Bottom line is people are genuinely evil. Human beings are opportunists, for the most part only willing to do what benefits them the most and not others around them.
We are being lied to on a daily basis but we are afraid to speak up in fear of losing our jobs due to our conflicting opinions.
America does no longer stand by freedom of speech. Welcome to this foul year of our lord, 2010, where money talks and no one is listening.
Before I begin, I'm deaf so I don't know what you talk about in the video, but I do get some idea from your description and all the comments here and would like to share my side. Here in Belgium and Netherlands, we too have been affected, my husband worked in logistic with Opel factory in Antwerp, which has recently been shut down a week ago, leaving about 2,000 directly out of work and about 10,000 indirectly out of work. However, luckily, he has found a new job few months ago! Whew! But... :/
As being an Ex-Small Business Owner when I was in the hiring process I had turned away applicants because they were over qualified for a few reasons.
1. The job I hired for involved working outside in the Heat of Arizona washing cars and dealing with angry customers.
2. I couldn't afford to pay over 7-7.50 an hour and most people applying for the job wanted to get paid over 36K a year and owning the business that is what I made. Training cost me time and money that I couldn't afford.
There was an article in Rolling Stone years ago where they sent a guy over the factory where his job was sent. He says aside from the low pay, these people were working in extremely unsafe working conditions around chemicals, etc. These are business practices that not only hurt us, but also those who take jobs overseas. WRONG WRONG WRONG. (I just can't say it enough)
I have a friend who was talking about this very topic of abuse yesterday about her job at Babies R' Us. Apparently, the supervisors and managers curse the employees out to the point they hire new people every week because most people can't handle the mistreatment.
My mother also has a problem as the company she works for stopped giving raises and yet they still do performance reviews as an excuse to fire anyone to save a little money and pile the work on the few remaining employees.
This is not fair! And yet, it is becoming an American way of operation. Isn't this what the Labor Board was set up to correct? (Too bad so many employees are afraid to use it these days!)
You mentioned some of your friends where laid off or fired because they are over-qualified. Why doesn't the banks and Wal-Street use that excuse? They give millions of dollars in bonuses to keep and retain the most qualified with tax payers money. Talk about a line of bullshit the Capitalists pricks use.
Congrats on consistent work! I applaud your bosses for keeping it going for you guys! Celebrate every day that this keeps up for you, because when life is good, it is meant to be savored. :)
Yes and we do applaud our bosses, when we heard the news we hardly could believe our ear's! thought 2 more ship's is not that much, or takes long to complete. The hulls are built in Braila Romania, we outfit them in Norway.
I have a currently have a full time salary job. I normally put in 40 hours a week, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. This year I heard the economy excuse when it came time for raises even though I know our company did pretty good despite the economy. I don't feel like i'm able to move up at this point, and it wears on me. I live in Michigan and we have one of the worst economies, I feel its almost pointless to even look for a different job.
When I hear of companies trying out excuses like this, I always wonder how the big guy at the top is doing. Is he wearing Armani suits and eating filet mignon ever night, or is he living pretty much on par with everyone else? If it is option A, then he is just as much a part of the problem as the economy. If it's B, then it seems we're all just in a bad spot.
Someone said my calculations were off- but either way we have a HUGE chunk of AT L:EAST 15 million or more out of work. No matter what the true numbers, there just aren't enough jobs to go around- which is the true problem.
The same, I think - a mix of the two. My brother works in a car factory where they are all soon to be made redundant so the works can move overseas in cost-cutting exercises. It's happened to lots and lots of factory/manual workers.
It's pretty bleak at the mo'. Everything is getting smaller and smaller.. places lose people and dont replace. There's a lot of that going on. People left behind are working twice as hard.
Bah. Like you say, it'll get better. But it shouldnt be like this. Pesky.
Welcome to where I've been the past 20 years (my country has been this way since the 90's). I've had 8 jobs in 9 years so far and I've only quit one (mostly due to the manager behaving like the companies you mention). The other 7 have gone down in a blaze of retarded management and each time I've had to look for a job anew. Unfortunately for me I'm considered 'overqualified' for pretty much any computer related job outside my industry (games) and thus have been very limited in work opportunity.
