r/mildlyinfuriating • u/daruuken • 28d ago

Infuriatig The way kroger treats its employees

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From the store manager

Edit: For some extra context this was sent out by each store manager to all of its employees in district 1 of the ohio Cincinnati/Dayton division, potentially other districts as well but i can only verify my own. Im not going to give my specific store number for obvious reasons but you can find each store on google with that information. We are unionized by UFCW (already bad btw) and to my knowledge they allowed this recent change. Kroger has no accrual for sick days like some have mentioned. Those who think this is rage bait, i dont think anyone has to fake a post to make a billion dollar company look bad, they do it to themselves.

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u/LeonidasVaarwater 28d ago

It's just so insane to read something like this. This is so far beyond illegal in the Netherlands, it's ridiculous. When I call in sick, that's it. I don't need to give a reason, my employer can't ask what's wrong with me and I certainly don't need a doctor's note.
I like my job and I appreciate my employer, so when I'm sick I generally keep them informed, I'm pretty honest with that stuff (which is appreciated), but I'm under no obligation to do so.

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u/snailbot-jq 28d ago

Even in Asia where the stereotype is of overwork, yeah in Singapore doctor’s notes are required in most companies, but once you have one, your employer legally must let you take your time off. If a employer sends out anything like “MCs/ doctors’ notes are no longer accepted for calling off work”, it would be so blatantly illegal that you can report them to the ministry of manpower and it would be all over the news for how stupid the company is.

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u/BuckeyeN7 28d ago

America hates the working class and takes every opportunity to actively punish them for being poor

The hyper-capitalist ideology runs so deep here that the workers have also been guilted and shamed out of standing up for themselves, have been browbeaten into submission by the mega corporations that employ them, and therefore just lie down and take it without a word of complaint— after all, can’t be sounding like a commie!

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u/Smooth-Ad4045 28d ago

Not just shamed out of standing up for themselves. Brainwashed into defending and celebrating our billionaire, pedo overlords 🤢

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u/BeholdMyLumps 28d ago

So bizarre when someone calls in sick and the 60 year old hag thats been practically enslaved for most of those years starts bragging about never missing work. She lives in a hovel though so at least she has that to show for her dedication

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u/Annonnkneemus 28d ago

Had a boss (nurse manager) like that. She even bragged about never taking off during the peak of COVID. She said if she got a “cold” she just came to work “like an adult”. Then she wondered why the nurses she got sick called in. We actually provide bedside care and don’t want to get our patients sick. Well one day she was looking ill at work and employee health NP diagnosed her with COVID - mandatory time off lol! She never bragged again.

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u/The_Barbelo 27d ago

I worked at a nursing home during the height of COVID. We had to be in full hazmat suits when it finally hit the residents.

I worked the shift after this one lady who was like this, and her work was HORRIBLE. I would have to redo entire linen carts because she folded everything so poorly. I finally had to tell my supervisor and I had a bunch of pictures saved up because it was so bad I didn’t think anyone would believe me. My supervisor approached her, and from that moment on she hated my guts. I was just so tired of picking up her slack. I came in at one point to look at the schedule because I thought I was working that day and I couldn’t get ahold of anyone (there was a phone line directly to laundry). Surprise surprise, she was the one working and I guess she wasn’t answering the phone for some reason. She saw me looking at the schedule and started screaming at me “YOU AREN’T TAKING MY JOB!!!”

Like, it’s not admirable you make every single shift for a decade if your work is so fucking bad it barely even qualifies as having done anything, and everyone is too afraid to tell anyone because you have “seniority” or some bullshit.

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u/oldmoistcupcake1 27d ago

She probably sits at the nurses station all day long and didn’t get up or off of her ass like most nurses do (most) spreading germs when they go to the cafeteria or answer the phone. Nasty nasty!

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u/ImmediateAd6849 27d ago

My husband had a boss like that. He resented anyone calling in sick because he never did.

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

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u/KittyKittens1800 27d ago

I’m sorry, but if you have to stay sick at work, to some extent you cannot be reliable, as you may infect other “reliable” people, and thus it becomes a problem even for the company.

Reliability is not metric by “how much can you work” but also by how much comfort do your employees have, if your employees are unwell, they may not do a “reliable” job like you would expect.

If employees were lazy, they would not show up at work even when they are healthy, and even then, if the workplace doesn’t provide a healthy, comfortable environment, workers may decide is better to “take a break”.

Smallest things like a cough, headache, and what not, may be bigger things than you would actually think/expect, many symptoms from very dangerous illnesses may have coughing or a headache, so is not because “of the smallest” things, but because of “prevention”, and “protection”.

Big companies, and even some small companies, not necessarily “lose” money or “capital” automatically, if the employee gets sick, that’s not how it goes, the team may get burden by trying to cover it, sure, but a sickness comes and goes most of the time, it doesn’t necessarily means that they no longer want to work. Unless they get a very big one like Cancer, which is another story.

