So slavery as indentured servitude is the American future. Way to “new model” the old model.
Cool. You go first, asshole. >:(
(Not you, OP, you’re cool.)
Well, we do not know. OP may actually be the new secretary of commerce.
The factory jobs that existed in post-war America would be a vast improvement over the current service economy, but those jobs don’t exist anymore. Union jobs with high pay, benefits, retirement after 20 years, etc. Those are not the factory jobs they’re looking to create.
Factories are mostly automated now anyway. Rebuilding US manufacturing will not only take years but it will be done in a way that minimizes the actual jobs created. They’ll also still have to compete with factories all over the world where the currency is worth much less and the global price of the end product reflects that.
Post-war America had a strong domestic market and middle class that could afford to buy all the things American manufacturing built. Americans are now buying groceries on layaway and waiting for the sickness or car trouble or new Trump policy that makes them homeless.
And those jobs weren’t good because they were in a factory, they were good because they were union.
Still, safety standards were far from ideal at that time
The reality is that the job is kind of irrelevant. We had a manufacturing economy then, and a service based economy now, but the real difference between today and back then were wage strength and social parity. Of course pensions existed too, but still.
Back in the day one man could make enough to support a family on a relatively entry level skill level income. Today one person can hardly afford rent by themselves anywhere in the US for the same skill level of work.
Instead of paying people any more than absolutely necessary, we pay shareholders. No pensions, let alone benefits for a lot of people.
We need taxes on the wealthy and higher wages, if not legally mandatory profit sharing schemes for all businesses
Preach! I have an advanced degree in a technical field and I earn (adjusted for inflation) about 75% of what my father did in the same industry doing similar work without even a GED. The real punch to the gut is I live in a high cost of living area while he worked in a very low cost of living area. Thanks, capitalism!
Factory jobs used to consist of one person being able to move about and do various jobs. I may be misremembering, but I believe it was Ford (who was not exactly a great person, go search) who stuck each individual in one place doing one minute part of an overall job. Having worked in a couple of factories, one of which was very well paid, it was mind- crushingly boring. And 1/2 hour meals with coworkers was sniping and backbiting other coworkers. I liked repairs better because it was variable, and I got to go to storage and look for things so I could move away from my station.
QA was probably the most soul-crushing, except for that one factory, that didn’t pay well, had everyone on mandatory 7 days, 8+ for about two months at the time my supervisor tried to write me up for being absent the days with the flu, with a doctor’s note. I walked off the job that day and was hired at a nearby competitor the next day, and given a start bonus, told to come in the following Monday. I loved that super, the pay was great, but it still was not great.
Want more than 2 minutes to poop? You’re fired!
Yes ma’am.
They say factory jobs but really they mean mining/oil towns, where everything is controlled by the mining/oil companies that still exists in some parts of Africa and Latin America.
They’ll enslave every last person on the planet if you let them. You have to fight back, or that’s your future. That’s everyone’s future.
That’s rich coming from a group of people who haven’t collectively worked a single day in their lives.
What factory jobs?
deleted by creator
The ones where Big Brother will torture and kill you for refusing
YOU AND YOUR FAMILY FIRST, ASSHOLE.
Yeah you and your kids and their kids… All slaving away in poor conditions, at the same time.
No retirement for the old. Child labor. Shitty conditions with zero worker protections. Low pay to keep you in poverty. All while the rich sit on their lazy fat asses like the parasites they are…
He means while they’re still kids btw
The USSR had lifetime factory jobs, too.
deleted by creator
#blueshell
Was that the name of the ghost gun or sth?
No, but it should be.
In Mario Kart, if a player gets too far ahead of the pack, the game starts giving blue shells to other players. Blue shells track down and knockout the leading player, giving the rest a chance to catch up.
I didn’t realize that only happens when someone leads too far ahead
Ok, so a few points, from a lifelong industrial OEM technician:
First of all, there’s nothing wrong with factory jobs IF your employer takes care of its workers, that’s a big “if” but one all the world’s workers should take care of, since manufacturing is of course one of the biggest areas of employment and it’s not going away anytime soon.
My job, working for an equipment manufacturer, can be quite enjoyable and well paid, again depending on the employer, I’d advice any technically inclined individual to look into it. St the same time, I’d never work as a maintenance tech in a factory, that’s usually a very stressful job, with emergency work in poor condition, often pushed to work unsafely because of the rush, on old machines often dirty or in poor repair.
Still, I’ve seen some people make quite a comfortable position in that setting, so it may not be all bad.As for pay, I think pay should depend mostly on 3 factors: effort, skill and comfort. Those who work harder, are more skilled and are forced into unpleasant settings should be paid more. If you want a more comfortable job you cannot expect to make more than a good, equally skilled worker who’s in noisy, dangerous or disgusting environments, and so on.
