I wish all that money and energy around corporate DEI had been funneled into labor organizing, strike funds, and worker education instead; that’s how you actually change a workplace
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Why would companies do that? While i think it was moral for companies to support DEI they did it with as much calculation as the current pullback. Companies always hope they can give something free or cheap that employees 'want' rather than something that costs them money.
No but I'm happy to talk about how DEI didn't stop harassment and discrimination in my former workspace but not being allowed to be a part of a union meant I lost my job.
yes. Ultimately you run into two problems. 1) both the milquetoast attempt and the radical attempt would have lead to a huge backlash and 2) with the number of farmers and union members voting directly against their interests, it's doubtful union efforts would have created lasting communities
The amount of private money it takes to compete for a national office more or less requires you to be a manager or landlord or both, tbh. We’ve had 45 years of democrats building the wrong kind of class solidarity
From a historical perspective, there's some truth to that. After the Regan admin started union busting in the open, corporations stopped pretending that "we have great relationship with our union." Instead,"We are committed to diversity" became a public relations go-to.
The new lib meta should be "unions are better at equity than dei" which is factually true. Unions have historically been more effective than dei programs at bringing up pay and representation for underprivileged minorities.
know how else you change a work place you wait till late at night when no ones around and you toss the boss of the roof. make sure the cameras are turned off before you lure them up there and then do to their office type a suicide note and leave.
I've been trying to make the best out of the situation and while being a union steward I'm also in the DEI and Safety committee. But working within the system takes years of building connections and you can still be arbitrarily vetoed. Real power comes from direct action.
my conspiracy theory is that DEI was a way to distract from the issue to focus on the wrong aspect of bettering workplaces, one that's tokenizing and posturing rather than empowering workers
Please expand my understanding. Could you give me any examples of identity politics addressing a fundamental societal problem more effectively than class politics would address the same problem?
not that diversity initiatives are bad, obviously it's good to have as many people from as many backgrounds as possible, but if workplaces were run truly democratically that would be a given
As a trans woman and union leader, what drives me crazy is people who fail to understand that redistributive labor policy is among the greatest things that can be done to elevate those in minority groups. Diversity of management only means diversity in who exploits and discriminates against us
Also though, there are some unions run by white men who discriminate against non-white men. As we've seen for decades. So it's awesome that you are a leader, sincere thanks for your efforts
Difference is that a properly run union is a democratic body and so you have avenue for recourse unlike management which is effectively autocratic. Moreover, overwhelming you will see them as more progressive than the cultural block of all net people within that community.
Unions taking a DEI approach to their work is powerful in exactly that sense. Making it safe for marginalized people to participate in the democratic process it has. DEI in corporate hands is fine - in unions it’s revolutionary
this is why a sane conservative movement would love DEI. the whole point was to push money and energy away from real change, they are just too stupid to get it
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Performative action is corporate approved!
https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/confirmed-unions-squandered-the-biden
Trump wants the government and corporations to hire fewer women and black people. That's basically all this is
If corporations don't track how many minority employees they hire, that number will stay low. That's the unfortunate reality.
I doubt that the US unionization rate can make up for this.