Pennies Per Hour?

I just have one quick question and then an appeal.

Question: How can we really expect any corporation to make things in America?

Seriously. Even if we worked for $2 per/hr it would still be more profitable for a corporation to outsource and exploit labor abroad.

Now, it is common on the right in America to blame "greedy" unions for outsourcing, but that simply isn't true. Heck, even without unions you can't find Americans that will work for pennies per hour.

The other typical response is to blame the victim; you know, "those people will work for nothing, they're stealing our jobs."

But again, when these same overseas workers reveal that they only work for nothing because they haven't a choice, and then decide to form unions, the story changes to "those greedy workers want too much and now my $8 Walmart shirt costs $10. WTF!?"

The plain and simple problem is that there are little or no labor/environmental protections in "developing countries."

Remember, capitalists don't just decide whether or not they want their brand to be "made in America". They are forced by the laws of competition to seek out the cheapest possible labor sources in order to maximize profits.
If they don't and their competitors do, they won't be capitalist much longer.

So, it would seem that the best solution for workers on both sides of the ocean is to win labor struggles overseas that bring the living standards and labor/environmental practices over there about 125 years into their future (aka our present).

It begins with struggles like the one detailed below.

Remember though, labor struggles are very dangerous in countries that don't have labor laws (just as it was for American workers in the 1880s who fought and died for the 12hr day, then the 10hr day and finally the 8hr day and some kind of minimum wages and safety standards). It's dangerous because there are no existing labor laws, and the capitalist-owned government sends in the troops to gun you down when you start organizing to get your fair share of the product....

That's why our open and visible support for workers abroad is so important. As citizens of "the empire", our support gives them a bit more security than they would otherwise have.

Please consider signing this petition to support one such case in Bangledesh and then pass it on to some friends, maybe even keep an ear to the street for others in the future.

Higher wages and protections abroad makes their lives better as well as pressures corporations to return jobs "home", thus making our lives better too.

The details are below.

Thank You,

Todd

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Subject: Is 35¢ Too Much To Ask From Walmart?

Please join Wake Up Walmart and the National Labor Committee in calling on Walmart to support a 35 cent per hour minimum wage for garment workers in Bangladesh.

Last week we posted on our blog about how Walmart's $8 pairs of jeans were made by Bengali garment workers, mostly young women, who are paid the equivalent of 11.5 cents an hour. This week these workers took to the streets in protest over wages, where at least 25 workers were injured by authorities.

Please join us in calling on Rajan Kamalanathan, Walmart's Vice President of "Ethical" Sourcing, to support protesting workers in Bangladesh in calling for a garment worker minimum wage of 35 cents an hour. Visit: www.wakeupwalmart.com to sign the petition.

Walmart’s claim that it sources its products in an ethical manner is completely undermined when workers are forced to take to the streets in protest over wages so low they have been called “not only insufficient, but also inhumane” by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

Thank you for your support,

Wake Up Walmart


www.wakeupwalmart.com

Regarding Peter Schiff’s View of History

Peter Schiff, one of the wealthy capitalist candidates vying for the Republican ballot position, was recently interviewed on WNPR’s “Where we Live.” Here is a bit of what he had to say:

"I think the workers benefited dramatically from the transition from an agrarian economy to an industrial economy. We eliminated women labor in the country, child labor, because of capitalism. You know the reason – you know, my grandmother didn't have to work because my grandfather didn't have to pay any taxes. She was free to take care of eight kids, because that's what she wanted to do. But today, very few women have the choice to be stay-at-home moms. They are now back in the workforce. Capitalism lifted them out of the workforce but big government bureaucracy, high taxes and the social welfare state – that's the reason now that so few women, and men for that matter, can choose not to work. They have to work to support the government."

Hearing such a revised version of history from someone of his class is not surprising, but having it aired on public radio is another story. Mr. Schiff is entitled to his ideological beliefs as much as I am to my own, but these beliefs do not allow the complete re-writing of history. In a few short minutes he completely erased the woman's suffrage movement, woman's lib movement, the labor movement and pretty much anything that was not a “natural force of the market” right out of the history books. George Orwell is surely rolling in his grave.

Not only is Mr. Schiff’s account of U.S. history wrong, but it is dangerous. It invites anti-democratic tendencies into the mainstream. As a socialist, I am often mistaken for being one of two things; either some kind of utopian pipe-dreamer or some kind of anti-democratic Soviet-Style Communist. What I’d like to propose is the opposite, that Free-Market worshipers are in fact the utopians and certainly tend to be opposed to democracy. Just think for a minute about this: Government regulation of industry was originally won by democratic measures (but now by corporate lobbyists in the interest of industry). Groups of disgruntled citizens pressured the elected government to enact laws that addressed their grievances. As long as there is democracy and a big enough group of people being screwed there is going to be pressure to regulate. To put it another way, the only way that a truly unregulated free-market economy can exist is to completely eliminate democracy.

