Not only have workers been deprived of wage increases to keep up with the cost of living for the past 50 years, but work hours have increased, which limit work-life balance and make work more strenuous and life more expensive. Workers have been played like suckers and are taught to value this so-called new-age work ethic.
When at one time the work week was forty hours (9-5, there was even a movie made based on normal work hours), now people are working 50, 60, 70 and 120 hours per week in some professions, and with texting and video conferencing technology some work around the clock. This is not a solid work ethic; this is legalized slave labor. Lunch hours have been slashed also, when at one time the hour or half hour was paid, now they are not, but is considered the worker’s own time.
But for some reason people actually think this is normal and wear it like a badge of honor. No! Corporations are exploiting people and getting rich while raising the cost of living at the same time. More people are catching on to the lie told us that if we work harder, we can retire with ease and maybe get rich; but people today can barely afford to survive. What manner of ignorance has been passed through our Kool-Aid?
Old-schoolers who succeeded when life was much more affordable – in the 50s and 60s – have the nerve to resent the younger generation because they have caught on to the scam and are speaking out against it. Unfortunately, those who speak out are considered whiners and lazy and do not want to work and then made to eat the memories of Boomers who talk of their time and their work ethic. These are corporate CEOs who either inherited wealth or built their fortune during a time much easier; and they turned around and squashed younger generations in their efforts to succeed.
A Brief History of Work Hours
“With the entry of the U.S. into World War I on April 5, 1917, adequate war production became a national necessity and issues of working conditions and labor peace assumed paramount importance. The Department assumed the major responsibility for implementing the nation’s war labor policies, which included recognition of the right of workers to bargain collectively, establishment of machinery to adjust grievances, and an 8-hour workday.
The Walsh-Healey Public Contracts Act of 1936 required that firms manufacturing goods for the government establish an 8-hour day and assure that the work would be done under safe and healthful conditions. It also authorized the Secretary to set minimum wages based on locally prevailing rates.
This Act prepared the way for a much broader labor standards bill, which Perkins had long supported, setting minimum wages and maximum work hours for most industrial workers. Both the American Federation of Labor and the National Association of Manufacturers opposed it, but after a prolonged legislative battle the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) became law in 1938. Administered by the Department of Labor, the Act set a minimum wage of 25 cents per hour and a maximum workweek of 40 hours (to be phased in by 1940) for most workers in manufacturing. The 40-hour week has not changed since 1938, but the wage level has been raised numerous times and the coverage has broadened to include most salaried workers.”
Currently, CEOs and politicians are attempting to turn back these laws and reinstitute a time when people worked 12 hours a day under unsafe circumstances without government protections, all before the above changes that benefitted workers. They are even attempting to reinstitute child labor. “States across the country are attempting to weaken child labor protections, just as violations of these standards are rising.” Which is another reason they want women to have more children.
These men who are trying to make these changes believe that corporations should have complete control without government regulation where it pertains to workers’ rights and that workers should trust them to make their lives worth living. This is not going to end well when people are burned out and there is a labor shortage, causing production to cripple. But the wealthy have no conscience toward the working people.
Education being the road to wealth was also a lie. During the mid to late 1950s, people could graduate high school and go straight into a factory, (which have gone overseas) make a good living and raise a family on one income. In the nineties, corporations up the ante and people needed a college degree, at least an Associate’s degree from a two-year college.
Next, in the mid 2000s, the Associates degree was no more and people needed a Bachelor’s degree, which would set them straight for the rest of their lives; but guess what, that changed and the Masters degree took its place, then the PHD and who knows what’s next. Certificates moved in in between Bachelors and Masters and technology degrees took over, and are now being replaced with AI and forms of automation. Yet, the working person works twice as hard as the did 50 years ago.
Add credit scores, the cost of health and car insurance (and the penalties for not having either), home or renters insurance, streaming and Internet bundles, subscriptions, cell-phone bills and cell-phones, and the extremely high cost of child care while the parent works 12-14 hours a day, and you have a society of working people stretched thin, burned out and seeking relief. However, there is no compassion ahead from corporations who continue to pour it on with every new law or policy.
DISCLAIMER: The content of Pro Liberation is firmly opinionated and is not meant to be interpreted as official news. We glean facts and quotes from mainstream news websites and abridge its meaning for readers to relate. We do not indulge in misinformation, conspiracy theories, or false doctrine but choose to express our right to free speech as citizens of this country and free born under God the Creator. We represent Nu Life Alliance Inc. a non-profit organization in the battle for social and economic justice. Donate to our cause at the following link. DONATE
