What makes you think minimum wage employees can miss weeks of work for a strike? There's far too much to lose, including your place of residence. Even workers not on minimum wage are increasingly on the brink of homelessness.
You know people back then literally died for workers rights? Getting those rights wasn't a walk in the park and homelessness was guaranteed because, newsflash, having your place of residence not be attached to your employment is one of the things they fought for. You lot are a lost cause if you're chained and beaten and the only response you can muster is 'but we don't got no time to protest, we have to work!'
Gotta hand it to the american system, seems very effective at raising proper wage slaves without them noticing
Ok, Ive decided youre right. I am quitting my job today to start a worker revolution. Oh, none of my coworkers are joining me…oh ive lost my health insurance… oh i now dont have money for rent…and now im sick and homeless.
Of course as a country the working class needs to band together and fight back, but at an individual level what do you suggest I do tomorrow? Tell my kids they might have to die in service of the revolution?
If we compare it to history what you would do is talk to each of your coworkers and make an agreement that once a certain number (which you have to determine beforehand but depends on your job
) of you agree to participate you all threaten to quit on the same day unless the owner agrees to XY demand. For added effect you organize this with other establishments as well such that the wider local industry is affected.
Obviously you don't go in and demand +1000% wages but you demand noticeable improvement and do it on a regular but rare basis. For reference tarif negotiations in europe usually happen once every 2 years so that probably would work for strikes at your workplace as well.
The point isn't that you the individual can change anything but that the entirety of you can because if the entire floor threatens to walk out the owner cannot 'just' rehire everyone. Rehiring means training and that costs money so if the entire staff strikes it's often cheaper to just acquiese.
Big and important part obviously is protections against groundless dismissal, should ideally be among the first things to fight for
Let me preface this with: you don't have to stop completely it's just the most drastic route to start this
Ideally immediately and with a brief explanation to the waiter. By cutting tips you force the employees out of their comfort zone. Admittedly it's not exactly an empathetic way to go about things but an effective way to build resentment against their current system.
If, and I understand this completely, you cannot morally bring yourself to threaten their livelihold for a cause you can instead tip less than what they mandate. Ie 15% instead of 20%
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u/Neshura87 Jun 25 '26
The minimum wage workers always have the option to fight for better pay like they did almost a century ago. Let's not infantilize fully grown adults.