And here you are with actual SKILLS and are having difficulty! What of those with little to none? Just try to view every "overqualified" comment as a HUGE compliment when you hear it!
Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining. Just trying to point out the very same thing. Tho sometimes it feels like all the work put into gaining those skills is futile when noone wants to employ them. But I do understand your point and admire your desire to put it out there. My 'welcome to' comment was directed at the fact that most 2nd and 3rd world countries have been in this same situation for ages now and the US has just hit it again for the first proper time since the great depression.
I didn't take it as whining at all. I have incredible customer service skills, and am already fully trained both in the hotel service industry as well as for filing death certificates in the funeral industry, and yet because I have epilepsy, finding work has been impossible. It's sad to me when I look around and see incompetent workers everywhere I go, while so many people with adequate skills sit unemployed. It's not only unfair, it's a bad example for "the greatest country" to set!
I've always found it irrational when 'management' turns away people with excellent skills because of chronic medical conditions. Especially when those conditions do not affect that person's work. I don't know what the law is like in the US regarding the issue but here you are not required to divulge any medical condition to your employer unless you work in a job that is tied to the safety of other people. Of course with epilepsy you'd probably want someone to know in case you have a seizure.
health insurance is too expensive for employers... This is why a lot of Democrats were pushing for reforms. The health insurance industry is putting people and businesses into bankruptcy. "
The US is in a perfect storm thanks to Reaganomics.
@lordblazer That;s why where I live health insurance is mandatory for every employer and all unemployed people get health insurance from the state as long as they show active interest in seeking employment. Pensioners, students (regular) and underaged persons are covered by the state. State health isn't perfect or convenient but it is there and it gets the job done. If you can afford more you can pay for private health. When something like Health-in. isn't optional it's considered regular cost.
A couple of flaws in the research: 1. 10% unemployment rate doesn't refer to the population but of the labor force (minors excluded) so it's about 15.4 million people looking for work not 30 million. 2. The reason companies don't want to hire overqualified people is because they'll quit as soon as the job market improves or they get a better offer somewhere else thereby they won't get a return on their investment (training them)
I hadn't thought about these workers finding other work as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Makes sense, in a sad way. Did these employers ever really think anyone was planning to make careers in these fields to begin with? The job market today is a joke compared to 10-15 years ago.
And thanks! I've been trying! You've been around long enough to see the effort and changes- and, man, I love you for it! :)
I was laid off from my job where I was an Inventory Control Supervisor almost a year ago and it has been impossible for me to find another job. It makes it even more difficult because I have a back condition where I have to take heavy narcotics just to function each day. Back in June I almost got a job as a customer service representative until they found out I took these medications, then all of the sudden they decided they were going to go with someone else.
I understand this 100%. I have epilepsy, and very few employers were willing to work with this. It is for this reason I worked in the pizza industry for something like 6 years straight. I was finally approved for SSI, and am now far less stressed about my current financial situation- although it by no means I am out of the woods yet!
Its been incredibly difficult to find a job, probably doesn't help that I'm young with no work experience, but i cant even get a job at a fast food joint so it has been very difficult
My sisters are 19, and had the same problems finding work. Now that they are working, the issue has become the unsteady hours on their check, or split days off. My first job was fun, and it's sad to me that many are not having the same experience these days.
They stop counting you when you stop collecting unemployment, so there are some that are unemployed and under employed that are not counted. I'm self employed but work from late morning until about 3 a.m. each day. Over qualified generally means they are afriad you are going to complain instead of just take their bull crap every day. I know from the recruiting side of things. That's what hiring managers say "over qualified" means. Sometimes it means too expensive, too.
It is a sad say when an employer will turn away an employee simply because of the fear of being called out on BS in their workplace. What is up with our country?!?!
