Blog 11: The Fight for $15

Across the country low wage workers are rallying together under the "Fight for $15". The purpose is to raise the minimum wage in fast food and retail up to $15 an hour. They are fighting to have the right for payed vacation, sick days, and to have fair attendance policies. All with efforts of fair and respectful scheduling practices that would allow low wage workers to work only one job instead of two or three or even four jobs. With this formation of a union, the subjection of racism, sexism, and anti-immigrant discrimination comes along with the organization of the union without retaliation. There is an overwhelmingly number of low wage workers who are female and people of color. The hiring practices for these retail and fast food industries take part in the discrimination knowing that these people are only able to get these jobs yet, are still barely making it to survive.
Many big multi-million dollar corporations and business use scare tactics and intimidation to prevent workers from fighting for more rights and benefits. Many bosses threaten workers with being layed off in order for them to stay quiet about their wages and benefits that they are not receiving. In Fred Goldsteins' lecture "Low-Wage Capitalism" he looks at technology and how it has pushed many corporations into cheapening the worker, to improve the revenue production of labor and increase the overall surplus value. In his lecture he describes a company called Stanley tools who uses computers in their factories to show the workers how they compete with the other factory located in Thailand. Stanley tools uses this as a way to intimidate the workers and threaten them by telling the workers they will move the company to Thailand if they cannot keep up with production. Similarly, other companies are starting to incorporate this idea into their companies. McDonalds and Taco Bell are just two examples of companies beginning to introduce technology into automated ordering systems to basically quiet the complaints of the labor workers and push aside the rallying of many upset low wage workers.

Instead of helping the workers who are struggling to live in this free market economy the new automated ordering systems replace the people who take your order with machines thus, putting even more people out of jobs. In my opinion, the automated ordering systems are an easy and more accessible way for ordering food (aka fast food) but not only is it more lazy but with each new machine, comes one less job for someone else. How will customer service work? Would there even be customer service? And if so is that going to be an automated machine too? Our world is constantly striving to be at the most developed it can be through technology and fast food industries is only the beginning.