In Reply to: No need for unions posted by Anonymous on December 23, 1996 at 01:16:08:
All corporations, as you will learn in any basic high school
economics course, exist in order to make profit. The only
way that you can achieve profit is by appropriating the value
that has been created through labour.In other words, exploited labour is a NECESSARY condition of
any capitalist enterprise.The idea that one can ensure fair treatment by doing a 'good job'
fails totally to take into account the basic dynamic
which underlies capitalism.Workers do not ensure fair treatment or job security by
doing a 'good job' -which usually means faciliating his or her
own exploitation by the boss (sure I'll work an 18 hour shift
I won't ask about those safety violations... after all I'm here
to be a 'good worker')- they have to fight for better working
conditions and defend themselves against exploitation by
UNITING.If you take on management on your own, you will get sacked.
On your own, you have NO SAY about what constitutes a good
job. In the eyes of a money making enterprise, what is
a good job is that which makes money,which will obviously
be in conflict with maintaining good working conditions.
The most expoited labour is the 'best' labour, the best worker
is the one who submits most readily to exploitation, according
to management.Sad but true. It is not only a mistake to paint the picture
that workers need only perform to some objective standard
of a 'good job' in order to get fair treatment etc., in that it
does not at all conform to workers' experiences (just check out
this site), it is a dangerous idea because the implication
that we should allow 'good job' be defined by management
and owners, whose interests are only profit.The only way we can have a say in determining what constitutes
a 'good job' is by organizing and uniting to represent our
ideas and our interests as workers.
That means unionization.
Pure and simple.
None.