So many people are choosing the military as an option at this point. It's not a bad choice, in the long run, but do be careful. Even veterans are seeing reductions in benefits these days. Make sure everything is in writing! :)
Thanks for the compliments- I certainly FEEL hot! :P
so what's left for Americans is to become a truly martial society. Maybe this is happening. I dunno. I tell people to look overseas for opportunities. Its out there. But a lot of Americans are too fixated on this whole USA #1 and its as if to them there is no other place that has opportunities.
Excellent Video! I'm an RN, so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones right now, in that with the aging population and the prevalance of multiple comorbidities, nurses are still in demand. However, I will say that we are not entirely unaffected by the economic crunch. The hospital I work at announced no raises till further notices, benefits have been cut a lot, we are constantly short-staffed and have to take extra patients, which can be dangerous and rarely get time off even if we have vac time.
Cutting benefits is probably the worst option being practiced right now, IMO. Once an employee had worked hard and earned something, it seems pretty shady to suddenly take that away.
However, as you said, to still be working at this point is great, so count your blessings, however few. :)
those days are over i think. I've been in and out of the same company since I was 18. Am 33 now. But this is Canada. The US is a different place altogether. How the hell is the US going to fix its economy? The goverment isn't even running the show, and the people running the economy are trying to destroy it. It's a very sad situation there.
I don't know if we are ever going to fix our mess. I keep thinking of the Romans, and how every massive empire must fall at one point or another. Perhaps this is our time. *doesn't really want to think about it!*
This poor vid has been waiting to be filmed and posted for over a week now, thanks to getting sick! This topic weighs heavily on my mind- so much so that many of my friends are sick of hearing about it! :P
One of the biggest losses to Ireland during the recession was the shedding of 2,000 jobs from the DELL factory in Limerick in Jan 2009, as the majority of production was moved to mostly China and to Poland.
The knock on effect was a total of 10,000 suppliers to DELL in the mid-west also loosing their jobs.
DELL's products made up at least 5.5% of Irish exports and 2% of GDP!
And those workers are still waiting on agreed re-skilling money from the EU's Globalisation Fund a full year later
See, here is another example of companies worrying more about profits than the treatment of their workers. By moving their factory, not only have they hurt the Irish that worked there, but they will also hurt the Chinese and Polish because of the poor working conditions there. The only one who wins is DELL, which is a sad, sad thing. :(
The Paradox of Capitalism, Exploiters want the max amount of profit and the worker wants the most value for their work. Since the decline of industrial jobs, service economies have not and will never meet the work capacity and capability of the post ww2 era. Thanks Free Markets =)
It was the industrial jobs that helped bring our economy back after WWII. Now that most of those jobs are gone I wonder what will happen after this war is over? Will we ever be able to truly bring our country back from this hole we've dug for it?
NOt unless we release ourselves from the grips of corporate capitalism and institute massive cultural changes. We have been led to believe living in debt is freedom and rapid consumerism is what really structures an individual. As Karl Marx said we dont know what true individuality is until we free ourselves from the chains of exploitation, or something along those lines, lol.
Thanks! I was a redhead for years (artificially, of course) and then decided to give my poor hair a break. It's been long enough now, and it feels great to be back to it! :)
Being young is both an advantage as well as a disadvantage here. Many companies are only hiring younger workers, but are then doing things that I mentioned here like messing with schedules, etc. This is all so unfair!
Strange. In my country it's simply illegal for any employer to refuse union activity if they have six or more fulltime employees.
A few have tried to lay off activists for flimsy reasons, but since the unions are strong and everyone has the right to be heard and represented at employment court, they almost never succeed. The most widely known case was of a cashier who cashed in a bottle pawn receipt she'd found worth about a dollar and was summarily fired, after 31 years working for the company.
I believe the laws are similar here, but the companies are tricky. A group of workers in the seafood department of one of our many Wal-Marts decided to become union. They made the entire change legally- and Wal-Mart fought back by phasing out all seafood departments across the country! Sneaky!
REpublicans weakened the unions back in the 80s, and now they rampantly run anti-union shit all of the time. Saying that the unions are making americans poor. When really their greedy asses are. Americans are too stupid to realize these things. though there are a lot of smart americans. There are a lot of uneducated Americans. in fact they outnumber the educated ones by quite a lot.
