this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2026
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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"Bill introduced in Senate that will definitely fail, but makes people feel good" is classic election bait.
Admittedly, this is the Bezos Home Journal running these stories, so it's going to be the worst spin you can imagine. Also, it's $25/hr by 2039 (+$5/hr the first year and +$1/hr after that), which is probably better than linking it to GDP/Inflation in an economy that's on the brink of an ugly recession but only marginally so.
There's already something of a soft wage floor in the US that's been created by the high cost of living. You can't find people who will work for $7/hr, because where would they even live? How would they feed themselves? That's sub-poverty wages.
The issue with labor right now isn't legal allotment but availability and talent. Boomers are exiting the labor pool, immigrants are shut out of the labor market, and the Millennials/GenAs aren't sufficient to close the gap. Tariffs are closing off the possibility of cheap imports and rising energy prices make bulk transportation increasingly expensive. AI continues to be a pipe dream.
Employers are being backed into a corner. Which means the only path out is... prison labor. Not coincidentally, the US is investing extensively in detention camps and police batallions.
What is this pro-corporate drivel?
Sure. And they've outsourced that process very successfully through the privatized college system.
But college isn't the bottleneck. We have plenty of diploma mills and overflowing lecture halls.
What we lack, more often than not, is low income service sector workers. Janitors, retail employees, bus boys and line cooks. We're in short supply of agriculture hands, which is why prison labor is becoming incredibly popular.
Buddy is simping for corporations your hobby?
This is you saying there's a "shortage" of people willing to work for unlivable wages and then explaining that's what makes "prison labor" AKA slave labor incredibly popular.
We get it bud. Corporations love human slaves. This comes as a surprise to nobody. You talking about it like this is a problem with workers instead of the horrifying reality of corporate greed is just gross.
There is no shortage of people willing to do any kind of work for good wages. What we have way too much of are greedy billionaires and corporations.
The work has value that far exceeds the wages being paid
Yes. And that's a problem.
Maybe, but it's not a bad thing to make people go on record about these things.