Thanks, Ray. Come visit me in Colorado sometime soon.
Lawry On Aug 16, 2013, at 1:10 PM, "Ray Harrell" <mc...@nyc.rr.com> wrote: > Good to hear from you Lawry. > > REH > > From: futurework-boun...@lists.uwaterloo.ca > [mailto:futurework-boun...@lists.uwaterloo.ca] On Behalf Of de Bivort Lawrence > Sent: Friday, August 16, 2013 9:56 AM > To: Ed Weick; RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION > Cc: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION > Subject: [Futurework] Fast food strikes to massively expand: "They're > thinking much bigger" > > It seems that we are in a deep transitional period, where significant > portions of our labor force will -- not, if -- be replaced by machinery. > > So the question is, How will this significant number of workers who have in > the past earned their livelihood from their labor now earn a livelihood? > > If they can simply move their labor to new emerging areas of the economy, the > question answers itself easily. > > But I would posit that a significant portion of this machine-replaceable > labor will not be able to do so. What then, for these folks? > > Our economy does not seem to have the mechanisms needed to either generate > the necessary new human-based jobs, or to give access to income to those > whose labor is no longer needed, at least without violating deeply embedded > political beliefs (e.g. capitalism, individualism). > > So, new economic labor structures have to be conceived and tried. > > For instance: might it be possible for the automation-threatened portion of > labor to go into the robotics design, production, and distribution business? > > After all, who better understands technically the work involved than the > person who has been doing it manually for years? Or better knows the > immediate work environment than the person who is working in it? > > The idea here is not that labor would find a few workplace for itself with > such new initiatives, but would stake out a powerful equity position for > itself, and earn its living from that equity position: dividends, and the > sale of equity shares. > > Could unions not go into this business, its members as shareholders? > > It seems to me that the traditional economic tools of labor -- strikes, wage > increase demands, conditions of work demands, and exclusion of non-union > workers -- are generally becoming useless when it comes to the significant > portion of the machine-replaceable that I am discussing here. > > Perhaps unions could begin to rethink the role of labor from first > principles: the role of labor is to produce goods and services, and to > provide income to the labor force. > > Unions should now be focusing on how to achieve these goals in an economy > that is increasingly replacing a significant portion of the labor force with > machines. It will require fundamentally different ways of looking at the > issue. > > Are unions institutionally and intellectually up to the challenge? > > In the US, railroad companies lost out to the new airplane companies because > they had a massive failure of imagination, and it may be that unions will > also fail to generate the requisite imagination. > > We can hope that not all will, if not that portion of the labor force is in > real trouble. > > -- Lawry > > > > On Aug 16, 2013, at 5:10 AM, Ed Weick <ewe...@rogers.com> wrote: > > Fast food strikes to massively expand: > Service Employees International Union president Mary Kay Henry told Salon > that SEIU members > "see the fast food workers as standing up for all of us. > workers are demanding a raise to $15 an hour and the chance to unionize > without intimidation. > ____________________________ > > Ah yes, but didn't I just read something about a robot being able to make 360 > burgers an hour? > > Ed > > From: michael gurstein <gurst...@gmail.com> > To: Futurework <futurework@lists.uwaterloo.ca> > Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 8:55:30 PM > Subject: [Futurework] FW: [Dewayne-Net] Fast food strikes to massively > expand: "They're thinking much bigger" > > A possibly unrelated set of developments. > > M > > -----Original Message----- > From: dewayne-...@warpspeed.com [mailto:dewayne-...@warpspeed.com] On Behalf > Of Dewayne Hendricks > Sent: Friday, August 16, 2013 2:16 AM > To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net > Subject: [Dewayne-Net] Fast food strikes to massively expand: "They're > thinking much bigger" > > [Note: This item comes from reader Randall Head. DLH] > > Fast food strikes to massively expand: "They're thinking much bigger" > Top union officials tell Salon the largest mobilization of fast food workers > in U.S. history is about to get huge By JOSH EIDELSON Aug 14 2013 > <http://www.salon.com/2013/08/14/fast_food_strikes_massively_expanding_theyr > e_thinking_much_bigger/> > > Fast food strikers will escalate their campaign within the next week and a > half, according to the key union backing their recent walkouts. > > In a Monday interview in her Washington, D.C., office, Service Employees > International Union president Mary Kay Henry told Salon that SEIU members > "see the fast food workers as standing up for all of us. Because the > conditions are exactly the same." Henry was joined by SEIU assistant to the > president for organizing Scott Courtney, who said to expect "a big > escalation" from fast food workers in "the next week or 10 days." Two weeks > after one-day strikes by thousands of employees in the growing, non-union, > low-wage industry, Courtney said, "I think they're thinking much bigger, and > while the iron's hot they ought to strike. No pun intended." > > As Salon has reported, SEIU has been the key player behind the past year's > wave of fast food strikes, which began with a surprise walkout in New York > City last November, spread this year to cities in the Midwest and West > Coast, and escalated last month with strikes in seven cities over four days > - by far the largest mobilization of fast food workers in the history of the > United States. > > In each city, workers are demanding a raise to $15 an hour and the chance to > unionize without intimidation. With fast food jobs becoming increasingly > prevalent in - and representative of - the U.S. economy, and embattled > unions exploring and experimenting with tactics like those the fast food > workers have taken up, their showdown has far-reaching consequences. SEIU, > one of the largest U.S. unions, has devoted millions of dollars and dozens > of staff to the campaign, which is also supported by a range of local and > national progressive groups. In contrast to some past union efforts, said > Henry, "It's more about, 'How do we shift things in the entire low-wage > economy?'" > > According to a labor source, organizing toward fast food strikes is also > afoot in multiple cities in the South. (Sources were granted anonymity to > discuss confidential discussions.) Asked about that prospect, Henry noted > that an SEIU staffer organizing public employees in Gainesville, Fla., had > received an unexpected call during the recent strikes from a Burger King > worker wondering how to get involved. Henry said the SEIU office there is > now hosting fast food worker meetings. "So yeah," she told Salon, "I think > we should expect that there will be more activity like that. We don't yet > understand the scale of it." > > A source who took part in a private SEIU meeting with allies last week in > Las Vegas said that the union presented two tracks under serious > consideration for transforming the industry. First, escalating pressure on > fast food corporations - McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's, in particular > - with the goal of reaching a joint agreement under which the corporations > would cover the costs of improved labor standards in their stores. And > second, a legislative push for local living wage laws requiring improved > compensation for fast food workers. Because most cities lack the legal > authority to mandate higher wages for jobs that aren't publicly subsidized, > that push would involve statewide ballot measures in 2014 to allow cities to > hike private sector workers' wages. > > Asked about that account, Courtney - a key strategist in the campaign - > characterized the Las Vegas discussions as preliminary and hypothetical. He > told Salon that there's "a whole package of things" that could press the > industry to change. Given that "people understand that these are the jobs of > the future," said Courtney, and that McDonald's reaps billions in profits > while workers remain in poverty, "The story is leverage in and of itself." > And "the fact that workers are taking these risks I think is our leverage." > > [snip] > > Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://www.warpspeed.com/wordpress> > > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > Futurework@lists.uwaterloo.ca > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > Futurework@lists.uwaterloo.ca > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > Futurework@lists.uwaterloo.ca > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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