When a caller challenged Mr Schiff’s dogmatic blind-faith in deregulated capitalism, Schiff replied: "What you have is a revisionist, socialist version of history." He went on to argue that workers in the 19th century were not exploited by business owners. Thankfully the caller rightfully noted that the profit motive did not prevent business owners from abusing the rights of their workers. The caller further said that the very "reason we have the regulations we have is because of the abuse that was heaped on the middle and lower classes by the very free market system that you are espousing."

To insinuate that the caring and compassionate capitalist class created the 8 hour day, workplace safety standards, women’s equality, etc.. is to spit on the graves of the countless hard-working men and women who fought hard and many died for these simple measures. It was neither the capitalists nor the government that helped the working class or women; it was the women and the working class itself exercising it’s political influence in a democratic manner that won change, and that is exactly what the far right fears.

Now, I’d rather not waste too much time reflecting on this guy and his upper-class view of reality, but I would like to conclude by simply reminding readers that it was in fact capitalism which brought women and children to work in factories. The capitalists did this for one reason and one reason only: because they could pay them so much less than men at that time (and this is still true for women today).

Flawed Logic # 7: Outsourcing, Unions and Cheap Labor‏

During the course of a wonderful family reunion visit with my grandfather in Mid-Coast Maine I encountered a case of.......(Duh,Duh,Duh!) "Flawed Logic!"

This time it came about in a discussion with a family member while paroozing the isles of a local grocery chain. The subject was jobs, and more specifically, the lack of them in America. The discussion, quite logically, led to the topic of outsourcing. It was then that the.....(Duh,Duh,Duh!) "Flawed Logic!" Reared its ugly head.

The reasoning, rather simply, went something like this: "Unions are destroying our country. These greedy workers are hurting businesses and forcing them to outsource work overseas."

I, being a loving family member and on (a very short and low-budget) vacation thought twice before responding. I decided instead to change the subject; "I can't believe they can sell liquor, wine and beer in the grocery store here!"

This very troubling logic and understanding of the world came from a known-to-be conservative family member whom I love very much, but have had unfruitful disagreements with in the past. It was definitely best to enjoy our short stay together and not spend time trying to convince each other of things that neither of us would likely concede.

The problem, however, was that this comment kept repeating itself in my mind all afternoon and was driving me nuts! So, at last, when my wife and I lugged our bags and three sleeping children into the hotel at 9pm, I picked up my phone and began typing this general response. (Yes, I said cell phone, and yes my thumbs are killing me right now!)

Response: Unions are the cause of outsourcing? Do you know how many private sector workers are actually in unions? They only make up 7.2% of the workforce.* Even in the 70s and 80s, when the outsourcing madness began, they only numbered 13%! Now think about all of the countless companies that shipped jobs over seas; the overwhelming majority were non-union businesses. How could unions have caused their non-union competitors (who already had a competitive advantage because of lower bottom lines due to cheaper labor expenditures) to start shipping their production lines overseas? Better yet, suppose we went back in time to 1978 and passed a constitutional amendment that outlawed unions. Would this have stopped outsourcing? Would all of these profit-seeking corporations have ignored the incredible competitive advantage of using cheap labor overseas? Absolutely, positively NOT! They want maximum profit, and are required by law to do whatever it takes to deliver this.

[Side note for my well intentioned "liberal" friends: I've got to say that even if the Democrats had defeated Reagan the problem would still exist in essentially the same way it does today.]

The problem is not unions, as conservatives argue. The problem is not Republicans, as liberals argue. The problem is "the coercive laws of competition."

Capitalists are always seeking a competitive advantage over other companies in order to increase their profits. So, as soon as one corporation sees how much more cheese it can rake in by capitalizing on cheap labor and weak environmental laws abroad, then every other capitalist must do the same in order to stay competitive and remain in business.

The problem is inherent in the system itself.

One possible solution, I might add, could actually be more unions! Unions in places like China. This would force stronger labor protections and higher wages in these countries which would in turn remove the incentive of U.S. Companies to seek outsourced production overseas.....

Well, that's it for this time folks. From "Up North" Maine, this has been another case of......(Duh,Duh,Duh!) "Flawed Logic!"

See you next time!

*union member statistics can be verified here: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/union2.nr0.htm