Working Class Snobbery and Elitism

[Stinky The Clown]

Let me start this thread, which could easily get hijacked and go south, with a clear statement. I fully support the labor movement, the union movement, and workers the world over. I come from a union/working class background, and consider myself, today, as a member of the working class.

I would also like to say that what I will discuss below is an issue with many who are not directly involved in the labor movement, but rather tend to be the labor movement's well-meaning, but in my view misguided, supporters.

And that issue is 'Who are the working class?'

Some appear to have this idealized, 1930s sort of romanticized picture of the 'oppressed worker' toiling far too long for far too little pay under some Simon Legree shop foreman or small factory owner. Or a Dickensian Bob Cratchitt to Ebeneezer Scrooge. In many ways, they seem to be almost wistfully wanting some Marxist tragedy to be played out.

But in this day and age, we need a very different view of the 'working class'. Many people seen by the idealists as being other than working class are, in actual fact, decidedly working class.

Let's look for a moment at some quite recent history - 'exempt' versus 'non-exempt' employees. In this case, 'exempt' means workers not subject to hourly wage and overtime laws. Management sold a bill of goods to many workers by giving them some meaningless supervisory or 'professional' role and then classifying them as part of 'management'. Two social sea changes resulted from that:

1 - Many workers who would formerly have been paid time and a half over 8 (or 40) hours and double time on Sundays and holidays were suddenly paid a 'salary'. The net result was a lowered labor cost for the capital class and an opportunity for exploitation for some members of the working class.

2 - The workers affected were sold a bill of goods by essentially having smoke blown up their asses. They saw themselves as part of management. They got keys to the executive toilets. They were told to wear ties. They were made to 'feel' like management. And they bought it. The net result: an increase in the 'I got mine/Fuck you' crowd. This change in self-identification was really the bigger win by management than was the labor cost saving. It caused a mindset. It added more people to the ranks of 'them' and reduced the ranks of 'us'. It also reduced the number of people who might have otherwise chosen to be part of the unions.

I was once a person who was moved to an 'exempt' status. At the time, I recall being thrilled to be seen as 'management'. I breathed deeply the smoke they blew at me. But it didn't take long to see the lie in my situation. I contrasted what was required of me then, and how I was compensated for that, to my time as a union member (Teamsters). I knew I'd been had. Some others knew it too. Some still do not. Most of them vote Republican.

But back to the snobbery and elitism. Those people who were affected by that rule change ('exempt' workers) were and still are a part of the working class. That key to the executive toilet only opens the toilet. The boardroom and the executive fitness center and the executive yacht club are still very much off limits to these people. Most importantly, the benefit of being 'exempt' is tightly held by the capital class. The only thing trickling down is from the leak in the floor of the 'boardroom toilet' one level *above* the 'executive toilet.'

And then there are the countless new or non-mainstream, non-traditional workers and jobs that are, even today, still being created. The mother of young children who chooses to stay at home and run a small web site design business. She owns the business. Is she a worker? Classic definitions hold that, as an owner, she is not. But we all know that, in fact, she is just another working schlub. To exclude her from the working class is wrong on its face and detrimental to the labor movement. While there is likely no practical way to find a union that can represent her, there is no reason to say she's a 'them'. She is a natural ally to the union movement and a natural supporter of their efforts. To alienate her with some 'working class snobbery' is just plain wrong on the facts and on strategy.

If you can accept that line of thinking, then let's look at some other jobs.

In a poll I posted here on DU today, I suggested that a doctor who works at an HMO is a member of the working class. Some took issue with that. But look at the facts. The doctor works there at the pleasure of the capital class. The doctor is given a prescribed set of standards for such things as the number of patients seen, the number of tests directed or avoided, working hours, holidays, place of employment, office decor, the permissibility of family pictures in one's office, etc., etc. Are all doctors members of the working class? Probably not. Are all doctors automatically *not* part of the working class? No.

I could go on. But suffice to say that it is my view that probably between 85% and 95% of American citizens today are part of the 'working class'. They may not fit the romanticized picture of the 'oppressed worker' some would have us take as definitive, its true. But they are very much a natural part of what ought to be the working class constituency. To exclude them from the definition simply reduces the size of the working class and, by extension, the potential size of the labor movement. And that's *not* a good thing.