Funny you mention Wal-Mart, i use to work there. They actually show anti-union videos before you even start working. They fact they are so worried should suggest how important it is. I believe as a matter of fact that treating workers like crap is just the nature of business. The rights we have now were hard won. The 8 hour work day for example. We fought for everything we have and need to do it again i believe. :D
The sick irony of the situation is that many European governments are now trying to "adapt" the job market to US standards. They don't dare to state so openly, because everyone here knows how the hire-and-fire/low-wage job market in the US actually looks.
My government is trying to mask true unemployment numbers by moving the unemployed into forced subsidized cheap labor (exploitation) and "training measures". We still have universal health care, but the new gov't is already looking for cuts.
Adapt to US standards? Aren't they paying attention to where exactly those standards can take them?! Greed is not always an evil thing, but in cases like this, it is. Any time the actions of one hurt many, someone needs to take a step back and re-evaluate their practices!
Bottom line is people are genuinely evil. Human beings are opportunists, for the most part only willing to do what benefits them the most and not others around them.
We are being lied to on a daily basis but we are afraid to speak up in fear of losing our jobs due to our conflicting opinions.
America does no longer stand by freedom of speech. Welcome to this foul year of our lord, 2010, where money talks and no one is listening.
foolsgoldsoma 1 year ago
@foolsgoldsoma
depends on the culture and the social development of said society. People are genuinely social creatures. remember that.
lordblazer 1 year ago
Before I begin, I'm deaf so I don't know what you talk about in the video, but I do get some idea from your description and all the comments here and would like to share my side. Here in Belgium and Netherlands, we too have been affected, my husband worked in logistic with Opel factory in Antwerp, which has recently been shut down a week ago, leaving about 2,000 directly out of work and about 10,000 indirectly out of work. However, luckily, he has found a new job few months ago! Whew! But... :/
indumamoon 2 years ago
I feel bad for all other workers!
What I'm saying, the mistreatments and low employments are making it hard to live nowadays even in Europe. It's inescapable.
Anyways, you look great with red hair! I think I also like your blonde hair too. Either way, you look great! :-)
indumamoon 2 years ago
As being an Ex-Small Business Owner when I was in the hiring process I had turned away applicants because they were over qualified for a few reasons.
1. The job I hired for involved working outside in the Heat of Arizona washing cars and dealing with angry customers.
2. I couldn't afford to pay over 7-7.50 an hour and most people applying for the job wanted to get paid over 36K a year and owning the business that is what I made. Training cost me time and money that I couldn't afford.
TheDeadZy 2 years ago
Turnover would cost me to have no days off for weeks at a time and have to pay someone who would just find something better in a few months.
I'm not disagreeing as I think Big Corp's can do better its just my .02 from my experience.
TheDeadZy 2 years ago
You know, you are much too pretty to have that piercing in your lip...you would do better in an interview....
billyjoebobway 2 years ago
During the Bush years my job went overseas.
rdalecowboy 2 years ago
There was an article in Rolling Stone years ago where they sent a guy over the factory where his job was sent. He says aside from the low pay, these people were working in extremely unsafe working conditions around chemicals, etc. These are business practices that not only hurt us, but also those who take jobs overseas. WRONG WRONG WRONG. (I just can't say it enough)
choirgrrl 2 years ago
@choirgrrl
yea its the whole race to the bottom that current capitalism is practicing. The US is becoming third world. 2020 the US will be a different country.
lordblazer 1 year ago
I have a friend who was talking about this very topic of abuse yesterday about her job at Babies R' Us. Apparently, the supervisors and managers curse the employees out to the point they hire new people every week because most people can't handle the mistreatment.
My mother also has a problem as the company she works for stopped giving raises and yet they still do performance reviews as an excuse to fire anyone to save a little money and pile the work on the few remaining employees.
