tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30128280100667962182024-02-20T17:56:07.889-08:00Pigs in LipstickRougewashing the Insatiable Corporate AppetiteDWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673432085917082314noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3012828010066796218.post-934953107181022922013-03-01T08:45:00.000-08:002013-03-02T14:06:11.398-08:00Canadian government permissive of Worker Abuse<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYpVQyrAlobKYhT03_9xZETY7sVHXxZwya68U-SIIucd9assC1OsDPKIJg7JeWtTRlH3_Q6h4fiJ9F90mZsaL4MH-aRof-cBmgO7BSg6-UnDYhJeX4OJS5b7WdwxnjUWitvxZYffPu80/s1600/800px-Stop_your_cruel_oppression_of_the_Jews_3g12423u.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGYpVQyrAlobKYhT03_9xZETY7sVHXxZwya68U-SIIucd9assC1OsDPKIJg7JeWtTRlH3_Q6h4fiJ9F90mZsaL4MH-aRof-cBmgO7BSg6-UnDYhJeX4OJS5b7WdwxnjUWitvxZYffPu80/s400/800px-Stop_your_cruel_oppression_of_the_Jews_3g12423u.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">The
definition of <em><a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abuse" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Abuse</span></a></em> is a corrupt practice or custom; improper or
excessive use or treatment. The mistreatment of a person who is in a vulnerable
position with the end result being the weakening and undermining of the other
party.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">We need to
lobby our government to protect people against employers who abuse our
workforce and offer</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/02/23/half_of_gta_and_hamilton_workers_in_precarious_jobs.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">precarious employment</span></a><span style="color: black;"> to our citizens. Corporations having
the privilege to conduct business within the Canadian market also need take up
the responsibility of offering ethical employment.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">“What
does employer abuse look like?” you might ask:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Abuse</strong>
happens when an employer is demanding more than reasonable speed of efficiency
to handle a matter. Work tasks should allow for an employee to work with
dignity and deal with variables of case-by-case matters within a reasonable
time. Think nurses, call centre staff, nursing home staff, etc.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Systematic
Abuse</strong> is when institutions engage in practices that take away a person's
independence or dignity (also includes economic abuse). When workplaces
systematically under-staff to save a buck, they are treating workers as a
disposable commodity on a tread mill for profit – that is abuse.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"><strong>Neglect</strong>
is another a form of abuse. Corporations abuse and dehumanize their workforces
when they refuse to give loyal and reliable workers a raise to keep up with the
cost of living for continuing to do a good job. We have a broken system when a
company can make record profits and withhold raises to the bulk of its
workforce. To withhold fair compensation in rapidly-rising inflation economies
from reliable and reasonably performing workers is neglect.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Companies
are required by law to conduct business in good faith, but our policy makers
are standing by permissively while corporate Canada systematically erodes our
social fabric. Corporations violate our communities and our families when they
create high stress work environments requiring aggressive performance targets
for low compensation. This type of workplace culture affects a family's ability
to partake in adequate leisure/recreation activities, their ability to provide
opportunities for their children, and their ability save adequately for
retirement and maintain a reasonable standard of living without resorting to
enormous debt burdens. </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Our
employment policies are outdated and they are not protecting the taxpaying citizen.
