Shutting down workers lives

We're entering week 3 of the shutdown, thousands of workers have been forced to work without pay, and now it stands to extend into the airline industry as well. TSA screeners stand to not see a paycheck on Friday if there's no agreement on the budget issue. In my last post I stated it didn't affect us directly, however I should have clarified that it didn't affect us directly yet. That's slowly starting to take shape as TSA screeners have begun a degree of sick outs leading to delays in traveling. Can any of us really blame them though? What would you do if you were told you had to show up to work and not get paid?

We were told Mexico would pay for this pet project, yet now, as there was never any way to see that realized from it's first inception, and now we're told that we, the taxpayers, will be forced to pay for an endeavor the overwhelming majority of us see as a complete and total mismanagement and misuse of funds. How many of us (that are now being told will be forced to cover the cost at the behest of Trump and Co.) really see such a barrier as a true necessity when virtually all the factual data gathered about illegal immigration and national security actually runs in complete contrast to the "official" narrative from the White House?

I heard the most ridiculous thing while watching the evening news earlier. I actually heard the president, a billionaire, a member of the elite, actually had the audacity to say he can relate to the workers who have been forced to work without pay. At what point in his life did he ever have to go without? I'm very curious as to the answer of that question.

Perhaps one of the more unsettling aspects of this situation comes down to the potential for millions of individuals who receive assistance from the government to go without the very funds they utilize to feed their families with. There have been several states report that they'll have funding remaining to cover the expenses for January, but have nothing available for the month of February. So we work our bodies to death and you're telling us that now we may have to starve as well?!

Fortunately we've been potentially spared the further misery of possibly not receiving tax returns on account of a plan to write individual pieces of legislation to keep individual government departments open. For millions of us this is the silver lining in this situation, as we're eagerly waiting for our tax returns for down payments on big ticket items. Tax season is a very significant booster for the economy and should not be disregarded as an annual source of economic bolstering.

When will we realize that the very leaders that we elect to represent us truly have no concern at all for us. Perhaps there is some semblance of familiarity when the politician is still on a local level of politics, but once the national stage has been taken, it seems as if they become so much more than us mere serfs as we continue to toil away for our menial lives. Does anyone besides me see the contempt with which they see us all? Do any besides myself feel that this is not just disturbing, but a justifiable outrage?

I'll put it very straight forward and bluntly, they're rich, they don't give a damn about what we go through because it will NEVER AFFECT THEM!

-Richard Trotsky

Government Shut Down Who Exactly?

So the government has been shut down, government workers are now without income on account of our elected officials inability to agree on a budget. The main point of contention is the approximately $5 billion dollars in funding proposed for building of the infamous "wall". This stalemate is all on account of the notion of national security.

This comes with a huge degree of irony since the shutdown has adversely affected a system that the Department of Homeland Security maintains for verification of I9 information presented to employers. That system is none other than the E-Verify system. Yes, a system utilized by employers to verify identities is now completely inoperable on account of the government being shut down. How does this in any way benefit national security?

So let's think about this for a second. The money for the "wall" is what's being pressed by the Republicans, which is being opposed by the Democrats, has led to the inability to pass a budget, which led to a temporary government shut down, which has resulted in the shut down of a site used to verify identities. And this benefits national security in what way? Is it only me that sees the absurdity in this entire scenario?

Yes, the E-Verify issue is more of a minor insignificance, and information can be submitted after it's back up and running, however that won't be until the government is operational once again. From appearances, heels are just starting to get dug in, so we'll have to just wait and see how the scenario will play out. However it's not just that limited area that's affected. Yes, essential functionality may still be retained, but who are the ones paying the toll for the inability of the elected to come to a compromise? That would be us, you and I, perhaps not directly, but it does affect us.

Even worse think of those it does directly affect, there are workers who have been forced to work without pay because they're considered "essential" personnel. It's very easy for those who live in castles to be unaffected by the peasants' issues....or be less concerned with them rather. I'm sure there will be those who will bring up national security and illegal immigrants, but statistically the data just doesn't support those declarations.

History is an excellent teacher, and it teaches us that when you venture into other nations and pull the strings of governments and organizations without genuine concern for the people of these nations, the long term result is situations so horrible that thousands risk their lives each year to escape them. There are many reasons that these desperate masses venture to the borders here, yet the origins of these reasons will only be known to those who search for the answers found within history.

Richard Trotsky

Self-Checking Out Workers

On this May Day – the day recognized around the world except in the US as the International Workingman's Day (or Woman's, or fill in your gender here) – I realized that we, the workers, in the interest of saving ourselves some time are helping the 1% outsource jobs in the local stores that we use.

I noticed this at the local Tops where there are numerous check out lanes and then there is the self-check out section.

In the regular lanes you will see one cashier checking/cashing out one customer.

In the self check-out lane you will see one cashier checking out four (or more) customers simultaneously. And it is the customer doing the bulk of the work for the cashier. They are just monitoring us to make sure that we are doing their job for them properly and not stealing anything.

Think about that for a minute – When we use the self checkout lane, we are taking jobs away from the cashiers. And at Tops – they are unionized. Granted, I hear complaints about the union and how weak it is. But it is a union and the union is as strong as its members make it.

So we are taking jobs away from unionized workers. I'm not sure about other stores that use self check out. I know Wal-Mart has self check-out and is fighting unionization.

In manufacturing (like General Motors, Ford, Caterpillar, etc) it was machines replacing the workers. Sometimes under the guise of making the work easier to do. Using a lift or pneumatic tool to do what used to be done by hand by several people.

In Tops and other stores – it's us replacing them and we aren't even being paid for it or given a discount.

Remember – the goal of the capitalists is to make as much of a profit as possible in any way possible. So they want to get the workers to do more work for less money. They will use mechanization and outsourcing to achieve this goal.

In stores with self check out they are in-sourcing the work force and not even paying them – that is us, the customer.

So we can go around with our $15 NOW signs, protest and sign petitions all we want, and then watch the 1% introduce self check-out in order to get around the $15 NOW demands.

It's sort of defeating the purpose of $15 NOW because now they can cut the number of workers needed down and reduce the cashiers down to part time status, which will make their wages what it was before $15 NOW and cut their benefits. So if they received health insurance before, they might not be eligible for it. Or they could get the insurance but wind up paying more for it and watching their pay checks get shrunk even more.

So, in honor of our fellow workers – Do NOT use self check out.

It's time we stopped supporting the1%s drive to outsource us all.