So our district manager came in for a meeting with us on Friday

[TwixVoy]

So on friday all of us in store management were told our district manager was going to come in to have a meeting with us.

It was about 45 minutes long and was one of the most pathetic things I have ever seen.

So this guy sits down with us. (he makes well in to the six figures, most of us in this room make somewhere between $25K-40K depending on how high we are in the management chain)

Seems the company sent him out to the stores to deliver a "warning" to store management about the EFCA in congress. (Employee Free Choice Act) Warned us to be "extra nice" to employees because he can guarantee us some of our employees are "this close" to forming a union if they are pissed off enough. Didn't seem to be aware of the fact that paying everyone at the bottom $7.50/hr and maybe working 20 hours a week might be contributing to that anger. The fool who makes over six figures actually was under the impression everyone in the room agreed with him.

What I found most interesting though was the panicked deer in the headlight look on his face the entire time. The way he kept saying "I am warning you guys" almost like some dire event was going to happen. It made me think the powers that be are deathly afraid if the economy gets worse they are actually going to see the common low wage worker stand up to them for once. He kept telling us that a lot of our employees were going to have trouble making it at all within the next 1-2 years. (I can see that just in the massive increase in the number of employees at my store who have been caught taking money from their register the past few months)

Hmmmm.... what generally happens historically in a country when the lower classes can't eat/have shelter anymore? And what generally happens to those in the upper classes who spent all their time screwing over the lower classes? I can see why they are getting worried.

Little was he aware half of us in that room were of the opinion people DO need to stand up for themselves when facing these mega corporations. These people who actually DO make enough to live comfortably are going to be in for a major surprise should the day come when most of the lower classes can't even make it at all anymore.....

I can tell you working with people all day trying to make it on $7.50/hour and 20 hours a week people ARE getting angry. I think a lot of people in the upper classes don't realize this because they have nothing to personally do with the lower classes. Should the economy continue to get worse the next 1-2 years I wouldn't be surprised if we see people actually start to stand up and do something.

[pleah]

1. K&R I hope they do start standing up and fighting against

employers like this guy.

[lostnotforgotten]

2. You Might Consider Sending Him A Gift Card With A Guillotine On The Front

eom

[BlancheSplanchnik]

10. he wouldn't get the reference, methinks. n/t

[onethatcares]

3. I once did some work for a man that union organized back in the 30s

the company police broke his hands and each of his fingers so he couldn't write. He stuck with it though. Would the media report something like that?

Jeeeez, you should have seen how those hands looked.

[Jambalaya]

4. Living better yet?

Sounds like someything I read about WalMart doing before the elections.

As I recall,it went something like calling in employees and telling them if they voted for Obama ,they would be forced to join unions and maybe even their store would have to close down.

Sounds like a plan!

[monmouth]

5. Companies almost always need those $7.50-$9.00/hr. workers. The

guys making the big salaries are usually the first to be let go. At least that's been my experience. He's the one who should be worried. You need people to stock and sell in order to operate. His big a$$ can easily be replaced I'm sure.

[Shakespeare]

6. You can be sure they're going to hold your management level responsible for any organizing efforts

Please watch your back, listen very carefully to any exact wording they say RE stopping any efforts to unionize, and document EVERYTHING.

I used to work in labor/employment law, and I know that management in any company will go to extreme measures to stop unionizing efforts, and they sometimes (and sometimes often) cross the line of what's legal.

I wish you the best--it sounds like you'll need it.

[formercia]

7. It's easy to become a manager

Just make it known to management that you're willing to do what it takes to make the corporation maximize profits, regardless of who it screws over and take orders without question or remorse.

[flying rabbit]

8. A friend of mine is involved in organizing

a union at a place I used to work. It used to be a cool place, but the corporate line has become openly hostile to workers. Harass and scare them to do a better job. Doesn't work- it just pisses people off. Management is shitting itself because they know they are toast if the union gets in. Serves them right, although in this place you didn't go anywhere unless you treat employees like shit. Needless to say the company has already resorted to illegal practices to "discourage" this behavior. I am glad I left. Maybe treating employees as human beings rather than financial liabilities would be a good lesson for all companies to learn.

[Touchdown]

9. He sounds like this guy...

http://www.freechoiceact.org/page/s/aflciovideo?source=1110email

[Iggo]

11. Um...revolution is what happens. (n/t)

[bertman]

12. SHIT!! $7.50 an hour for a FORTY-hour week isn't a living wage, much less 20 hours.

This sucks big time. Good luck.

[tomreedtoon]

13. American workers are sheep. Nothing will happen.

What are you going to do? Kill your bosses?

I was contemplating that when my boss yelled at me for no reason. "Without my job, I am nothing, I can't help the many people I'm trying to help, even I won't be able to live," I reasoned. Fortunately I gained enough self-esteem to avoid doing this - and the boss hasn't come after me yet.

The business executives know that the American worker is a sheep. Do you or any of your co-workers plan on a strike or lockout, or something like River Rouge? You wouldn't dare. You'd be bloodied. You'd die.

Face it, unions are passe, worker's rights are passe, the middle class is passe. You stop business here, your boss will move it to India. Sure you get angry, but all you'll ever do is die of heart attacks. There is NO EFFECTIVE ACTION you can take outside of breaking the law, and you'd never, ever do that, would you?