LordDogma 2 years ago
This is not fair! And yet, it is becoming an American way of operation. Isn't this what the Labor Board was set up to correct? (Too bad so many employees are afraid to use it these days!)
choirgrrl 2 years ago
You mentioned some of your friends where laid off or fired because they are over-qualified. Why doesn't the banks and Wal-Street use that excuse? They give millions of dollars in bonuses to keep and retain the most qualified with tax payers money. Talk about a line of bullshit the Capitalists pricks use.
Dwicker64 2 years ago
Fucking A, good point!!!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
US should adapt a more worker friendly work hours, in Norway we have 37,5 max week hour. And I hear they are working on a 36-35 hour week.
I have almost been in steady work for 27 years, in those 27 years I have been without work for as much as maybe a year
summed up.
I now work in the ship yard industry, which is experiencing a contract dry out.
We had about 5 more ships to build in mid December, now we have 7, we got 2 more ships to build almost as a Christmas present :D
TheX2Com 2 years ago
Congrats on consistent work! I applaud your bosses for keeping it going for you guys! Celebrate every day that this keeps up for you, because when life is good, it is meant to be savored. :)
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Yes and we do applaud our bosses, when we heard the news we hardly could believe our ear's! thought 2 more ship's is not that much, or takes long to complete. The hulls are built in Braila Romania, we outfit them in Norway.
TheX2Com 2 years ago
I have a currently have a full time salary job. I normally put in 40 hours a week, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. This year I heard the economy excuse when it came time for raises even though I know our company did pretty good despite the economy. I don't feel like i'm able to move up at this point, and it wears on me. I live in Michigan and we have one of the worst economies, I feel its almost pointless to even look for a different job.
Blaze312 2 years ago
When I hear of companies trying out excuses like this, I always wonder how the big guy at the top is doing. Is he wearing Armani suits and eating filet mignon ever night, or is he living pretty much on par with everyone else? If it is option A, then he is just as much a part of the problem as the economy. If it's B, then it seems we're all just in a bad spot.
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Someone said my calculations were off- but either way we have a HUGE chunk of AT L:EAST 15 million or more out of work. No matter what the true numbers, there just aren't enough jobs to go around- which is the true problem.
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Interesting video, I love the clear and concise style. And I agree with you on the poor treatment of staff because of high unemployment rates.
The unemployment rate here is 7.9% apparently. And it doesnt seem to be improving.
bewarethelizards42 2 years ago
Have the British sent many of their jobs overseas as we have, or is it just a simple case of cutting back and therefore cutting out workers?
choirgrrl 2 years ago
The same, I think - a mix of the two. My brother works in a car factory where they are all soon to be made redundant so the works can move overseas in cost-cutting exercises. It's happened to lots and lots of factory/manual workers.
It's pretty bleak at the mo'. Everything is getting smaller and smaller.. places lose people and dont replace. There's a lot of that going on. People left behind are working twice as hard.
Bah. Like you say, it'll get better. But it shouldnt be like this. Pesky.
bewarethelizards42 2 years ago
Welcome to where I've been the past 20 years (my country has been this way since the 90's). I've had 8 jobs in 9 years so far and I've only quit one (mostly due to the manager behaving like the companies you mention). The other 7 have gone down in a blaze of retarded management and each time I've had to look for a job anew. Unfortunately for me I'm considered 'overqualified' for pretty much any computer related job outside my industry (games) and thus have been very limited in work opportunity.
ellocotheinsane 2 years ago
And here you are with actual SKILLS and are having difficulty! What of those with little to none? Just try to view every "overqualified" comment as a HUGE compliment when you hear it!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Don't get me wrong, I'm not whining. Just trying to point out the very same thing. Tho sometimes it feels like all the work put into gaining those skills is futile when noone wants to employ them. But I do understand your point and admire your desire to put it out there. My 'welcome to' comment was directed at the fact that most 2nd and 3rd world countries have been in this same situation for ages now and the US has just hit it again for the first proper time since the great depression.
