, but it only means the birth of something better. I think the difference between the working-class father and the entrepreneurial son is a great metaphor for the dawning of a new era. An era where people take control over their own financial destinies and create value for others based upon their own creative ideas. This will be an era where people break free of the chains of corporate slavery and live their lives free of the 40 hour work week, where income depends on one’s ability to be creative and create value for others. This is the dawning of a new age and the question we must ask ourselves is “Are we ready?”