Furthermore, the decline of our workplace standards affects our mental,
emotional and physical wellbeing. A record number of Canadians have reported
experiencing anxiety and depression. Many Canadians are stressed and have lost
hope in their financial futures. I believe </span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">that much of
this depression is circumstantial, and those circumstances would be radically
altered by a living wage.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">Abuse is
happening when one party's <strong>actions</strong> or words tears down another, or
attacks or <strong>weakens</strong> or wears on a person's standing as a human being –
to gratify quarterly earnings -- that is single-minded greed, and it is abuse.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">An <strong>abuse-free</strong>
system needs to be enforced; we need our MPs to lead in this respect to create
a Canadian corporate environment that humanizes the workplace. Leaving the
matter to self-regulating corporations isn't working - it only leads to empty
saving-face initiatives and politically-correct-looking facades to appear
socially conscientious.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">We need
change. Change that removes the oppressive weights from families and creates
parameters for business to conduct themselves on a playing field that doesn't
level or marginalize the employees.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">True north
strong and free - free to work and sustain ourselves and adequately meet the
needs of our families. To live, to work, to play, and to save for our own
futures -- free from social programs. There should be no such thing as the
working poor in this nation. This is what we want as our national identity: dignity
for the common man.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
DWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673432085917082314noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3012828010066796218.post-53871063906837594392013-02-22T08:27:00.001-08:002013-02-26T09:53:11.706-08:00What if...<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">What if … we didn't need better jobs; we just needed to make
the jobs better by making organizations pay a dignified wage.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">What if ... we had laws to prevent corporations
from siphoning the wealth out of our society...<br />
<br />
What if ... all of the multinational corporations operating in the Canadian
market were required to employ a proportionate number of Canadian citizens.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Just imagine what it would be like if ... we had laws
that put an employee's dignity back into the private sector? </span></span></div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">What if … we stopped thinking in terms of getting more
quality jobs on our soil, but, instead, focus on making every job a good job.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What if … all companies who employed persons at a rate that
was within $5 dollars of the minimum wage were required to offer an RRSP
matching program. What if these low wage payers also had to match RESP
contributions for minors to ensure our children get access to education and
that corporations with reported multi-million dollar earnings were obliged to
sponsor child care covering up to %50 of the cost for employees.</span>
</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6JvCrtied4sQJ0WDXyc-GVXrZhUdqIb4WsPrNcO6p611OfdXzfXszwrsrMq_kf0EB03ZtBL6jeO2iYO8E5Tv6FT1Fi4HVLkaWo46bA6_1AqyPGv0cGOxHaOnb-Mw2_UL41q0sRkCfzGU/s1600/SUNSHINE_sMILE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6JvCrtied4sQJ0WDXyc-GVXrZhUdqIb4WsPrNcO6p611OfdXzfXszwrsrMq_kf0EB03ZtBL6jeO2iYO8E5Tv6FT1Fi4HVLkaWo46bA6_1AqyPGv0cGOxHaOnb-Mw2_UL41q0sRkCfzGU/s320/SUNSHINE_sMILE.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman;">
</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">What if … corporate tax breaks were contingent or
proportionate to the number of employed persons making in excess of $23 per
hour creating a win-win-win situation. Win for corporations on tax breaks, win
for local government’s ability to recover concessions through income
taxes, and win for the people reducing child poverty and old age poverty by
enabling our citizens to make a living wage.</span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
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<span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;"> What if… we had a brighter future</span></div>
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</span></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
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DWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673432085917082314noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3012828010066796218.post-22649555257094293302013-02-15T08:19:00.001-08:002013-02-26T09:55:59.744-08:00Mind the Gap: The Income Gap<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">A recent </span><a href="http://www.campaign2000.ca/reportCards/national/C2000ReportCardNov2012.pdf"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">report</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">
was produced declaring the need for a national plan to reduce child poverty.