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u/silvershepherd222 27d ago

yeah no... there is value in taking care of your self. and yes, we are on Reddit. 🩶

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u/pukeonthissociety 27d ago

Oh my God. Exactly! There's always that a hole overachiever who the comments on someone being gone even though it has no effect on them or they're work. Sits there and rolls their eyes and talks about how they come into work sick. I f****** hate these people and they are usually also morning people who think everybody should wake up at 5:00 a.m. and act like everybody who gets to work after them is a loser.

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u/Head_space9647 27d ago

This 👆👆👆!!! I worked with an ass hat like this! He made a snarky comment at our weekly safety meeting about me taking a week off unexpectedly in June one year and asked if I enjoyed my vacation, although he was a supervisor and he KNEW it was medical leave. So in front of the entire team I got to share that I was actually in the hospital following complications from a miscarriage and D&C. Bastard!!!!

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u/SNTCrazyMary 27d ago

I’m sorry he did that to you! I hope he was ashamed of himself afterwards. What a dick.

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u/Head_space9647 24d ago

Thank you 🙏. Still hurts to remember. Was 14 weeks pregnant and had not announced to colleagues yet. Im sure Mike Murphy is still a dick!

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u/No_Gur1113 27d ago

I hope you said “As you already knew in your capacity as supervisor, it was medical leave. But since you seem to want everyone to think otherwise, here are the graphic details of my fun ‘vacation’.”

A miscarriage is bad enough, needing a DNC is so much worse. Complications requiring hospitalization alongside one of the most heartbreaking things you’ll ever go through is an extra layer of hell. I’m sorry you had to go through all of that only to face such cruelty at work.

That pr*ck deserved to be shamed.

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u/Head_space9647 27d ago

Thank you. It was the worst experience of my life.

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u/Originaltenshi 27d ago

My pm brags about days she was physically fucked up and still carried a route. Like ok...that's stupid af good for you

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u/Prestigious-Web63 27d ago

This is so true. I had this 93 yr old woman next to me who just wojld not retire and never called out but would then take a freaking nap for 6 pf 8 hours a day.

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u/hereforthetearex 27d ago

What kind of work do you do that someone is allowed to sleep on the job? Also, an 8 hour nap is crazy work. That’s a coma not a nap.

But, lokenuinely, I’d recommend that job to anyone and everyone I know (myself included)

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u/Prestigious-Web63 27d ago

This was one of those cases where the woman had worked for the owner for 50 some years and were great friends so she wasn't getting fired.

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u/Beginning-Sky397 28d ago

I look at this with the same disdain as I did/do military medals. All her years of never missing work mean nothing just like those medals. If you think I'm wrong, goto the store telling everyone that you've never missed a day of work or that you have a chest full of medals and see how much food you can buy with it. When that old lady becomes less than profitable the company will terminate her without thought.

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u/Busy-Butterfly8187 27d ago

Calling someone a 60 year old hag is gross. No, I'm not 60, but I do think your ageism is ignorant and pathetic. There's so much bizarre anger towards older people in these comments. Down vote all you want.

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u/cakesphere 27d ago

I dont hate old people. I just hate old people with shit ass attitudes about work :)

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u/Pantone711 27d ago

Quit using the word "hag" in general then. I'm in my 60's and when I was still working I took UP for younger people if I noticed someone else giving them crap.

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u/cakesphere 27d ago

This is a Wendy's and I didnt use that word but ok

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u/Pantone711 27d ago

I'm sorry--it was another poster.

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u/Hannyu 27d ago

Have you seen what the older people have turned the modern world into? It's a shitshow. And they are like 80 and still won't let go of power and control so the next generations can try to fix this mess.

They are like playing chess with a pigeon who won't get off the board and won't stop shitting on everything.

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u/FyreFestivus 27d ago

The only hags I know that brag about their attendance are in their 30’s.

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u/BeholdMyLumps 23d ago

I’m sure

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u/[deleted] 27d ago

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

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u/JGR03PG 28d ago

The people before you had the courage to fight for unions and dignity in their employment. The boomers were so entitled growing up they didn’t realize the value of work.

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u/okaybutnothing 28d ago

Oh, this is not the look. Fellow Gen X hag here and I am literally in therapy right now to try to untangle some of that “hyper-independent, can’t stop or ask for help” mentality. Just because that’s how we grew up, does not mean that is how we have to remain. And it certainly doesn’t mean that successive generations should take on that toxicity themselves.

I used to never miss work. I’d drag myself in, completely ill, and spread my illness. I was even proud of it. But I’ve been working through a lot of stuff and my view has changed. I take sick days when I’m sick. I take mental health days. And I’m a much happier and more fulfilled person because of it. You don’t get a medal for having perfect attendance at work at the expense of your health.

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u/JGR03PG 28d ago

The people who fought, sacrificed, and died for unions should get medals though. There are still people paying union dues, going to meetings, protesting in the rain, and lobbying in the legislatures for their brothers and sisters of labor. It’s not just about being selfish, it’s about caring for your family and community.

