Comments | ontd_political: We want to create jobs, just not in the US. Stimulus money, plz?

homasse in ontd_political

We want to create jobs, just not in the US. Stimulus money, plz?

Mar 30, 2009 10:43

IBM draws criticism for job cuts, outsourcing(CNN) -- IBM's reported plans to lay off thousands of U.S. workers and outsource many of those jobs to India, even as the company angles for billions in stimulus money, doesn't sit well with employee rights advocates ( Read more... )

jobs

Comments 42

syndicalist March 30 2009, 02:17:40 UTC

Kidnap some of their fucking executives like the French workers have enough balls to do! :)

screamingintune March 30 2009, 08:05:42 UTC

the French know how to get some labor rights, yo. Don't mess with those people's benefits.

syndicalist March 30 2009, 08:19:54 UTC

Even the cops in France side with the workers: This is in an AFP report on the French workers who kidnapped their boss in his office:

"In neither case did police intervene to free the managers, in a tacit recognition that such radical tactics were part of negotiations and that no harm would come to the bosses."

WOW!!! :))

Article here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jIIM90WyRdtmDowkRXClzkxsM7Xg

screamingintune March 30 2009, 08:31:31 UTC

Damn. That's crazy. I know that when I saw Sicko and they were discussing the benefits the French GE workers get, I was just... blown away. I really do believe we need better labor laws in this country, and those labor laws need to actually be enforced. It would be nice to have at least a couple paid sick days off per year. I don't have that right now. If I'm sick and stay home, I don't get paid. And that sucks.

Thread 7

simply_blah March 30 2009, 02:22:21 UTC

How could it possibly stimulate our economy if more people are without jobs?

They shouldn't get a single cent.

Bastards.

txvoodoo March 30 2009, 02:32:44 UTC

And once again, The West Wing predicts real life.

shizumaslover March 30 2009, 02:36:09 UTC

My dad's a high level manager at IBM, two years from retirement, and he's terrified of losing his job. His accounts have been steadily taken away from him and sent overseas, and he's been forced to fire about half his employees. Two weeks ago he was given a Disney account, only to be told they were sending it somewhere else instead and that he'd have to fire three more people.

They've also been slowly cutting out retirement benefits. And just recently decided to stop compensating workers for being on-call. And are trying to force people out by threatening to have them transferred out of state. None of which helps morale in what was already a really high stress job. (I'll never forget my dad's coworker who slit his throat.)

So yeah. I've had issues with that fucking company since I was a little girl. >_>

AND THEY'RE NOT EVEN IN FINANCIAL TROUBLE! IT'S ALL UNNECESSARY.

[/tl;dr childhood-trauma-induced rant]

homasse March 30 2009, 02:39:50 UTC

...somebody slit his throat?!

Holy hell. D:

Is there any way your dad can retire early, because god, it would suck so hard to be fired two years away from retirement.

shizumaslover March 30 2009, 02:47:51 UTC

Yeah. He just took a razor to his throat one morning, and his wife found him on the bathroom floor. He actually survived somehow, but I think he has issues with speech now. Among... you know... other issues, obviously. I was about seven at the time and it freaked me out so bad, because it convinced me my dad would try to kill himself too. (I know he's thought about it.)

If he can hang in for eleven more months he can bridge to retirement and try to find work elsewhere for another year until his full benefits kick in. But to survive eleven more months he might have to move to Iowa, since they've threatened to transfer him.

Fucking IBM. I don't know how they've gotten away with so much shit for so long. This outsourcing to India has been slowly happening for years, but of course the government doesn't give a shit until the economy collapses.

homasse March 30 2009, 02:55:07 UTC

Oh, man. That's horrible.

And yipes. I hope he can hold on for that 11 more months. If they transfer him, hell, let them--they'll have to front moving costs, and he can always move by himself for that one year (I've lived abroad too long, maybe, and that kind of thing is common over here; the husband moves halfway across the country for his job while his family stays where they are) because then he's closer to full benefits and not as badly off.

The whole outsourcing thing has been a disaster. It's like, hey, as long as the companies are turning record profits, everything's OK! ...only it's not, because people losing their jobs means that eventually, everything is going to collapse.

OH WAIT.

Thread 8

luvlorn March 30 2009, 03:59:53 UTC

I fucking hate Idian outsourcing. I get told I'm not "productive enough" because I don't do as many orders at work...because they shipped all the easy orders to fucking India! It doesn't matter how good I do at work, I can't compete with someone who they can get away with paying $2/day.