The report articulated the struggle of low-income families and how the
situation has worsened in the past 23 years. The report also highlighted the
struggle of low-income households to cover basic needs stating: "Canada
had the fourth largest increase in income inequality amongst advanced
industrialized countries." The poor are even poorer, the middle income are
at a standstill, inflation is climbing and the rich are making record
profits.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span><br />
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</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"> The
facts:<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif";"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">•
1 in 7 Canadian children live in poverty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">•
1 in 10 working-age Canadians live in poverty (most of whom are actually
working).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">•
1 in 5 households assisted by food banks actually have employment
income. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">• An
estimated 1 in 5 full-time workers in Canada earn under $17 hourly. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">•
Real average wages aren’t keeping up with inflation (falling by 0.6% between
2009 and 2011).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">•
Temporary jobs increased from 875,200 (2008) to 1,017,200 (2011).<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">•
Low-income Canadians have little savings to contribute to RRSPs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
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</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">•
Only 38.8% of workers have an employer pension; this average rate is falling.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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</span></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"> The
study offered a series of recommendations including: increasing child tax
benefit, government sponsored child care provisions, beefing up social
programs, additional low income housing spending, vague statements about
increasing secondary manufacturing jobs, and better paying jobs. The
suggestions were neither original nor inspiring.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QU0tL7Cdu4QGEEq6gdiI3Ha0I-OEmtGUN4PUxSo2E4KsWioCnPKRabrNR8Pg_bNq_rD0em9MjPk5Ku_Xj9iOFAcqXUnLVtSfuigQwr1VXIBp31DJYb-fcGmRnQJPtOJLmIj4kseffgQ/s1600/East_Devon_,_Coast_Path_and_Hazard_Sign_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1477288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1QU0tL7Cdu4QGEEq6gdiI3Ha0I-OEmtGUN4PUxSo2E4KsWioCnPKRabrNR8Pg_bNq_rD0em9MjPk5Ku_Xj9iOFAcqXUnLVtSfuigQwr1VXIBp31DJYb-fcGmRnQJPtOJLmIj4kseffgQ/s320/East_Devon_,_Coast_Path_and_Hazard_Sign_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1477288.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">The rich
are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the government is standing
by passively letting it happen. The third party consultants recommend the
taxpayer spend more and take in less money. I'd like to point the finger to the
corporations and their corporate social responsibility strategies: to challenge
them to quit playing the slacktivist with their ribbons and awareness posters
and reach into their bottom line to close the economic disparity gap.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<br />DWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673432085917082314noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3012828010066796218.post-4459621448797395242013-02-08T08:04:00.002-08:002013-03-02T14:06:46.298-08:00Employee Self-Respect<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">"50/50
tickets – half the proceeds go to the Alzheimer's Society and the other half go
to pay for our holiday party." "No, thanks," I said. "But
it's a good cause," pressured the woman. "But I won't get a tax
receipt," I quipped, "and I am not going to the Christmas party."
"But it's a good cause," repeated the woman. "I'm not
disagreeing with you," I replied, "will you accept a donation, in
exchange for tax receipt? … I didn't think so."<o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">It's not a
co-incidence that corporations choose charities that have a direct impact on
the lives of you and your co-workers – it's to entice you. In case you don't
feel that you are working hard enough, the company is now trying to get you to
volunteer more of your time and give away your underfunded salary. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">Giving is a
good thing; volunteering is a great thing. But I challenge you to consider who
you are enriching with your generosity. Keep in mind outrageous CEO
bonuses in comparison to the number of employees that you work with who have
not had a raise in more than five years.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">The most
notoriously clever corporations are like car dealerships: you buy a new car and
they offer trade in value for your old car, and they get you coming and going.
They sell you a car at an inflated profit margin, and buy your old car far
below its actual value. We, as employees and consumers need to be very
conscious of what constitutes a bad deal and minimize such participation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">We need to
open our eyes and see through the games. We should not be paying for the
Christmas party. We should not be going above and beyond for a company that is
determined to do the employment standards minimum. We definitely should not be
leveraging the corporate brand through their </span><a href="http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/csr-rse.nsf/eng/rs00592.html"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">community
relations</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;"> initiatives.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">Give back to
the community, volunteer. Give of yourself, your time and your money to your
own choice of great causes. Think like a CEO: give and get your own tax
benefit. Give and enrich your own life and your own brand through volunteer
work that is meaningful to you.</span> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
DWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673432085917082314noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3012828010066796218.post-378582301788532013-02-01T08:53:00.002-08:002013-02-01T08:53:30.541-08:00<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/gLBE5QAYXp8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>DWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673432085917082314noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3012828010066796218.post-24692927314586958472013-02-01T08:42:00.003-08:002013-02-26T10:03:21.738-08:00TQM too far (Total Quality Management)<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><span style="font-size: 15pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Workplace
computer automatization and procedural optimization has already
leveraged profits to unprecedented levels and now they are coming for the souls
of their employees.</span></span></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p><br /><span style="color: black;">
</span></o:p></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Edwards
Deming captured the Japanese audience at Toyota with a business management
philosophy of continuous improvement... and the rest of the business world
swiftly followed. This gave us a rapid culture of change for improving process,
design and production by incremental adjustments. The idea of quality control
as a culture of determining best practices for operational efficiency has
brought us many innovative gains to do more with less and faster - very good
business sense indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
</span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">TQM movement
has leveraged the business model out in all the good ways, now you the consumer
are being affected in all the bad ways. Have you noticed how thin the meat
paddies have gotten on your Big Mac? Have you noticed that at Tim Hortons your
honey crueller is half its original size and your cherry cheese danish is one
third the pastry it used to be? That your frozen chicken breasts look more like
chicken fingers after you have cooked them and the water has evaporated? And
your foot long Subway sub is not a foot long! Well, you can blame TQM for that,
because it's not always quality of the product they are improving - it is the
stock price. Less for more when you buy, more for less when you work. The
problem lies where optimization practices have pushed every frontier, and the
only thing left for them to squeeze is the worker's dignity.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">Have you
called your cell phone provider recently? Or any 1-800 number for that matter?