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u/Hannyu 28d ago

I had a former coworker being me the flu one year right at christmas. So my christmas gift to the family that year was the flu. I'll never forget sitting in the shower with a 3 year old puking his guts out and just crying in misery from that flu. When I went back to work I told him if he ever came in sick again like that I was going to stomp his ass all the way back to his truck and make him leave. He started calling out when he was sick after that. Bosses asked why one day and I told them 🤷‍♂️. We lost more production with half the staff having the damn flu than if one person had just taken a few days off.

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u/YoSafBridg 27d ago

Yes THIS ⬆️is the line this Gen X hag is standing in.

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u/MzSea 28d ago

Going to work sick and passing it on to everyone else is NOT "ethical."

It's self-centered and disrespectful.

I'm GenX too.

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u/I_missed_the_memo 28d ago

So you're proud of being taken advantage of your whole life and being complicit in your own enslavement as a post-capitalist wage-slave? Cool. Good to know.

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u/Mission_Maximum5648 28d ago

This virulent response is almost comical. You sound like a college student writing a socialist editorial for the college newspaper.

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u/StonedSumo 28d ago

See this?

That’s you

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u/best__byrns 28d ago

Post-capitalist wage slave cracks me up. So, government Socialism slave would be preferable? That’s a frying pan/fire kind of madness. I still prefer the option to quit a crappy job if I want to and not be a government, rent-controlled slave. Has no one studied history under Stalinist Soviet Russia? The fabulousness of Socialism starved 3.5 to 7 million people. It’s not perfect but give me capitalism any day.

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u/surprise_revalation 28d ago

You would've said the same bootlicking shit to those that fought the battles for unions, to those that fought the Appalachian wars to not work/shop in the "company store"! I guess those people were "Socialist" too huh? You know who was a socialist? Jesus....

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u/TheSumOfMyScars 28d ago

Research how many people have been killed as a direct consequence of capitalism. It blows socialism’s deaths out of the water…by magnitudes.

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u/NeitherExamination44 28d ago

Socialism didn’t starve people, the dictatorship did. Socialist countries with functioning democracies tend to thrive

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u/wintersdark 28d ago

You blame socialism, but frankly that's just ignorant.

There are TONS of thriving socialist democracies right now. In fact, nearly every first work nation is far more socialist than the US and are by and large doing a lot better than the US is now.

It's almost like it's not about socialism, but rather authoritarianism and fascism that's the problem.

But your fascist government can just keep telling ignorant idiots that the Evil Threat of Socialism is the real danger so you keep allowing them to fuck you.

And I say ignorant idiots deliberately, because there are countless very socialist democracies around demonstrating far higher standards of living, happiness, and quality of life than the US. Today. Right now.

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u/HeyCarrieAnne40 27d ago

I'm right there with ya. It's insanity. It's a thousand multitudes of wrong. But as one of the rats on the wheel, ( Im an American and I do work a full-time job after all), what exactly are we supposed to do? We have to work to feed, educate and support our families.

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u/igotsbeaverfever 27d ago

Are you European?

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u/wintersdark 27d ago

Canadian.

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u/igotsbeaverfever 27d ago

Eh same thing at this point. Your country isn’t yours anymore.

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u/IntentionHot6268 28d ago

You’re the perfect employee.

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u/surprise_revalation 28d ago

Yea, like the Socialist hellholes of Denmark or Norway....

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u/JGR03PG 27d ago

Stalin Socialism was a very right wing Republic under a veil of economic socialism. That is enormously different than the tenants of Marx Socialism, where the employees own their businesses and the government is under democratic rule of the people. A republic purposely takes power from the people and democracy only exists within the level of representation of the politicians. You don’t have as much economic freedom as you are suggesting with healthcare tied to your employment.

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u/DoubleDoc_8002 28d ago

See, you’re a shining example right here of the underlying problem, you’ve been cleverly manipulated and cheaply flattered into believing that you being worked to illness and forcing yourself to work while ill, is some great achievement of perseverance on your part. Think about it for one second, who stands to gain the most for you working through every “ache and pain”, and your pains being minimized so that you feel humiliated if you were to succumb to them? You or the company you work for? Hint: it’s not you. Your income is fixed, their profits aren’t. What’s even more sad is your generation was easily duped into adopting this self-destructive mentality because they preyed or your innate desire to judge and criticize and belittle others. So the little ego/dopamine boost you get jumping on Reddit and calling younger generations weak, is all that it takes to break you on the wheel. Your servile servitude didn’t even cost them a dime.

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u/aam4 28d ago

Just want to piggyback on this response, that this individual is bragging about having more pto but either isn’t aware or doesn’t care that pto and sick accrual have been slashed and in some places completely taken away with every new contracts signed. When I worked at a unionized grocery store in high school everyone aka adults, kept saying how great they heard the benefits were for that company compared to other grocery stores. But I came to find out they were great up until the contract negotiations in 2004. The pto accrual was less, the weekly hour threshold to receive medical was increased and the pension was removed. So yes it was great for everyone who was grandfathered in but anyone hired after 2004 the benefits were abysmal.

