ANotHeR CrAZy iDea #119
In the past few years Wall street has been enjoying new record highs on a regular basis, and corporations are now taking in profits at never before seen levels. Despite these facts the working class and poor are only getting poorer while the wealthy are increasing their net worth exponentially as more and more millionaires become billionaires. Even this is not enough for them, and in an effort to raise their profit margins ever higher, they are increasingly relying on a "part time" workforce. New hires are only for part time or temporary positions. The re-classifying of some existing employees, eliminating their benefits, cutting their hours, and laying off many others is now the current trend.
Every day more people fail to qualify for benefits such as health insurance, overtime pay, and paid time off simply because they are classified as Part time employees. Many of these "part time" employees actually end up working anywhere from 40 to 70 (And sometimes more) hours a week. But are denied the benefits they would have normally earned simply because those hours are divided up over two and sometime three different employers that they are forced to work for just to survive.
If these companies claim that they cannot afford to pay enough for their workers to earn a livable wage, isn't that very statement an admission that capitalism doesn't work? What, after all is in it for the common worker if not a chance to get ahead, or make some kind of decent life for themselves Are they suppose to just accept this kind of abuse? Be grateful for whatever scraps the wealthy decide to leave for them? This is where unions, government, and consumer spending power should work together to force these companies to adopt fair employment and wage practices. If they want to do business in this country then they have to start playing by the rules, including paying a fair share to support a decent society that allows them to earn those profits in the first place. They keep wanting to call this a Christian nation, it's time they started acting Christian.
So to even out this inequity I think large corporations that try to skirt labor laws by primarily using a part time work force should pay into a common fund that would be used to finance benefits for people who work forty or more hours a week, just like any regular "full" time employee would earn. Why should Part time workers be punished for actually working longer hours than many full time workers do, simply because it is for more than one company? If you are lucky enough to have benefits, how many hours did you have to work to earn them this week?
This country is suppose to be about rewarding hard work, not position.
© C Erich Dunne august, twenty-thirteen.
"The distance between the lifestyles of the haves and have nots is increasing daily and exponentially! This is a gross societal injustice and is what government SHOULD be about...the welfare of its people not a segment thereof!" ~ James Mentlow
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