Progressive
Christianity, Worker's Rights and Social Justice
The
lack of employment and economic opportunities, the lack of access to
health care and higher education, plus extreme economic inequality
due to a very high concentration of American wealth being in the
hands of far too few people has turned the majority of the American
populace into a powder-keg. Like the Middle East and parts of Europe,
America too has become a ticking time bomb of inequality and lack of
opportunity. The rights of US workers have been trampled underfoot by
the rich multinational corporations and the top 1% elite who are
outsourcing all our jobs overseas as they leave us high and dry in
minimum wage jobs with no future. The
least common denominator of middle class loss of income due to mass
layoffs, the loss of housing due to foreclosure and eviction and the
excess of economic inequality due to a disproportional concentration
of wealth, is that all three of these comprise the human rights of
workers throughout the world, beginning here in America since our
country is supposed to be the standard-bearer of the world for
freedom and opportunity. If the American worker does not get what he
or she is legally and rightfully entitled to, there will be strikes,
protests, sit-ins, “occupying” and other peaceful forms of civil
disobedience until we get what we want, up to and including the
complete shutdown of the entire US economy for at least one day. And
we will do all of this without firing a single shot, just as the
protesters and public demonstrations overseas did before us, and just
as the Rev. MLK, Jr. did during the civil rights movement. And then
we do it again – and again.
There
are also a growing number of employed people who, despite having a
job, are still living in poverty. There are at least 15 million US
workers who now fall into this rapidly growing category. The median
US income of $33,000.00 a year is not going to get you far in today's
economy, and half of the country is making less than that. The reason
we struggle with these things is because the Economic Elite have
robbed us all through the systematic confiscation of middle class
wealth, security and prosperity. This has caused tremendous suffering
among workers throughout the world, it is no less than a criminal
act, and it is the result of the largest single transfer of wealth in
all of human history from the world's middle class to the rich. And
so I came up with what I call in my
book
“The 8 Fundamental Rights of Mankind”. But for now I will only
focus on the first one because there is so much to be said on just
the first one.
The
first and foremost right is that of all workers and independent
contractors. The basic rights of all workers can be broken down into
six parts; the right to a livelihood and a living wage, rights of
unemployed persons, right to free vocational re-training for life,
right to organize, right to a flexible work week and right to
health-related, family and maternity leave. The
first thing on the list of worker's rights is also the highest
priority, that of a fair and realistic minimum wage, and more
fundamentally, the basic human right to a livelihood. Unemployment as
we have previously known it must now come to an end forever. This
does not mean unemployment will be eliminated, but periods of
unemployment can and should be converted to times of retraining to
acquire new skills or even completely change careers. What gives any
wealthy corporate 1%'er CEO the right to tell any given man or woman,
“Sorry, you are not needed around here anymore. Your skills,
experience, and your work ethic no longer matter here. Our company's
bottom line and the interests of our shareholders are far more
important than that of our workers.” Who do these jerks think they
are? They outsourced many of our jobs overseas so that corporate
America could enrich themselves at the expense of their former
employees, leaving middle and working class Americans with no way to
earn a respectable living and be self-sufficient. The jobs that could
not be outsourced were downsized out of existence. Then this same
bunch of corporate “leaders” turned around and, with the
cooperation of American academia, raised costs for higher education
so high that many who wished to go back to school and train for a new
career were unable to afford the expenses. In the end, numerous
persons who urgently wish to improve themselves through education or
vocational retraining have been and are continuing to be held back
from doing so, and that is a social injustice and a civil rights
violation worthy of the loudest protests in numerous public places
throughout our country.
There
is entirely too much imbalance and inequity in the distribution of
wealth in the US today. Over 90% of all available liquid cash and
assets are in the hands of less than 10% of the US population. And so
every day it's steak for them and beans for the rest of us. How much
longer are we, the middle and working classes, going to allow this to
go on? You know, it looks to me like our country is in dire need of
some peaceful and orderly wealth redistribution, and I don't mean
collectivized economies such as Socialism or Communism either. One
very good way to accomplish this would be to send everybody back to
school who wants to go free of charge. Who would pick up the tab for
the tuition for all those millions of people? Would it be the
government? Absolutely not! The bill should instead be presented to
corporate America, since it is corporate America who outsourced or
downsized all of our jobs in the first place. Congress did just that
at the end of World War 2 when they passed the G.I. Bill. If it could
be done in the 1940's, then it can be done today. Simply make the GI
Bill available for everybody! Besides, if we can't work for these
companies anymore then they owe it to us to train us to work
somewhere else instead of discarding us like so much trash. Any
solution amounting to anything less is a social injustice and a civil
rights issue worthy of a national chorus of protests, demonstrations
and “occupations”.