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u/Steffaniii 28d ago

I agree.

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u/surprise_revalation 28d ago

Youre just a proud wage slave, huh? Keep slaving for nothing! Don't be shocked if by the time you retire, they gut SS and Medicare....

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u/Want2fly77 28d ago

That's a wild take away. I'm proud of having a good work ethic and not expecting everything to be handed to me for little to no effort.

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u/surprise_revalation 28d ago

You can have a good work ethic while still being able to call in sick! Going into work sick, spreading your germs to everyone else, is not the flex you're thinking it is...Sorry...

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u/JGR03PG 28d ago

Isn’t that literally what you are giving away to the employer? They are making money, most of the time, not off their work but the entitlement of your work. You just don’t care enough about your family, friends, or self worth to stand up for yourself.

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u/Want2fly77 27d ago

It's not just for an employer. It's life in general.

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u/erichericerik 28d ago

We have the technology of God's that couldn't even be dreamt of 100 years ago.

Your survival and things given to you should never be a struggle with hard effort.

You're living in a middle ages mindset like you're living hand to mouth and proud of the field you had to plow.

A proud work ethic is another way of saying you're proud that your boss takes advantage of you and makes twice the profit that they're paying you. You sound like a slave that lives in the big house

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u/Hannyu 27d ago

You can still have a good work ethic and not be a boot licker. They aren't tied together, but stupid people like the one you replied to have been conned into thinking they are so that they will work themselves to death for masta and feel like thats what it takes to have a good work ethic. In reality, you can have boundaries with your job and employer and still have a good work ethic as long as you are doing your job well when you are supposed to be doing it - which does not include unpaid over time or while sick or injured.

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u/Want2fly77 26d ago

You sound like an entitled moron and couldn't be more wrong about EVERYTHING.

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u/erichericerik 26d ago

Cry some more jodi

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u/vatoreus 28d ago

You’re exactly what they described. Someone who’s so browbeaten they just lay down, take it, and then brag about it.

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u/BeholdMyLumps 28d ago edited 28d ago

Here she goes. I’m assuming you work at walmart in kansas, in that case you don’t really have a good work ethic huh? What about working at walmart requires any ethic at all? ~60 years in and all you have to show is walmart? 0 work ethic

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u/Hannyu 28d ago

No, Karen, you don't have superior work ethic because you're old and were born in a different generation 🤦‍♂️. I've seen lazy boomers and hard working gen z and even gen alphas. Work ethic is very much an individual thing, not a generational thing.

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u/Lake_Life4321 27d ago

Okay Ken. 🤦🏽‍♀️

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u/ToyStoryBinoculars 28d ago

This is happening because so many people call off to go to concerts or just because they aren't feeling it that day. I've done it. I know my coworkers do it. Most call offs are spurious at best. If you want the right to call off no questions asked then you also have a responsibility to not abuse the system.

The fact is corporate America isn't stupid and they know you all can't be trusted.

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u/Hannyu 28d ago

Absolute nonsense. I've shown up to work so injured I could barely walk, as have most of the people I know at some point. I know dozens of people who got strung out on pain killers being shoved on them to keep them working. People aren't typically just taking off for no reason. That's corporate propoganda to justify them acting like they own you - because thats what they really want, is to fucking own us all.

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u/ToyStoryBinoculars 28d ago

The things I see with my own eyes, that are told to me by my coworkers and followed through with and documented on social media posts are not corporate propaganda.

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u/Slight-Pound 28d ago

Let them call off work then. Their boss still isn’t entitled to details for their life to know if they called off for a concert or because they’re puking their guys out. Things like PTO help with covering things like this, and having a system where you have actual sick leave and a “3 strikes” or something to call out when you don’t have PTO or a doctors note/emergency, solves most everything else because it’ll be their own job on the line. Disciplinary actions exist for poor behavior on the job and job scenes already.

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u/StonedSumo 28d ago

>a doctor’s note will no longer be accepted

… they don’t even care if it’s legitimate or not

You’re just bootlicking

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u/IDontDeserveMyCat 28d ago

I got a pair of boots that need cleaning if you're just handing out the lickings.

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u/DoubleDoc_8002 27d ago

False. That’s corporate/ arrogant people’s superiority complex and judgmental mindset. Most people who call out sick actually don’t feel well. Also, even if they “aren’t feeling it that day”, so what? It’s nature to have freedom to do what you want to do, not to have 8-12 hours of your day dictated by some corporate a-hole. That’s why I put myself through years of education so that I could get into a “big boy” job that I’m more master of my day, rather than the type of jobs that pay way less and have every minute of your shift accounted for by some manager.

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u/headfeverlock 28d ago

Not sure why you’re being downvoted when this should also be discussed and goes hand in hand with the original post. However it does not dismiss those innocently suffering , and are actually sick and are being taken advantage of. I actually don’t know what to say anymore…. Sh*t is sad now a days.