ellocotheinsane 2 years ago
I didn't take it as whining at all. I have incredible customer service skills, and am already fully trained both in the hotel service industry as well as for filing death certificates in the funeral industry, and yet because I have epilepsy, finding work has been impossible. It's sad to me when I look around and see incompetent workers everywhere I go, while so many people with adequate skills sit unemployed. It's not only unfair, it's a bad example for "the greatest country" to set!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
I've always found it irrational when 'management' turns away people with excellent skills because of chronic medical conditions. Especially when those conditions do not affect that person's work. I don't know what the law is like in the US regarding the issue but here you are not required to divulge any medical condition to your employer unless you work in a job that is tied to the safety of other people. Of course with epilepsy you'd probably want someone to know in case you have a seizure.
ellocotheinsane 2 years ago
@ellocotheinsane
health insurance is too expensive for employers... This is why a lot of Democrats were pushing for reforms. The health insurance industry is putting people and businesses into bankruptcy. "
The US is in a perfect storm thanks to Reaganomics.
lordblazer 1 year ago
@lordblazer That;s why where I live health insurance is mandatory for every employer and all unemployed people get health insurance from the state as long as they show active interest in seeking employment. Pensioners, students (regular) and underaged persons are covered by the state. State health isn't perfect or convenient but it is there and it gets the job done. If you can afford more you can pay for private health. When something like Health-in. isn't optional it's considered regular cost.
ellocotheinsane 1 year ago
Great points, and great hair. Cheers :)
coolvibe1975 2 years ago
Thanks! :)
choirgrrl 2 years ago
A couple of flaws in the research: 1. 10% unemployment rate doesn't refer to the population but of the labor force (minors excluded) so it's about 15.4 million people looking for work not 30 million. 2. The reason companies don't want to hire overqualified people is because they'll quit as soon as the job market improves or they get a better offer somewhere else thereby they won't get a return on their investment (training them)
Yewon2001 2 years ago
I see you're getting much better at your video making skills though. Good work!
Yewon2001 2 years ago
I hadn't thought about these workers finding other work as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Makes sense, in a sad way. Did these employers ever really think anyone was planning to make careers in these fields to begin with? The job market today is a joke compared to 10-15 years ago.
And thanks! I've been trying! You've been around long enough to see the effort and changes- and, man, I love you for it! :)
choirgrrl 2 years ago
I was laid off from my job where I was an Inventory Control Supervisor almost a year ago and it has been impossible for me to find another job. It makes it even more difficult because I have a back condition where I have to take heavy narcotics just to function each day. Back in June I almost got a job as a customer service representative until they found out I took these medications, then all of the sudden they decided they were going to go with someone else.
brokensoul70 2 years ago
At my previous job they let me go and gave it to someone who made far less than I did.
Thankfully Obama and Congress passed the federal Unemployment extensions. Without it I would be in really bad shape.
brokensoul70 2 years ago
I understand this 100%. I have epilepsy, and very few employers were willing to work with this. It is for this reason I worked in the pizza industry for something like 6 years straight. I was finally approved for SSI, and am now far less stressed about my current financial situation- although it by no means I am out of the woods yet!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Its been incredibly difficult to find a job, probably doesn't help that I'm young with no work experience, but i cant even get a job at a fast food joint so it has been very difficult
DeathsHand24 2 years ago
My sisters are 19, and had the same problems finding work. Now that they are working, the issue has become the unsteady hours on their check, or split days off. My first job was fun, and it's sad to me that many are not having the same experience these days.
choirgrrl 2 years ago
They stop counting you when you stop collecting unemployment, so there are some that are unemployed and under employed that are not counted. I'm self employed but work from late morning until about 3 a.m. each day. Over qualified generally means they are afriad you are going to complain instead of just take their bull crap every day. I know from the recruiting side of things. That's what hiring managers say "over qualified" means. Sometimes it means too expensive, too.
amberview30 2 years ago
It is a sad say when an employer will turn away an employee simply because of the fear of being called out on BS in their workplace. What is up with our country?!?!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
I watch very few videos longer than 5 minutes. But I watched yours. Great job.
toadroll 2 years ago
Awesome compliment there (and I understand, because I am pretty much the same way when it somes to watching vids) so THANK YOU!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Ive been looking for a job for about a year now with no luck so, I gave up. I'm joining the NAVY. sigh I hate the military .
