I'm sick of not living an authentic life and will be making some changes to address that, especially here on my lasting legacy, dozonlife.com.
I genuinely don't want to be a douchebag or hurt people's feelings, but I'm done with being afraid online; where has it gotten me? I'm glad that I became more woke and evolved the last few years; I fucking needed to. Still, I've been censoring myself in fear of being canceled or bringing attention to stupid posts years ago when my generation was adolescent guinea pigs for social media. This blog isn't about cancel culture, but that shit needs to stop. Some people have told me not to be political on DOL as there's a risk of alienating readers, but I simply do not care. Oh no, I went from 80 pages-views to 74, FUCK, what am I gonna do? What I'm about to say shouldn't even be considered controversial or political. Basic human decency and wages should not be a left or right issue. Squeezing humans out to maximize already record profits is disgusting. I loathe corporate greed and fundamentally believe it is one of the most significant factors for things going to shit all across the globe. In the past on DOL, I've said that boycotting things is stupid, and like Chris Stapleton's best song, I Was Wrong. Boycotts and protests are why we have things like weekends and Civil Rights (for now). I've also told stories of the horrors ofGilded Age Robber Barons who would literally rather kill their employees than pay them a fair wage. COVID has been an incredibly fascinating test on how fucked up basically everything about living on earth is. People called grocery store clerks "essential workers" then scoff at the idea of paying them a living wage. It's a joke.
What's going on at Nabisco right now is incredibly fucked up. If you're unfamiliar (via CBS news):
Nabisco workers now walking picket lines in four U.S. states say their first strike in 52 years is about keeping what they already had as employees producing Oreo cookies, Ritz crackers and other snacks for the global food conglomerate. More than 1,000 Nabisco workers are staying off the job in Colorado, Illinois, Oregon and Virginia, according to their union, the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International, or BCTGM. The labor dispute began with workers at the Nabisco bakery in Portland calling a strike nearly three weeks ago and has since spread, with workers in Chicago joining the labor action on Thursday. "We're fighting for a fair contract, no concessions," Yvette Hale, who has worked at Nabisco's Chicago bakery nearly 22 years, told CBS MoneyWatch. "Everyone is angry, as you never know if you're going to work eight hours, 12 hours or 16 hours." Nabisco workers have been working without a contract since the end of May, with negotiations breaking down after its parent company, Mondelez International, proposed changes that include turning eight-hour shifts into 12-hour ones without overtime. Workers would receive overtime on the sixth and seventh day, provided they worked their scheduled hours during the week. The company is also proposing that new hires shoulder additional costs of health insurance. A spokesperson for Chicago-based Mondelez said the proposed changes are intended to "promote the right behaviors" among workers and avoid paying employees a premium for weekend work if they call in sick during the regular work week. "This is not about taking away overtime," the spokesperson said. Most Nabisco workers would not be affected by the changes, which would largely involve those involved in manufacturing products that are heavily in demand, she added. Employees at Nabisco said working conditions deteriorated after the company was sold to Kraft Foods in 2000, which spun off its global snacks business as Mondelez International in 2012. "What this fight is all about is maintaining what we currently have. We're dealing with a company who in 2020 had a record year," Mike Burlingham, a Nabisco worker for 14 years in Portland and vice president of BCTGM Local 364 said in an interview with Status Coup News and distributed by the union. "This is a fight for the American middle class." "If it wasn't for us in the factories and in the distribution centers getting the products on the shelves, there would be no record profits for these guys," he added. While the strike is the first at Nabisco since one lasting 56 days in 1969, the company has faced more recent labor disputes. The city of Chicago in July announced that Mondelez would pay $475,000 in restitution to workers denied sick leave pay, as well as a $95,000 fine, according to local PBS affiliate WTTW. "Nabisco was a real big family, they treated us with respect. Mondelez just wants us to work, work, work--16-hour days through this whole pandemic," said April Flowers-Lewis, who has worked at the Nabisco plant in Chicago for 27 years. "People are scared to come to work on Saturdays because they make us work 16 hours. We're short-staffed, but they don't want to hire."
Nabisco's management team worked from home during the pandemic, while production line personnel were often on the job seven days a week, sometimes working 16-hour shifts, said Veronica Hopkins, the business agent for BCTGM Local 1, which represents roughly 345 workers at Nabisco's Chicago plant and another 25 workers at its facility in Addison, Illinois.
If this can cause Frank Reynolds to say things are wrong, you know they're wrong (shitty attempt at a joke).
I don't care if this blog gets two or 200 people to join in, I'm going to use my voice for what I believe is right. IMO, you really should not support a company that is making record profits and still trying to dehumanize the people responsible for their success. This shit disgusts me more White Cheddar Cheez-Itz.
This is the problem with unchecked Capitalism. I have no problem with people making money off of the backs of others as long as those backs are being taken care of. If you can't pay employees a decent, fair wage, you aren't a successful company. It isn't inspiring when someone is working 80-hours a week to make ends meet. It's a societal failure. I fundamentally don't understand how regular people can take the side of these assholes. Via: The Guardian Through the pandemic, Nabisco's parent company, Mondelez International, has recorded billions in profits; in the second quarter of 2021, the company reported more than $5.5bn in profits and spent $1.5bn on stock buybacks in the first half of 2021. The CEO of Mondelez International received $16.8m in total compensation in 2020, 544 times the company's median employee annual compensation of $31,000.
Many awful things are going on globally, and with some of them, I'm just straight up not qualified or intelligent enough to talk about them on my blog, but one thing I'll always support is the right of workers. I've taught enough history to know a thing or two about the history of labor and people being taken advantage of. I'm currently in a union and support these people striking to keep their OT and benefits. They've already lost their pensions. If you want to support a company that wants to pay people in Mexico less than a $1/hour that's your swag, but it'll never fucking be mine. A hashtag good person would never! If this video doesn't break your heart, you likely don't have one.
Products you should avoid until Nabisco and Mondelez get their shit together:
(via: UCOMM) Nabisco:
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