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People who work from home all the time ‘cut emissions by 54%’ against those in office
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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And then there is the guys in the factory and the warehouse who can not be afforded this "luxury". The doctors and nurses, the school- and kindergarten-teachers who need to be at a specific place to do their jobs. This proposal simply does not work for everybody. The whole "work from home debate" seem to focus on a particular kind of jobs and disregards that all those jobs only exists, because manufacturing takes place in China. I'd love to see a change of focus, from product price to quality and sustainability of industry products to go along with qualified manufacturing jobs returning to Europe. And in that context we can hopefully stop shifting the exploitation of workers to Asia along with the Jobs and exploit our own workers again. NO! Of course, not exploit them as much anymore.
I'm one of those people who needs to be at a specific location. That has nothing to do with WFH for other people, and I think the option should be broadly available for jobs for which it's possible. There is no one solution that addresses all possible situations.
I'm not saying working from home should not be available for anybody who wants to do it, sorry if I sounded like it. I just wanted to emphasize that it is a solution for a specific subset of employees. I see a big potential to alienate a big chunk of people if we don't put this in context.
You are right but massive WFH adoption where possible would mean less commuters, less idling in trafic. Maybe even leaves space for some downsizeing of the car based infra we have, to be replaced with bike friendly or more walkable spaces/roads.
The manufacturing jobs are a tough one. It would be nice to see a shift, but not only by bringing the jobs back, but also by lifting up the exploited workers in Asia for example. It might just level the market to be competitive? I have no idea hoe it would look like, just a thouhht.
The manufacturing question is a tough one, because changing this requires taking short term profits away from companies and exchanging them for a long term better future. That's a tough idea to sell. But I guess I'm derailing the discussion a bit with that point.
Letting people work from home is an easy decision in contrast. That's just about changing some insecure managers minds. You can usually do that with numbers. Same goes for 4 day work weeks. Both of those are inevitable because companies who adopt it will have a competitive advantage in terms of acquiring talent in the next 10 years.
IDK what to tell ya dude. It's an option for a lot of people. Sorry you work in a warehouse i guess?
Also don't look in your neighbor's bowl unless it's to make sure they have enough.
Its not specific to warehouses. This is how most of the industrial sector operates. This is where all the products and their precursors come from every single day. Reducing production reduces supply (in term sky rocketing price) and literally every single part of the supply chain of almost all products are actively strained.
Again I agree with the other commenter that it doesn't mean it shouldn't happen for office workers, just that everyone who spouts this off completely forgets about a VERY LARGE and IMPACTFUL portion of the labor market
a. I don't.
b. That's my point. Improvements in the workplace are great. I just wanted people to be aware that this change is not applicable for a big part of the workforce. I was trying to make sure people saw that their neighbors bowl would still be empty so to say.
I'd love if my commute to work was shorter because my neighbors get to stay home. If gas prices were cheaper because my neighbors get to stay home. If my environment was cleaner, because my neighbors get to stay home.
Worker solidarity is not a zero sum game. Quit drinking the capitalist Kool Aid
This is Elon's argument. My auto workers have to drive to work so you should too!
Oh, and keep buying my cars while you're at it!