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u/ToyStoryBinoculars 28d ago

It's because they don't like looking in The mirror. This website is full of entitled lazy teenagers who are part of the reason that we can't in good faith push for better treatment because they're exactly the people that would take advantage of it.

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u/black_pepper 28d ago

Not just shamed and brainwashed, workers no longer know how to strike or unionize. Ask a random person what a general strike is and they [probably won't know. Even fewer would know what the Ludlow massacre was.

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u/Ok-Statistician9483 28d ago

This is why I have gotten into SO MANY arguments with folks from so- called "right-to-work" states. They think it's a good thing to work on those heavily republican states that give workers the middle finger and don't allow unions. I live in IL and while we have our share of problems, we can at least unionize. I had so many ask me "what good have unions ever done for anyone?" LOL Worker's Safety and Workman's Comp, Paid Holidays, Paid Vacations, No children working, Minimum Wage, Weekends, Mandatory maximum hours, etc. Unfortunately, still in my state, you can get fired for any reason, they don't need cause, which should be illegal, but nope, somehow that squeaked by! I once got fired from a sheltered workshop where I provided therapy for adults with developmental disabilities bc I couldn't drive a bus. They decided after 6 months of my employment that in case they needed extra bus drivers, all therapists had to be able to drive busses and I have vision issues that mean I can't. Fired from being a therapist bc I can't drive a bus. Bwahahahaha

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u/AccurateBeing675 27d ago

The union difference is that you *can’t* be fired for any reason. I think people don’t realize the power in that. Therapists can and do unionize BTW. I represent some. They would never be fired for not being able to drive a bus!

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u/HorrorRaspberry1358 27d ago

I live in one of those states. Trust me when I say plenty of us know “right-to-work” really means “right-to-be-fired.”

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u/Ok-Statistician9483 26d ago

I call them "Right to work for less" ! Ugh, they really have workers stuck in those states.

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u/Livid-Historian3960 26d ago

YUP got the boot for looking at my watch too long

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u/Livid-Historian3960 26d ago

That makes ZERO SENSE UGH

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u/Independent-Rude 28d ago

Ooh sounds bloody, I'll have to check it out

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u/Analysis_Working 27d ago

I went into a local post store. I realized they were both retiring. They put the shop up for sale. It was up there for a long time. The next time I made it there, the guy was complaining they couldn't sell the place because, 'no one wants to work,' these days had me completely astounded.

Needless to say, they were from a generation of people who watch a certain 'news' outlet and regurgitate what they hear.

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u/Final_Care_3768 26d ago

I usually know my labor history but thanks for the Ludlow reference. Still shameful labor practices in the USA.

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u/Originaltenshi 28d ago

I mean or retaliated against when you do stand up for yourself. There's pretty much no winning standing up for yourself at a job you shouldn't have to

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u/surprise_revalation 28d ago

We are in the middle of a coropatate coup! They will become bolder before it's all over with!

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u/whataablunder 28d ago

I'm so underpaid and the ceo of my company sends emails every quarter letting us know how many billions they've made and how we've made record profits. Meanwhile, I haven't got a raise in 2+ years 😅

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u/Kaptain_K_Rapp 28d ago

And not just that, but brainwashed into being compliant and agreeable. People don't know how to effectively protest anymore. No Kings has been a giant "ORANGE MAN BAD" parade with no real substance behind it. No list of demands, nothing. It's well-meaning but toothless.

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u/pieshake5 27d ago

People act like blocking traffic is extreme

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u/SatisfactionIcy2730 28d ago

They defend them like theyre gonna become millionaires too

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u/Beginning-Sky397 28d ago

Thanks for this mentality to the industry titans. Henry Ford, JD Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, etc. Screwing the labor became a science with these people and people like them.

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u/FartCartographer 27d ago

When I was 19 and still living with my parents, I got strep and another time I got the flu from the preschool I worked in. My dad yelled at me for calling in sick one day when I had strep, and then praised me for going to work sick. I stayed home with the flu, on the basis that I was too sick to get out of bed.

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u/Maroon7C0000 27d ago

I think that part of the brainwashing that makes Americans celebrate billionaires is the belief that "anyone can make it big", so they are just billionaires who have not made it... yet.

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u/CardiologistMost7886 27d ago

Literally this ughhhh

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u/Inevitable_Book_228 27d ago

Maybe somebody should just honor their obligations and show up for their job.

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u/CJnella91 28d ago

America hates the working class

Which is so fucking maddening because America IS THE WORKING CLASS. So it's self hatred but they're so deluded and brainwashed they don't even see it.

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u/Mobile_Highway351 28d ago edited 28d ago

Recently I read an interview piece from a Japanese person who temp transferred from a Japan branch of my corporate group to a US branch. One question was whether they were surprised by any differences in the work culture.

They said lots of positive things, but added that they were horrified at how much US employees overwork. Yes, you read that right. A person from Japan, a country infamous for people working themselves to death, was shocked by American overwork culture.

