Apple, Google may end wage-capping case

Well I never!

Companies screwing staff in order to "raise shareholder value?" Who'dathunkit?

If I seem a little bitter...tough. I’m sick of this crap. Put your work in, do a good job, get a living wage. That was the promise, was it not? This is why we keep voting the bastards into office, and buying the products of these greedy swine? Unbelievably however, I’ll get downvoted for posting my outrage to these sorts of shenanigans, and some twit will post some ridiculous diatribe about how “this is capitalism, and capitalism is the root of all good. If you don’t like it, go somewhere else/kill yourself/something equally inane.”

Really though people…it’s not the fault of the companies, or of the folk who run them. Soulless greedy bastards always seek power; it’s us, both as employees and as consumers, who keep putting them there.

I do my part; I actually learn about the political candidates I vote for…and I do vote each and every chance I get. I defend my the staff in my department as vigorously as is possible, trying to ensure they get the best deal that it is possible to arrange for them. If they work hard and are willing to learn/broaden their knowledge then I see no reason not to work to see these efforts rewarded.

It doesn’t seem to have any effect though. Against the likes of Apple or Google the efforts of one individual are completely ineffectual. Even on a local scale, where we have EA (Bioware) and Intuit, how much can one individual do? Write a letter? Post an angry comment on the web?

To read the comments from previous articles about the topic here on El Reg (and likely the replies and squillion thumbsdowns to this very post) it would seem that the mere mention of anything approaching “workers rights,” “fair treatment” or “unionisation” is considered the heathen devil. Somehow, we are all blessed by the magical “consultant fairy” and able to strike out on our own, milking all the evil corporations for muchos dineros. (Except of course when it the talk turns to taxing consultants. Then of course the wailing and gnashing of teeth reaches a fever pitch.)

So what then? We can’t even agree amongst ourselves that getting screwed over by these companies even is a problem. How can we ever hope to prevent it? Do we even want to? Are we so whipped by the thought of having our jobs offshored or whatever else that we will quietly allow our wages and standard of living to be stalled or lowered to the lowest common denominator?

I don’t have the answers…I wish I did. Either way, I’m sick of these greedy bastards. I think it’s time to start making my decisions about where to buy products from entirely based off of lists like this: http://www.canadastop100.com/. Well, that…and considerations like not massively screwing over customers, ruining the environment or other obvious signs of corporate malfeasance. It might not be possible to be completely “pure” to that ideology…but at least it will have the effect of feeling like I have done something, however small to stick it to the people trying to screw both myself and my entire industry out of a living wage for our hard work.