INCOMING HUGE QUOTE THAT THIS COMMENT REMINDED ME OF:
But first, context. You know if these guys had just refused to work in unsafe conditions they’d be in violation of their contract and get fined. But the people making them work in these conditions get nothing.
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…I think that reveals something about the hidden class dimensions of our public policy; our grocery bills are determined, the policies, determined by people, who themselves never go to supermarkets.
Our health policy is written out y people who never have to sit for 2 hours in a clinic or an hour in a doctors office.
Our transportation policy is made by people who never have to wait for a bus or look for a parking space, they’ve got helicopters and linos to hurry them away.
Our education policy is made by people who never have to send their children to public school, they send them to private schools.(like the governor of my blue state).
Our daycare system, or lack of, determined by people who use private governesses and Nannies, and then go off to Smith College as Barbara Bush did, and lectured to the students there about not being so concerned about accomplishing in your careers and understand that the real joy and satisfaction is in the working and nurturing of children…
… occupational safety laws are made by people who never have to work in a factory or mine. The Supreme Court has ruled that wildcat strikes are illegal, a “violation of contract.” In coal mines , wildcat strikes are the workers only defense against occupational hazards that can be disastrous in a day. You’re going down a mine and you see a foreman detach an alarm wire, that rings the alarm if there’s too much smoke buildup, because he’s got a quota to meet that day and he doesn’t want to stop for smoke buildup, so you stop and go on wildcat strike.
Well, the Supreme Court, none of whom have been NEAR a factory in their lives, or NEAR a mine, and wouldn’t know one end of a mine from another, legislate and say, “as long as there’s a grievance procedure (grievances take a week, two weeks, a month….)That wildcat actions are a “violation of contract and the union must be fined.”
You see? The policy is being made by people who don’t experience the thing.
-Michael Parenti, transcribed by hand from a random speech
ElderWendigo@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
His supervisor and those in charge of writing this policy at Kroger should be charged with manslaughter. In the heat we’ve been dealing with, especially this summer, limiting breaks in which a worker can cool down and hydrate is aggressively cruel and obviously deadly. A worker can’t will themselves to overcome basic thermodynamics. Workers should always feel empowered by support from their direct supervisors to take breaks when they need them, regardless of company policy. I don’t care if some jerk abused the system once, no company’s profit is worth a life.
ConfuzedAZ@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Most legal action will not involve the direct supervisor, and it probably shouldn’t. A direct supervisor could have stepped in here and possibly made a difference. However, the idea that a direct supervisor will by design know when to violate company policy in order to safeguard an employee is not feasible… The company managers and those who are responsible for implementing state laws for protecting employees need to be held accountable. Direct supervisors should be documenting the policy issues that are a problem, and helping the union stewards to get the policies changed. In a perfect world… Unfortunately most companies hate working with unions and managers are too removed from the issues that are harming employees. The current system sucks.
ElderWendigo@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
This just is not true.
ConfuzedAZ@lemmy.world 1 year ago
It’s 100% true. You can not count on a supervisor BY DESIGN to violate policy whenever it may become necessary. Its a recipe for a fatality. In specific circumstances the supervisor should recognize when the situation no longer is covered by the intent of the policy and act. But expecting a supervisor to violate a policy BY DESIGN is inherently flawed, and hence will not translate into actionable legal accountability.
AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I kicked people out of my kitchen because they weren’t sweating enough (first sign of potential heat stroke) over a decade ago. I can’t imagine not giving people breaks in this heat. And food service doesn’t have “required breaks,” which is why I made people take them.