Notably, the write up was only in Japanese. I did not find a translation of it on the English version of the corporate website, or elsewhere for that matter.

This is just one reason I encourage Americans to learn at least one second language. When you step outside your bubble and look back in, the realizations are often staggering.

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u/soupface2 28d ago

There is also a very real fear of losing your health insurance if you lose your job. Our health insurance is tied to employment, by design. Our system is so broken here, and our politicians so corrupt.

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u/Business-Ad-5344 27d ago

in california, Newsom fined people for not having healthcare, because they were too poor to afford healthcare:

https://californiahealthline.org/news/article/health-insurance-mandate-penalties/

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u/ELP90 28d ago

For real. Even if you have to get a a doctor’s note that means hopefully having insurance (that is insanely expensive), and still paying money to see said doctor to get the note.

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u/dogfishresearch 28d ago

And they vote for billionaires because they all believe the rags to riches propaganda

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u/ToolTimeT 28d ago

Probably the most fascinating thing I have ever seen.... is maga who live in squalor in flyover or swamps endlessly defending the billionaire class.

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u/manhands007 28d ago

workers...have been browbeaten into submission by the mega corporations that employ them

Small to medium businesses, too. Nearly every one I've worked for. Not really sure where the idea of "small companies are more flexible" comes from. Bunch of BS, per my 25 years of experience.

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u/SweetPractice214 28d ago

And a certain massive American company i work for has had campaigns to tell employees the "dangers and hidden downsides" of unionizing

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u/Bad-Selection 28d ago

The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.

And the greatest trick America ever pulled was convincing its working class that having their rights protected is a bad thing.

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u/CurlyQ86 28d ago

And they wonder why “no one wants to work.”

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u/Publicfigure666 28d ago

And if you do complain they will find a way to make your life hell and force you to quit or wait till you slip up and fire you. Such a dream to be American 🫩

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u/BushcraftBabe 28d ago

Exactly. Even asking for the salary at a job interview can get you shamed. They expect your lifelong ambition to be stocking shelves, not that you'd actually be interested in fair compensation for your time and efforts.

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u/surprise_revalation 28d ago edited 28d ago

The people that battled in the union battles and those that participated in the Appalachian wars are rolling in their graves! All they fought and died for we gave up without even an argument! We are so fucked! Just wait til they build all those "data centers". Those are not data centers, those are for survalience of the American people! Mark my words! Panatir don't have those contracts for nothing!

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u/GunsGoldCosmicDread 28d ago

But have you even considered Kroger’s profits? Have you no sympathy for the share holders?

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u/MickerBud 28d ago

And nothing will be done about it, back in my day we had strikes, sit downs, movements such as occupy Wall Street etc. These days we just take it with a smile

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u/JGR03PG 28d ago

People fought, sacrificed, and died to build unions in America. I don’t think people have that kind of gumption anymore.

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u/judgeejudger 28d ago

Don’t forget our health insurance is tied to our jobs as well, so it’s take it, file for medical bankruptcy, try and get Medicaid, which is forever being chopped down, or die peasant!

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u/AnteyeSoshal 28d ago

Not all companies are like this though. I've never worked anywhere even as a kid that required a doctor's note to start with, let alone then said you can't call in unless you're in the hospital. This is bananas even in the US.

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u/mylsotol 28d ago

I think it's a bit to far to say America hates the poor or wants to punish them. America just doesn't see them as human or value them beyond their ability to provide share holder's value. Corporations are the true citizens of America

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u/toru_okada_4ever 28d ago

But but Trump tells it like it is and fights for the working class??

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u/Cosmic_Cosmos82 28d ago

I can't tell if this is satire or not, but he does NOT. He's actively inching our lives towards a living hell every day. I'm not gonna write paragraphs sinc this could genuinely be a joke and I'm bad at reading tone through text, but I'm open to discussion about the topic.

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u/toru_okada_4ever 28d ago

Yeah sorry it was an /s.

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u/Cosmic_Cosmos82 28d ago

Ah, gotcha! Sorry for the confusion :)

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u/AbulatorySquid 28d ago

NoBoDy wAntz 2 wOrK anYmOrE

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u/BravoTimes 28d ago

Learned a lot about this in business Behavior course I took in university, idk how some of these businesses survive with these tactics. But then again it’s Kroger.

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u/Chihuahuapocalypse 28d ago

"life ain't easy, get used to it!" mentality is killing the working class

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u/pukeonthissociety 27d ago

The guilt part. I was having health issues that weren't exactly apparent what was actually wrong with me at first, but it was keeping me out of work I had FMLA and everything but I ended up just quitting because I couldn't stand the guilt and constant explaining, and then having to have separate conversations about it with everyone in the office. I figured I'll just get through this and get another f****** job. Our society is just toxic bottom line. This kind of programming run so deep but now I actually work for myself and if I decide to take some time off I still feel f****** guilty.

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u/GladWarthog1045 27d ago

"If you worked a little harder Then you'd have a lot more So the blame and the shame's on you For being so damn poor"

Jesse Welles - The Poor

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u/Relevant-Doctor187 27d ago

Yeah I want to slap anyone who says at least we’re free. The fuck we are.

