- 18 Feb 2023 17:20
#15265337
I watched this documentary and found it interesting. The working people are not asking for the moon. The woman that is a waitress in the documentary at the beginning just says with such hope....I just want weekends off and holidays. I want to have a weekend off.
That is terrible that someone works hard their whole lives and depends on tips that are irregular and not consistent and on top of that they do not have any real time to rest. The USA needs to mandate paid time off for workers across the board. Even if they are part time. The minimum wage has to hit fifteen dollars an hour at least and worker rights need to improve drastically. Undermining worker rights will lead to the chaos of Southwest Airlines and also many other industries. If you do not support the workers and their rights? The entire society goes down the tubes.
People complain about the price of food. The ones making money off of food in the USA are the middle men. And the big chains and corporations. Agricultural workers have abysmal working conditions and often work under terrible circumstances, in triple digit heat, without adequate shelter, and cooking facilities or toilets, and often arrive from Central America, Mexico and other nations without much in terms of basic clothing and medical care. They got COVID 19 and often had to show up sick to work or be fired since the growing season is so short and the harvest has to be the top priority. It endangers other people subject to their illness spreading on the food people consume. Taking care of all workers is a human rights issue. A health issue.
Restaurants have gone bust in the pandemic. I am sure all of you know restaurants that have closed due to the pandemic and the slowing down of customer patronage. Restaurants are the most common business and employs more people in the USA after truck driving....yet, a lot of restaurants do not survive their first two years open for business. Why? Many of these businesses are responsible for paying huge amounts of sales taxes, and city taxes, and higher rents, and they pay people really low wages based on an outdated restaurant wage law, and the tips do not keep up with inflation. The costs of electricity and water and garbage and etc...is very bad in the USA. It cuts into these businesses. People see restaurant work as grunt work and it gets zero respect in the society. There are many reasons for the reality of restaurants never being really profitable. Yet a city without restaurants and without diners and cafeterias and without variation of foods and menus is a city most people find not attractive to live in. Why don't they create better circumstances for all the people working in these places?
It is simple. The entire society is not about serving small businesses or local economies. It is built to serve huge multinational corporations and chains and to have lobbyists flooding the halls of congress to make sure only the most wealthy and powerful players get their needs met in the government. The average taxpayer gets NOTHING done for them.
People are getting fed up with that. That is not only the USA but many nations in the world have the same problem. Inequality. Lack of power of the vast majority of voters. Regular working people being ignored and who gives a damn. That is creating tremendous problems. If it is not addressed? It won't get solved.
That is terrible that someone works hard their whole lives and depends on tips that are irregular and not consistent and on top of that they do not have any real time to rest. The USA needs to mandate paid time off for workers across the board. Even if they are part time. The minimum wage has to hit fifteen dollars an hour at least and worker rights need to improve drastically. Undermining worker rights will lead to the chaos of Southwest Airlines and also many other industries. If you do not support the workers and their rights? The entire society goes down the tubes.
People complain about the price of food. The ones making money off of food in the USA are the middle men. And the big chains and corporations. Agricultural workers have abysmal working conditions and often work under terrible circumstances, in triple digit heat, without adequate shelter, and cooking facilities or toilets, and often arrive from Central America, Mexico and other nations without much in terms of basic clothing and medical care. They got COVID 19 and often had to show up sick to work or be fired since the growing season is so short and the harvest has to be the top priority. It endangers other people subject to their illness spreading on the food people consume. Taking care of all workers is a human rights issue. A health issue.
Restaurants have gone bust in the pandemic. I am sure all of you know restaurants that have closed due to the pandemic and the slowing down of customer patronage. Restaurants are the most common business and employs more people in the USA after truck driving....yet, a lot of restaurants do not survive their first two years open for business. Why? Many of these businesses are responsible for paying huge amounts of sales taxes, and city taxes, and higher rents, and they pay people really low wages based on an outdated restaurant wage law, and the tips do not keep up with inflation. The costs of electricity and water and garbage and etc...is very bad in the USA. It cuts into these businesses. People see restaurant work as grunt work and it gets zero respect in the society. There are many reasons for the reality of restaurants never being really profitable. Yet a city without restaurants and without diners and cafeterias and without variation of foods and menus is a city most people find not attractive to live in. Why don't they create better circumstances for all the people working in these places?
It is simple. The entire society is not about serving small businesses or local economies. It is built to serve huge multinational corporations and chains and to have lobbyists flooding the halls of congress to make sure only the most wealthy and powerful players get their needs met in the government. The average taxpayer gets NOTHING done for them.
People are getting fed up with that. That is not only the USA but many nations in the world have the same problem. Inequality. Lack of power of the vast majority of voters. Regular working people being ignored and who gives a damn. That is creating tremendous problems. If it is not addressed? It won't get solved.
La historia de mi amor
se pudiera encontrar
en cada corazón,
en cada soledad.
Silvio Rodriguez
se pudiera encontrar
en cada corazón,
en cada soledad.
Silvio Rodriguez