[Ayesha]

1. The lines are much more blurred today

It's harder to say who is "working class" because we've transitioned from a manufacturing economy to a service economy. The old definitions just don't work anymore. Personally I believe it's everyone's responsibility to stand up for fair wages and treatment of all workers, regardless of what "class" their job falls into. Perhaps in fact it would be better to eliminate the whole "class" concept, which tends to divide people and lends itself to elitism on both sides, and focus on how companies treat their workers, whether they wear a tie or a uniform to work.

[nosillies]

2. Beautifully written

:applause:

[NMDemDist2]

3. in my decades in the "hospitality/food service" industry I'd laugh at

bosses who offered me a "management" position. I'd always say "You can't afford me"

what we need is a Labour Revolution aka what over threw the Robber Barons in the early 20th century. And there'd be a lot of folks who'd join.

[alvarezadams]

5. Time is overripe

to start class warfare again. And after decades of corporate abuse - and of many MANY people sick to death of the "machine" - it could be said that the only HOPE for our polity is to hit the class warfare buttons.

[Stinky The Clown]

7. You bet your ass its time!

As you say, the time is overripe.

And THIS time I want our side to have as many members as we can get. There are only two classes: Working class and Capital Class.

You either work for a living or you live off invested capital.

[Totally Committed]

17. I agree... TOTALLY!

Time to pick up a pitchfork, and keep letting 'em have it until things are finally right in this country! And, if we have Democrats unwilling or unable to take the fight to them, we need to elect DIFFERENT Democrats.

TC

[orpupilofnature57]

8. WOBBLIES!!!

tHANK YOU DavidZephr http://www.frif.com/cat97/t-z/the_wobb.html

[pnwmom]

4. I think, in a way, anyone who has to work --

anyone who couldn't get by on investments alone, is a part of the working class.

And that includes almost everybody, especially because we don't have public health insurance.

[Warpy]

6. They made a few noises four years ago when the bill was passed

broadening the definition of "management" to exempt registered nurses. Enough nurses handed in immediate resignations that the plan was never put into effect. Those mandatory extra 12 hour shifts at management's convenience were bad enough; having them unpaid was intolerable.

And yes, it's a shell game. People who wear the suit and tie of the ruling class's front men will generally identify with those front men, not with the people they left behind on hourly wage, even though they generally take a pay cut to get there. Overtime, as management knows, mounts up quickly.

Night nurses were easy to organize a few years ago when we tried to get a union at the hospital. Day nurses were a different matter. Becuase they worked with managment around, they identified with the people who wore the power suits with lab coats, not with other workers at the place. They also responded to every union busting trick management pulled (and they spent millions). Plus, they tended to think of unions as sweaty guys with packs of cigs jammed into the sleeves of their grease stained t shirts. 96% of night nurses signed union cards. Less than 20% of day nurses did.

So I'd say YES, your assessment is spot on. Tne problem we need to address is the artificial division between hourly working class and the lowest ranks of "management," created when a bad law was made worse.

[tularetom]

9. Disillusionment can set in really hard

My daughter was a secretary for a large school district. In an effort to decimate employee bargaining groups, the district reclassified a number of clerical employees including her as "management analysts" and made them exempt. She assumed her new status would come with invitations to parties, golf tournaments and other opportunities to rub elbows with some of the higher ups at the district. In reality all it has meant to her is the chance to put in a lot of extra hours without compensation as she is now of course salaried. She routinely now earns less than those who stayed in the old classification because they are paid for overtime work. She is pissed to put it mildly and now ready to put aside some of her pretensions and vote for people that will provide support for her. I told her this was going to happen but there really wasn't anything she could have done to stop it.

[driver8]

10. This situation sounds like what happened where I work.

I work for a major movie studio that employs a lot of union people (IATSE mostly). The people who schedule our work used to be paid hourly. Management came up with this great plan to put them all on salary; they paid the schedulers a lump sum based on how long they worked there and then put them on salary. I don't know how they figured out who got what for the lump sum, but I did hear a lot of grumbling.

The schedulers put in a lot of overtime when we are busy. They no longer are compensated for this time. Plus, the salary they are now making is significantly less than what most of them used to make per year when they were hourly. I guess their choice was to accept the new terms or look for another job.

At my job we have the union workers and management. Our union rules are very clear and what we are to be compensated for overtime, etc. We have had management try to pull some shit on us a few times. We don't say anything -- we simply call our union and they send someone over to check things out. Once the rep has been there, the problem is usually taken care of. It is too bad it has to be that way but that's the way it is.