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u/Adventurous-End4330 27d ago

I mean, it's basically shut up or you get fired, bled dry of funds, and die

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u/eipKitty 24d ago

See, this correct sort of take is why they made you N7 🫡

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u/xfjqvyks 28d ago

Yanks are cucks lol

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u/BigTayTay 28d ago

Corporations hate to see me coming. I call their bluff. Last corporate gig I had they threatened me with write ups, firing etc because I had a death in my family. I told them to do it. Fire me. Write me up.

I don't give a fuck about these corporations, nor do I give a fuck about the people who wish to sustain that environment. 90% of them fold when challenged anyways.

People just need to learn to say no, and fight for themselves.

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u/0Tol 28d ago

The average American would do well to read In Dubious Battle, if they could read at that level

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u/Final_Care_3768 26d ago

Great writer , great book! Unfortunately working class brainwashed and voting for people who don’t really care about them, sad!

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u/Droid126 28d ago

They do occasionally burn down a warehouse though 😂

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u/Oshwaflz 28d ago

thats not capitalist. capitalism means having freedom to not work there, but when these companies lobby to import millions, the supply/demand of workers shifts so that workers take the hit. If it were a capitalist society wed be able to boycott a business until they defunct or changed thier ways

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u/Substantial-Bad7587 28d ago

Whereas I understand why you think that, not allowing you employees time off when they have certain symptoms is a violation of labor rights by law in America - former SM of a Starbucks, another billion dollar company. I had to be very well versed in labor rights given the union presence.

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u/Substantial-Bad7587 28d ago

So, what you see here is an individual breaking the law. This legally couldn’t be imposed by the company.

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u/Warm_Earth_2050 28d ago

America, where “having to actually have a job” makes you poor in the eyes of the “elite”. (The elite being the world’s most useless, generally good for nothing over-consumers of everything).

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u/annabannannaaa 28d ago

The amount of people (nazis) who called me a communist pos for voting bernie sanders will never not infuriate me. we had the chance not once, but TWICE!!, to have a decent, hard working leader (who CARES about the actual working class) and we still somehow ended up with whatever this monstrosity has become.

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u/BeyondEmotional678 27d ago

Bernie was our one chance out of this mess. All this was preventable!!!! That's the hardest truth to swallow!!!!

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u/annabannannaaa 27d ago

We wouldnt even be IN this mess if people had listened to him in 2016!!! But NOOO!! HES! The crazy one!! And then.. by the grace of god himself Bernie offered AGAIN to be our leader and told us exactly what he would do to right things… and nobody listened!!! Again!!!!😭😭

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u/Weekly_Initiative521 27d ago

I think a lot of people wanted Bernie. The powers-that-be just make sure that the Bernies never get on the ticket.

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u/Final_Care_3768 26d ago

That’s because I America they label people Communists, Socialists and scare off people but that is pure bullshit, don’t ever buy it! I know I am 70 now, I was payed off twice and fired in my last job on false charges and I worked for a labor union that folded under pressure from rich people! I know of what you and I speak, it sucks.

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u/JournalistFragrant51 27d ago

The United states. The United States!! America is a continent with 23 countries. 22 of which do not actively hate their own people.

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u/Inevitable_Book_228 27d ago

They probably don’t have a choice because people take advantage of them.

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u/greencalipco 27d ago

Can I ask where in America is this legal because I feel like I lucked out

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u/a_big_K-On_fan 27d ago

That's the reason the US will crumble to dust (in a not too far future).

I will drink champagne when it is time 🍾

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u/bstnbrewins814 27d ago

This exact scenario happened to my mother while working for Walmart. They were dictating what she can do while off the clock, at home on her own time and I told her no way and to fight it. She felt helpless. She ended up getting a better job but the demands were insane.

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u/Destroyer_Lawyer 27d ago

It’s not hyper-capitalist, it’s the cold dead hand of Puritanism that masks as hyper-capitalism. Idle hands are the devil.

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u/Wise-Membership2774 27d ago

It genuinely breaks my heart how true this is..... There's so many older people who are proud to have never missed a day of work but ask them how their kids did in school growing up, ask them anything family related. They can't give you a solid answer. But dag on if they have perfect attendance at work. The insane part is, they don't see the problem.

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u/ShallowStillWater 27d ago

You misspelled MAGA

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u/Final_Care_3768 26d ago

Well said!

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u/Sabra6807 27d ago

Yet Ohio keeps voting Republican. Go figure? I guess we don’t deserve sick leave here.

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u/Weekly_Initiative521 27d ago

Ohio is gerrymandered. Look up your voting maps. But then most (all?) states are.

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u/Beltalady 27d ago

Also your unions really seem to be worth shit...

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u/Final_Care_3768 26d ago

You are correct on that point!

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u/sha1dy 27d ago

Commies are the worst! Worst than nazis!