This
brings me to the point that I wish to make. In today's world, if the
net take-home pay of any given individual does not meet, or just
barely meets, that same individuals daily cost of living, then that
is tantamount to economic slavery. Let me say that again because this
point simply cannot be overemphasized. If your take-home pay won't
even take you home, you are a slave. Oh, you are free to move around
and to come and go as you choose and take care of business, that is
true. But if after you go to the grocery store, pay the light bill
(assuming you are fortunate enough to be able to do that), put gas in
your tank (assuming you are lucky enough to still own a car) and set
some money aside for next month's rent or mortgage (if you're not
already on the street or living with relatives) – and then after
all that you peek into your wallet and realize that you have $7.00
left to live on for the whole stinkin' week, that's when you know you
are a slave. What happens to the people whose incomes are at or below
minimum wage? They go hungry and are often homeless. Many of these
newly homeless, formerly middle class people also have kids who have
fallen into poverty along with their parents. And this is happening
in the United States of America, supposedly the richest country in
the world. This is a moral outrage, a social injustice, and it is
economic discrimination of the worst kind. Since it is an issue of
discrimination, by extension it also becomes a 21st
century civil rights issue generating a demand for fundamental change
in the way our economy works and the way our government works.
This
too, then, is cause for protests, demonstrations, boycotts,
occupations, general strikes and other forms of peaceful civil
disobedience. On this point alone, there are enough issues on the
collective dinner plate of the American people to foster open revolt
throughout the land. Never mind everything else that I have written
about. Think about it for a minute. How does it feel to be a slave?
Makes you feel kind of angry, doesn't it? Maybe even violated on a
certain level, like we've been robbed. The time to rise up and say,
“No more!” has arrived. It's time for all of us to get out from
in front of out TV's and our computers and to get our backsides out
in the street and start protesting. And that's just for this issue
alone. Now allow me to go over the rest of these rights.
The second basic issue
under worker's rights is the right to better and more comprehensive
unemployment insurance, and to also allow some independent
contractors to draw unemployment provided certain conditions are met
(subject to future legislation or referendum). Any worker who has
lost his or her job through no fault of their own will be entitled to
up to 50 weeks of unemployment compensation instead of the current
maximum of 26 weeks due to a continued over saturation in the job
markets of most developed countries, starting with the US. Besides
their job search, at any time during the worker's period of
unemployment he or she will have two other options available to them
to assist in the development of their careers. The first will be the
ability to sign up for a public works project to obtain immediate
employment. (The worker's second option will be reeducation, and I
will touch on that one next so please bear with me). Workers will be
required to choose one of the above to qualify for benefits. We have
been needing a massive public works project to repair America's
crumbling infrastructure for decades. I would conservatively estimate
that anywhere from 1-3 million people could be employed this way as
contract laborers, salaried employees or subcontractors, depending on
the need. The fact of the matter is that we need jobs, we need lots
of them, and we need them right now! Since our government has failed
to act in this regard in spite of an obvious critical need, we will
have to do this ourselves. Let's get this on the ballot for the next
general election, and let's also strike and protest for action on
this matter until then. We might as well, because things are going to
continue to get worse until we do.
The
third human right listed is the right to free vocational retraining
for life. Anybody can go back to school and get retrained at will, up
to and including a 2 year degree (with a 4-year available for some
additional cost). Large, wealthy corporations with robust cash flows,
as well as millionaires and the super-rich, will supply the necessary
funding through what I call in my book “the excess wealth tax”
(you can buy the book on
this site or on Amazon) to find
out the details which include repealing the federal income tax).
Since corporate America made the decision to send their factories and
all the jobs those factories provided overseas to lower their labor
costs, and since this action has caused the obliteration of millions
of American careers, it will be corporate America who will shoulder
the expense of retraining these people whose careers evaporated
through no fault of their own. If they take your job away, or if they
export or downsize your career out of existence like I experienced
myself, then it is those same corporate henchmen who must pay for
your reeducation. Higher education is a basic, fundamental human
right. The day has come when higher education is no longer only for
those who can “afford” the tuition. As of today, higher
education, and the fundamental right to improve and enrich ourselves,
is a fundamental human right that must be had by all without
qualification.