Not only that, but when the quarterly profits aren't what they are supposed to be, it is the union workers who are always laid off.

One more thing -- we have a lot of younger people in the union and for many this is their first union job. Last election I heard many of the younger guys talking about how great Bush was and how Kerry was "a pussy." I said to them, "Do you guys like working here?" They said that they did. I asked them if they liked their salary and the amazing benefits that we have. They all agreed that they did. I finally asked them, "Do you know what Bush and his buddies would do to unions if they could? They would get rid of all of them. You guys are cutting your own throats by voting for him." They thought about that for a moment and then I heard, "Yeah, but Kerry is a pussy!"

AAARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!

[MADem]

11. Let's not forget those STARBUCKS workers

They get treated worse than WALMART workers!
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=21891

Union members are demanding a pay increase to $10 an hour for entry-level workers from the current $7.50 an hour in addition to guaranteed minimum hours and healthcare benefits.

“There are no minimum hours and that’s the problem,” Mr. Tessone said. “Our schedule is at the mercy of the manager.”

With regards the healthcare, union officials claim Starbucks only covers 42% of its workers, less than the 47% that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is often criticized for.

The Logan Square employees are the first outside of six Starbucks in New York City to seek an alliance with the IWW Starbucks Workers Union.

“It isn’t going to be the last,” said Daniel Gross, IWW organizer. ...The Starbucks spokeswoman said the company does not discriminate or retaliate against workers based on union activities.

In March, Starbucks settled an unfair labor practice charge the union filed with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the company of violating federal law by creating a national policy prohibiting workers from sharing written union information or wearing buttons.

The company admitted no wrongdoing in its settlement, but was forced to post at three stores named in the complaint detailed notices explaining workers' rights to organize. It also offered two workers their jobs back and gave three employees back pay totaling less than $2,000.

[annabanana]

12. required reading. . . . .k&r. . . . . . n/t

[Greyhound]

13. Bottom line, there has been a class war going on in amerika for

over 40 years, only one side is playing to win and it ain't ours.

K & R :kick:

[Stinky The Clown]

15. I honestly believe that's because their side plays to win .....

.... while our side spends too much time catering to navel gazers and idealists. Don't mistake that statement for any derision of idealists. They are very helpful in seeing thisgs as they can be and should be. The problem comes in when contemplative idealism is mistaken for actually doing something. We need both. Too often, those inclined to 'do' are vilified by the idealists who go on the become ideal absolutists.

[Greyhound]

20. I really don't think there is an "our side", at least I can't find it.

The Democratic Party certainly isn't on "our side", the unions aren't on "our side", no media, no foundations, no universities.

Even those that are fighting, and losing, the class war deny that it is what it is.

My head is so sore... :banghead:

[Trillo]

14. Getting purely political in a monetary sense....

It looks like medical and health organizations, with the notable exception of nurses, are donating largely Republican, again.
http://opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.asp?cycle=2006&ind=H01

[PresidentWar]

16. The IWW has worked hard to keep up with these changes

I was an active member of the organization until about three years ago (I didnt leave out of ideological reasons, only financial ones because I couldnt afford the dues at the time). I was then, as I am now, a self employed person who designs media. My concern upon wanting to join is that I wasn't "blue collar" enough, but my recruiter had happy news for me - the IWW had been busy coming up with new categories of working people in the computer/internet age. I had my own designation, clearly defined, and could join as a full member no problem. Even after our local GMB disappeared, I was able to remain a member.

The only line was drawn at being a part of the "hiring class", and has always been that way.

[Stinky The Clown]

18. The 'hiring class" ........

..... if you had hired a helper, would you have had to leave that union?

[Lexingtonian]

19. you should have a look at Paul Fussell's "Class"

which is really in the satirical tradition of Thorstein Veblen about the whole hypocrisy and misery the class system is.

It's true, doctors and lawyers have been generally downgraded in the class system over the past generation or so to being almost uniformly middle class corporate workers- with the white shirts, regular hours, offices, rote paperwork, layoffs, regular meetings, caffeine dependency, policy training, etc.

Upper middle class jobs are imho essentially defined by their commodity of uniquely applicable and valuable advice or analysis, so valuable that meaningful autonomy from the people paying for them is possible.