I don’t understand the intergenerational employment point, that sounds sorta dystopic and has no connection to the rest of the argument.
I agree that the work isn’t too bad if you’re the right type of person. We have pretty good rules from OSHA.
TBH though the intergenerational employment and company towns angle makes it seem like all the rules are going to be discarded so I’m a bit concerned
from OSHA
Not for long!
And that’s the problem! These jobs may be okay for now but the people running the government, including the clown in the article, actively wants to make it worse.
I didn’t realize that I could be a toolmaker when I grew up until I was already grown up.
I fucking love my job. If I had realized how cool this job was when I was in high school I’d be one of the most well paid people in my field right now. As it is I’m just doing pretty well.
Industrial jobs definitely aren’t for everyone, but that’s literally any job. I left a comfortable office job for the trades because those jobs aren’t for everyone either. And I’m far happier for it.
How is it possible to avoid repetitive stress injury on an assembly line? Seems inevitable.
Aside from what @SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone wrote, ideally we’ll reduce human labor to overseeing machines, at least on industrial lines, over time.
Replacing humans with machines generally results in greater disparity of wealth, historically
You still can’t stop progress, so you’ve got to solve that issue another way
Development of technology isnt always progress. Sometimes its a step backwards.
Progress depends on if it does good or bad. If it just causes a greater disparity of wealth (while building crappy machines that are designed for obsolescence and people dont need), then it is not progress.
Example: looms are arguably progress (almost everyone needs cloth). Robots that manufacturer ICE SUVs are not progress (making more gas guzzlers is causing mass extinction).
Don’t confuse technological and societal progress.
It may not be positive for society, but you still can’t stop progress, if you don’t develop what’s possible, someone else will.
We can pass laws to prevent things like fossil fuel extraction.
If you don’t own the machines you should get supplemental income from being displaced.
You should get income regardless
Great question. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are more difficult to avoid when tasks are repetitive, forceful, and/or use a limited range of motion. Implementing a “stretch and flex” type program, completing thorough ergonomic evaluations (and actually following through with their findings), and rotating workers through various tasks that change the motions performed and body parts being stressed will knock down injuries considerably.
Considering they’re working on getting rid of lunch or bathroom breaks this is just a fantasy… is it possible to have decent factory jobs? Sure. Will that be what’s given to you as an option? Absolutely not
This must be prevented from happening, once it becomes the institutional norm it will be so difficult to reverse course
I agree this “factory jobs for everyone and their children” bullshit needs to be prevented, but what I listed isn’t just a fantasy. It’s literally a major part of what I do for a living. It’s all I did for a time when I was a consultant. Employers who are smart enough to have any concern for long-term sustainability and profitability take this quite seriously as it’s not just ethically the “right thing to do”, it’s a smart business move.
I only contract in upstate NY but the manufacturing facilities were specifically placed in areas that will support the bare minimum wage and consistently have supply and or facility issues due to the location. A major pharma organization draining water towers. A large toothpaste manufacturer neglecting PRVs the decades and constantly shooting silica’s into the air.
I see great potential in these facilities but i am ALWAYS reminded of the shit business practices i see even when they cause the company to lose money.
Sure some of these places will prosper but most will crumble inside 5 years and displace a lot of people.
You won’t be well paid, you will not have benefits, you will be forbidden from unionizing, you will have very little say about the particular job you work or the schedule you’re given. You’ll take what you get or starve in the streets. It’s disingenuous to act like “factory work” will resemble the good factory jobs that currently exist.
If that’s what it takes for Americans to reach their limit and claw back some dignity from their owners…
How bout that American Dream? How bout that upward mobility? Fuck you, Howard Buttlick.
That shit died, or suffered a major blow under Reagan. It’s only been downhill since. I’m old enough to remember the yearly increases to the federal minimum wage before they stopped all that at like $7.25. I think my first job paid $6.40. Every time this dude is on TV he’s grinning like some doofus or laughing too hard from the lukewarm farts leaking from trump’s mouth.
With good union representation, right?
deleted by creator
Oh, cool. We’re going backwards. That’s fun.
The ® next to their name means “reverse”, like an automobile’s transmission.
Since the New Deal the goal of the capitalist class has been a slow crawl back to slavery. Couldnt do it too fast. Had to take it slow.
No taxes for the rich and businesses. No rights for workers. And eventually No pay or choice for them either.
That beyond all the other myriad failures of this country is why I hate it so much and why I long to see it fall.
And it’s all been fully Bipartisan. Republicans advance the goals of oligarchy by leaps. Democrats are the vanguard that protects the rich and the corrupt. They stop all of us from making things better. Social and cultural issues are ephemeral at best. Ultimately unimportant to the oligarchy beyond their utility as a tool of control and coercion. There is no morality involved. There is just greed and corruption.
