Wish I had a union so these fuckers that opened up a hundred grocery stores in five years could get what's coming to them for selling stores that aren't even a year old and laying everyone off because the property value had appreciated enough
I worked for a chain of grocery stores called Fresh Thyme (hyuk hyuk real clever fuckin' name) and we found out that a lot of the locations they bought, they only purchased because there was nothing there at the time but there would be lots of development. My store made it four years but after a crapload of apartments opened up in the area and the valuation of the building got up to 7 million they sold it. Some of the stores didn't make it a full year. They only even bothered to open the stores so they'd have something in the building. They're not going to sell all the stores but it's become apparent what their intentions for a lot of them are
That’s why it’s so ignorant when people lean on “unemployment” as a gauge of economic success. It’s a factor- but having people employed and having people with any job stability aren’t the same thing and do not provide equivalent quality of life or economic health. It also doesn’t tell you how many of those people are actually making enough to live on- not just a humanitarian issue but an economic one- since people without money don’t buy gadgets and homes etc. We treat it like rich people are “doing favors” by “making jobs” for people with less money- but at the end of the year when your store was sold with the others... who made millions and who was trying to keep their lives together while looking for a new job in a rush?
I once joked with a boss that we were going to unionize and she sat me down and had me sign a letter saying I wouldn't because it was against company policy. It made me want to do it even more.
At will employment. Companies don’t like unions. They’ll fire people for trying because you are protected in your work from being discriminated against for political beliefs, joining a political organization (like a union,) but NOT protected for spreading your politics at work. On the clock, your personal politics aren’t company business. That means you aren’t working. It’s no different than playing on your phone or talking about a sports game in terms of disciplinary action. If you’re on the property OFF the clock- it’s private property and they can refuse to allow it or block you from the property. Since you’re an employee even when you’re “off the clock” you’re still accountable for your behavior at your place of work. You can be fired for disruptive behavior at work even if you aren’t “working” at the time because you’ve shown poor judgment and traits which make keeping you a liability.
To avoid legal troubles, some companies, like a certain national chain retailer I worked for decades ago, will simply close a location down if there becomes significant talk of unionization. It allows them to fire all the employees there with a justifiable reason- store closed, don’t need em. In less developed countries, companies like Coca-Cola are known to have pro union employees disappear or be found mysteriously dead. A single union location can spread and threaten billions of dollars in profits.
The dirty secret missed by people who claim there isn’t discrimination in the present is that the law mostly bans discrimination- but you have to be stupid enough to basically admit it. If I fire you for starting a union I might face legal trouble. If I fire you for personal business on the clock, or close a store, re organize and make your job obsolete, start giving poor reviews, etc etc- there’s many ways to “get” someone where you don’t have to admit- and can create reasonable justification- where you can still discriminate freely so long as you don’t ADMIT it or make it obvious.
Like... what's going on over there?