I really like your hair, you look HOT!
lohenry 2 years ago
So many people are choosing the military as an option at this point. It's not a bad choice, in the long run, but do be careful. Even veterans are seeing reductions in benefits these days. Make sure everything is in writing! :)
Thanks for the compliments- I certainly FEEL hot! :P
choirgrrl 2 years ago
@choirgrrl
so what's left for Americans is to become a truly martial society. Maybe this is happening. I dunno. I tell people to look overseas for opportunities. Its out there. But a lot of Americans are too fixated on this whole USA #1 and its as if to them there is no other place that has opportunities.
lordblazer 1 year ago
Is that moonshine in that mason jar?
NoctrnALOne 2 years ago
Haha! No, just H2O, although I've tried moonshine in the past. *shudders* Nothing like drinking paint thinner!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Excellent Video! I'm an RN, so I guess I'm one of the lucky ones right now, in that with the aging population and the prevalance of multiple comorbidities, nurses are still in demand. However, I will say that we are not entirely unaffected by the economic crunch. The hospital I work at announced no raises till further notices, benefits have been cut a lot, we are constantly short-staffed and have to take extra patients, which can be dangerous and rarely get time off even if we have vac time.
ICharmaine 2 years ago
Cutting benefits is probably the worst option being practiced right now, IMO. Once an employee had worked hard and earned something, it seems pretty shady to suddenly take that away.
However, as you said, to still be working at this point is great, so count your blessings, however few. :)
choirgrrl 2 years ago
those days are over i think. I've been in and out of the same company since I was 18. Am 33 now. But this is Canada. The US is a different place altogether. How the hell is the US going to fix its economy? The goverment isn't even running the show, and the people running the economy are trying to destroy it. It's a very sad situation there.
Love the hair btw, looks very nice.
Indeed
Pussymcfats 2 years ago
*blushes* :)
I don't know if we are ever going to fix our mess. I keep thinking of the Romans, and how every massive empire must fall at one point or another. Perhaps this is our time. *doesn't really want to think about it!*
choirgrrl 2 years ago
I'm Canadian :/
GoKitty28 2 years ago
Comment removed
slugbucket 2 years ago
Awesome video, I'm glad I subscribed.
redhairdemon 2 years ago
Me, too! :)
choirgrrl 2 years ago
what an important video. all points, spot on. fav'd.
gothatfunk 2 years ago
This poor vid has been waiting to be filmed and posted for over a week now, thanks to getting sick! This topic weighs heavily on my mind- so much so that many of my friends are sick of hearing about it! :P
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Brilliant video. I'm glad that I subscribed. Take care.
bilstonjay 2 years ago
omg i am loving your hair ^^
impulsetospit 2 years ago
Yay! I feel so awesome with it! I need to go over once more to really make it flaming, but other than that, I like it. :D
choirgrrl 2 years ago
As an Artist I can do voluntary work with mental people in the Netherlands. Nice story line.
Azoicum 2 years ago
Thank you. Voluntary work is beautiful. I wish more people had time or the heart to join in!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
One of the biggest losses to Ireland during the recession was the shedding of 2,000 jobs from the DELL factory in Limerick in Jan 2009, as the majority of production was moved to mostly China and to Poland.
The knock on effect was a total of 10,000 suppliers to DELL in the mid-west also loosing their jobs.
DELL's products made up at least 5.5% of Irish exports and 2% of GDP!