Before
I go on, let me add one more tasty ingredient into this mix. Students
enrolled in reeducation or public works project workers who have
children, will be given taxpayer-funded day care free of charge so
they can get their education or go to work without having to worry
about watching their kids. Now I know what at least some of you are
thinking right now – “who's gonna pay for that?” Let me put all
this into perspective for you. If your US government took all the
money that was spent in a single day on the twin occupations in Iraq
and Afghanistan plus the clandestine and illegal wars and “black
ops” in Pakistan, Libya, Yemen and elsewhere and set it aside in an
enormous savings account, there would be enough money to send every
American school age kid from the first grade through high school and
upwards to any college, public or private, or any state university or
vocational or technical school to earn their degree of choice with
the tuition fully paid for, plus the cost of all their books and
supplies, their meals, Internet access, new computers, and with
access to public transportation covered as well. So, for those who
say we can't afford to send everyone to college with their expenses
fully paid, or that the money to accomplish this just isn't there,
either doesn't know what they are talking about, or they are elitists
and bigots who can't stand to see middle and working class and
minority students getting ahead. Access to higher education, and
looking after the children of those who are retraining, is an
American civil right that should be equally available to all without
qualification, not just to those who can afford it. Would you like to
see test scores improve in our nation's schools? Tell all those kids
that they are all going to college, and watch their grades improve
noticeably. Give them an incentive to do better and our kids will
rise to the challenge every time.
The
fourth worker's right I'm writing about is simply the right to
organize anytime, anywhere. Any American worker who wants to join a
union must be allowed to do so, and any group of workers who decide
to organize themselves for the purposes of collective bargaining and
solidarity must be allowed to do so without interference or fear of
retribution. This should include a provision making it illegal for
companies to squash labor unions and from preventing unionization. If
our country's leadership is unwilling or unable to pass this and
other basic rights of all workers that I have mentioned, then we as
united American citizens must unite to get this issue on the next
ballot by way of popular referendum, strikes and demonstrations, and
other acts of civil disobedience. It's already an established fact
that American workers will get worse working conditions and pay, not
better, if they do not organize. In the meantime, the short-term
solution is to take this matter and all others like it into the
streets as the Occupy and 99% Movements have done. You know, if you
haven't joined us yet you really should, it's for your own good and
for the future of your country.
The
fifth human right is the right to a fair and reasonable workweek. All
workers who work more than 40 hours in a week, and all salaried
employees who work more than 50 hours per week, will be entitled to
compensation at time and a half. Unlike certain companies today, it
must become illegal for any given company to skirt around America's
labor laws. All companies with more than 1000 employees will be
required to offer either a four day workweek with a ten hour workday,
or a five day workweek with an eight hour workday to all its workers.
This will save a lot of energy, lessen traffic volume at rush hour,
and provide workers with more leisure time.
The
right to family and sick leave, which must include maternity leave
for women, is the final right I have listed for all workers and
independent contractors. Every other country in the developed world
from Europe to Canada to Japan has paid family and sick leave for its
workers – all except for the US. It's way past time for Congress
and the President to bring our country up to speed with the rest of
the world in this regard. Furthermore, medical, family and maternity
leave should be allowed for up to 3 months per calendar year, and it
must be made illegal to fire someone from his or her job because that
employee needed to take family leave. The right of all individuals to
have medical, family or maternity leave must be had by all, without
interference or fear of retribution, for the strengthening of our
families and the nurturing of our children.
The
fundamental rights of workers must be honored and acknowledged by
rule of law, and by a culture change that puts people before profits.
The days of funneling any given company's profits to its shareholders
instead of its employees must come to an end forever as corporations
gradually become replaced with employee-owned cooperatives, a
proliferation of nonprofits, or sole proprietorship web-based “micro
enterprises”. The workers who are the ones who keep things running
for the rest of us, it is they who are the new business model for the
21st century. In the best of cases, it will be the
workers, and not stockholders, who will be the new company owners and
investors as the old ways of greed-based capitalism continue to die
of old age. This is the new reality we must all embrace if we are to
thrive in the 21st century.
