From: jwh@citi.umich.edu (Jim Howe)
Subject: Re: [Republicans] On Civil Liberties and Drugs
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 92 10:06:34 EDT
Organization: IFS Project, University of Michigan
Reply-To: jwh@citi.umich.edu
Keywords: New-Speak

In article <bw3ady.azq@wang.com>, fitz@wang.com (Tom Fitzgerald) writes:
|> >> I guess you agree, then, that employers are entitled to require sexual
|> >> favors in order to grant employment, that they should freely be able to
|> >> discriminate on any basis, including race, color, creed, religion, etc.,
|> 
|> jwh@citi.umich.edu (Jim Howe) writes:
|> 
|> > And just how many employees do you think would work for a company that
|> > did these sorts of things?  How long do you think the company would
|> > stay in business?
|> 
|> It seems to be a popular belief among engineers, students and some other
|> professionals, that employees will never work for a company unless it meets
|> some wonderful standards.  The other 90% of the workforce knows better.
|> Most members of the workforce will work anyplace that offers them a job,
|> will be sitting at their desk/assembly-line at 8:00 AM exactly, wear a tie
|> or uniform and address their superiors as "sir".
|> 

Life is consists of a constant stream of trade-offs.  It is up to the
individual to decide if certain sacrifices (wear a tie, address superiors
as sir, etc) are worth it for the benefits gained.  At some point, most
people will refuse to accept certain sacrifices.  It is at this point
that a competing business can step in and offer a job which doesn't
demand the heavy sacrifice required by the other employer.  The worker
will never get everything he/she wants, and neither will the employer.

|> Industry is full of sweatshops like the chicken-processing plant that
|> caught fire a few months back, killing several dozen workers.  People work
|> at places like that voluntarily, because there are no better places to
|> work.  They can't just quit.  Why do you think workers go on strike?

It is an unfortunate fact that some workers have very little selection of
alternative employment.  However, many seem to feel that working at some
of these places beats the alternative.  Many people who work in 'sweatshops'
are foreign workers who have fewer job opportunities because of our
stupid immigration laws.  Even so, they actually are able to live a 
better life than where they came from.

|> That's the only way for workers to damage an employer enough to make it
|> notice, without losing their jobs in the process.  The official (laundered)
|> unemployment rate is around 8% these days - the actual unemployment rate is
|> much higher.  That's tens of millions of people who have no place at all
|> who wants to hire them.  If they get a job, they won't walk out no matter
|> how badly they're treated.

The best way to help employees is to make job creation easier for businesses.
The easier (and cheaper) it is for businesses to create jobs, the more
jobs that will be available.  More jobs means more choice, more competition
among employers to keep the employees they have.  Raising the cost of
having employees reduces job creation and creates a tighter job market
and makes it easier for employers to demand more concessions from their
employees.

|> 
|> Please, people, learn a little more about the labor market before you
|> assume that all workplaces are like software engineering houses.  Pay
|> careful attention to the history of mines, factories and sweatshops in the
|> 19th century before the fair-labor laws came into being.  If nothing else,
|> ask the people who clean the floors at night if they'd quit on principle if
|> they didn't like the way the company was run.
|> 

'Fair labor' laws only came into being once the economy was at a point
where they could be accomodated.  Businesses were already reducing the
number of hours worked by their employees and child labor was also
being reduced.  When the standard of living of a country is low, people
will not tolerate the government intervening in how many hours 
people can work.  As the standard of living rises, so is the tolerance
of government intervention, particularly when it limits competition
for your job by 'undesireables' who would work harder and longer than
you.


James W. Howe                  internet: jwh@citi.umich.edu
University of Michigan             uucp: uunet!mailrus!citi.umich.edu!jwh
Ann Arbor, MI   48103-4943