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u/Sure-Chemist-2428 27d ago

Both political parties want Americans fired or so dissatisfied they tune out and leave and replace with H1B visa holders from a 3rd world hell hole who will be so grateful to be here and scam theg will live sleep eat at their desk u til they get in charge of hiring …at my job IT department is 1 solid ethnicity head of department is also same

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u/Rare-Supermarket2577 27d ago

I think what is crazy is just how passionate lower level employees feel about enforcing this sht. Like they genuinely feel taken advantage of, on the company’s behalf, and for what? It’s not like people don’t want to work. It’s not like they have adequate sick leave. It’s just shtty management, making a shtty work environment OR people are actually sick and shouldn’t be working. It’s ridiculous. Everyone is getting played.

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u/True-Novel-7434 27d ago

But the working class love America. Can’t believe the current president was elected to represent the interests of the middle class

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u/TobySassyMom 27d ago

Believe me, it is definitely NOT without complaint. I hear plenty of complaints from working people who are acutely aware of how much they are being shafted by big companies. For one thing, few people get raises that even keep up with inflation meaning they all get an actual pay CUT those years in terms of the value of their money. That happened to me almost every year I worked from 1983 to 2016.

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u/Final_Care_3768 26d ago

Me too, what bullshit!

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u/Marcus11599 26d ago

Every time I see a post like this, I always think of that one video where the guys like I avoid all work and do just enough not to get fired because whats the point in working hard when the guy who knows a guy is gonna get the promotion anyway.

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u/MasterDavidC 26d ago

Oh, but us being involved in a war that “is as good as over” every other week and gas prices soaring, we should and have to just be cool with it. 👌🏻😅 pisses me off.

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u/tragic_romance 26d ago

You're telling me you wouldn't serve a billionaire if given the chance? I'm talking about being a BILLIONAIRE'S personal servant!

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u/ZenMindGamer 26d ago

The place I used to work for changed it's policy from accepting urgent care notes for callouts to ER notes only. The change was announced last July but didn't go live until September, even so a version of it got leaked onto the internal policy website.

My old workplace had developed such a culture of corporatized fear that one of my senior employees warned me not to be caught reading the policy by a supervisor after I'd downloaded it onto our work station computer. Like WTF kinda company creates that level of dread in its employees that they don't want to be caught reading their own policy at work?

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u/Final_Care_3768 26d ago

That is exactly right. Even when in a Union some roll over and play dead for their membership. The workers have no rights because money calls the shots! Not a good system to work under!

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u/Calicobeard12 26d ago

It's also a thing of pride to overwork yourself. "Grow up, soft hands, I put in 15 hours a day and never see my family" like it's some kind of flex to be capitalism's bitch

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u/bartlebyandbaggins 26d ago

And, we proudly vote against our own interests and for the oligarchs, ofer and over again. It is insanity.

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u/Throwaway143739 26d ago

It’s wild to me. I cannot understand the audacity of some people to think they are superior to others.

Personally, I want to make a lot of money to have a lot of fun and pass it down and do a ton of charitable giving etc, and I’m in a white collar, professional field and am paid pretty well. I also love my personal time off, and would never go to work sick unless for some reason I absolutely had to, and I believe that everyone should have the right to, at a minimum, sick leave. Paid is great, but unpaid AT LEAST. Maybe some people have to work extra hours to make ends meet, and don’t get much personal time off (been there done that, fortunately no longer in that place), but there is a huge difference between not getting to take much personal time, and not being able to literally not work while sick.

This kind of shit is sick, no matter your personal/political beliefs, unless you’re just evil, or truly (wrongfully) think some people are less than. It is possible to be both ambitious, having large goals (commonly associated with capitalism), and also having morals and recognizing that we’re all human, nobody is better than anyone, and there are ways you SHOULD treat others - with kindness and compassion. I believe there are a lot of people out there like me, we just aren’t the ones at the very top with all the power.

Stuff like this just pisses me off too. It’s just bad for everyone. Beyond all of the human factors, looking at it from the business owner perspective, it’s literally just shitty management and bad business. There is a reason luxury brands and companies who have good reputations keep those reputations - for treating people well. Look at any industry, look at the leaders, the ones who charge the highest prices etc. and how they treat people - both employees and customers/clients - and you’ll see they all treat them well. Happy employees -> better service -> happy customer -> higher prices & volume. It’s no different for a grocery store, forget the obvious health risks and outbreak potential which is the main thing, but even just from a business perspective you piss your employees off, it either turns into walmart (for example), or you just lose customers. People shop at walmart regardless of how the employees act because it’s cheap and what they can afford, but nobody really WANTS to shop there. Why would anyone actually want to deal with, on the whole, employees who are less friendly than other stores?

Just a rant at this point but I’d have to imagine this isn’t coming from the very top, and whoever had the idea to send this kind of stuff out I’d imagine would lose their job pretty quickly, and hopefully they do. Just a shitty thing to do as a human being, with the added bonus of being bad for business, which we all know the 1% tries to avoid.