And those workers are still waiting on agreed re-skilling money from the EU's Globalisation Fund a full year later
IrelandBoi1987 2 years ago
See, here is another example of companies worrying more about profits than the treatment of their workers. By moving their factory, not only have they hurt the Irish that worked there, but they will also hurt the Chinese and Polish because of the poor working conditions there. The only one who wins is DELL, which is a sad, sad thing. :(
choirgrrl 2 years ago
The Paradox of Capitalism, Exploiters want the max amount of profit and the worker wants the most value for their work. Since the decline of industrial jobs, service economies have not and will never meet the work capacity and capability of the post ww2 era. Thanks Free Markets =)
Charles0in0charge 2 years ago
It was the industrial jobs that helped bring our economy back after WWII. Now that most of those jobs are gone I wonder what will happen after this war is over? Will we ever be able to truly bring our country back from this hole we've dug for it?
choirgrrl 2 years ago
NOt unless we release ourselves from the grips of corporate capitalism and institute massive cultural changes. We have been led to believe living in debt is freedom and rapid consumerism is what really structures an individual. As Karl Marx said we dont know what true individuality is until we free ourselves from the chains of exploitation, or something along those lines, lol.
Charles0in0charge 2 years ago
Holy damn... you look great with red hair. It really suits you.
jussts 2 years ago
Thanks! I was a redhead for years (artificially, of course) and then decided to give my poor hair a break. It's been long enough now, and it feels great to be back to it! :)
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Great video
SireGaukler 2 years ago
Thank you!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
To be unemployed sucks (No money = No fun). I'm only 19 and I'm work 20 hours a week as a mailman. I get by but that's about it.
(Sweden might be a little bit better off than the US though, I haven't really looked in to it)
tgseason12 2 years ago
Being young is both an advantage as well as a disadvantage here. Many companies are only hiring younger workers, but are then doing things that I mentioned here like messing with schedules, etc. This is all so unfair!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Looking good, choirgrrl. Did you dye your hair?
Xelico 2 years ago
I did! :) I feel feisty, I'll tell you that!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
I agree with much of what you said. The American people have learn to organize unions once again. Its the only way we'll get what we deserve.
KCpunK666 2 years ago
I agree! However, so many companies like Wal-Mart have advertised themselves as being staunchly "anti-union" that I wonder if this can ever happen.
When did treating your workers like crap become the standard for turning profits?
choirgrrl 2 years ago
Strange. In my country it's simply illegal for any employer to refuse union activity if they have six or more fulltime employees.
A few have tried to lay off activists for flimsy reasons, but since the unions are strong and everyone has the right to be heard and represented at employment court, they almost never succeed. The most widely known case was of a cashier who cashed in a bottle pawn receipt she'd found worth about a dollar and was summarily fired, after 31 years working for the company.
blackwolf1272 2 years ago
I believe the laws are similar here, but the companies are tricky. A group of workers in the seafood department of one of our many Wal-Marts decided to become union. They made the entire change legally- and Wal-Mart fought back by phasing out all seafood departments across the country! Sneaky!
choirgrrl 2 years ago
@blackwolf1272
REpublicans weakened the unions back in the 80s, and now they rampantly run anti-union shit all of the time. Saying that the unions are making americans poor. When really their greedy asses are. Americans are too stupid to realize these things. though there are a lot of smart americans. There are a lot of uneducated Americans. in fact they outnumber the educated ones by quite a lot.
lordblazer 1 year ago
Funny you mention Wal-Mart, i use to work there. They actually show anti-union videos before you even start working. They fact they are so worried should suggest how important it is. I believe as a matter of fact that treating workers like crap is just the nature of business. The rights we have now were hard won. The 8 hour work day for example. We fought for everything we have and need to do it again i believe. :D
KCpunK666 2 years ago
The sick irony of the situation is that many European governments are now trying to "adapt" the job market to US standards. They don't dare to state so openly, because everyone here knows how the hire-and-fire/low-wage job market in the US actually looks.
My government is trying to mask true unemployment numbers by moving the unemployed into forced subsidized cheap labor (exploitation) and "training measures". We still have universal health care, but the new gov't is already looking for cuts.
blackwolf1272 2 years ago
Adapt to US standards? Aren't they paying attention to where exactly those standards can take them?! Greed is not always an evil thing, but in cases like this, it is. Any time the actions of one hurt many, someone needs to take a step back and re-evaluate their practices!
choirgrrl 2 years ago