Have you been hung up on, or had a rep treat you with contempt when you
inconvenienced them by asking another question? Were you told to hold the line
a moment and abruptly transferred to another department only to have to start
all over? Or maybe you called and the rep barely spoke English? <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: black;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">Behind the
scenes, these reps are told that they have to solve all of your problems in
three and a half minutes to meet aggressive productivity targets. But that's
not enough – they must also beat out their co-workers if they want to be able
to choose the shifts they want, so they can get off work in time to pick up
little Johnny from daycare. If by chance the worker is not motivated by the
numbers, they make it personal. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">If you
started such a job 20 years ago, the work conditions would have been much
better. You would have had a starting wage of $35,000 annually, capped out at
$52,000, and you would have had the luxury to solve problems at your leisure.
Today, doing the same job with computers and advanced software applications,
productivity has gone up exponentially. Yet the pay for this computer savvy
super worker has dropped to a starting wage of $23,000, and it is capped out at
$31,000. And if you can't afford the rising cost of inflation you can work
overtime, because your low wage compels you to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">If you find
yourself transferred abruptly, chances are your time ran out. Have you called
through to these 1-800 numbers whose IVRs are so convoluted you got lost in
menu options? That was no coincidence. They are designed to avoid you until you
give up and go to the website address that they have been repeating in your
ear. Their hope is that you go to your computer and seek self-serve
options online and solve your own problems.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;">
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">We have seen
the wave of disposable products: you buy something and it falls apart the day
after the warranty expires. Now we have arrived at the day the employee has
become a disposable-dehumanized commodity. It's time to raise our pitch forks
and form an angry mob to fight oppressive TQM strategies that are creating
economic slavery and abusing the workforce.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black;"></span><br /></span><o:p><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></o:p>DWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673432085917082314noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3012828010066796218.post-56779278717699822572013-01-25T08:23:00.003-08:002013-02-26T10:05:56.333-08:00Welcome<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">This blog
discusses the true state of corporate social responsibility as a campaign of
propaganda that throws around appealing buzz words like
"sustainability", but it is truly a farce that only the willfully
ignorant pretend to buy into in attempt to ease their conscience. Why listen to
me, you ask? Am I just another ungrateful, lazy worker? Another complainer
living in the land of privilege and freedoms? Well, to answer that question, I
feel I can speak with some authority on the matter as the
nameless-Fortune-500-company happens to be in the outsourcing business. This
means that I am handling several other well-known multinational corporations'
dirty work, and I am well aware of the declining state of customer service and
general growing deceitfulness of business practices. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="color: black;">This is a
subject that I am very passionate about as I have watched friends and family
members deteriorate emotionally and physically under the yoke of corporate
slave drivers. In the summer of 2010, when I came to the decision to make a
major life change - dropping to part-time to pursue my continuing education
efforts on full-time basis - not one, but eight ambulances had been dispatched
within an eight week span to care for my co-workers who were collapsing under
the stress. To clarify, we work in an office building, not a warehouse,
or a construction site; we work in a setting where the only normal occupational
hazard is carpal tunnel syndrome.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: Calibri;">Throughout
this blog I will highlight corporate efforts to siphon the wealth out of
society and impoverish the masses. Let's open up the discussion and stir public
outrage. I invite you share and collaborate together with me and other
followers on your stories but, most importantly, your ideas for change.</span></span></div>
DWhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11673432085917082314noreply@blogger.com2