Skip Navigation
22 comments

  • Alright folks, I agree that this dude is tone deaf. Buuut...

    Coming from a factory worker - life in the factory doesn't have to be as shitty as it currently is in my opinion. I see it as a failure of management that factory work is so soul sucking.

    And as a society we rely on the efficiency that factory production brings - my understanding is that without factories, an economy is generally less able to support artists etc.

    I feel like the core idea that many people will be working in factories isn't necessarily bad...

    • It’s a failure of ownership not management. If the people doing the work had ownership over the building, tools, process and products, it would only be as shitty as desired.

      cf. Mondragon

    • Not necessarily wrong buuut that can only come true with strong labor protections, fair employment practices, guaranteed benefits and solid wages. The reasons we have labor unions, OSHA, EPA, etc. All things conservatives want to destroy.

      Trump's SOC may promise this utopia, but he will not deliver. They want Great Smog of London-producing factories. They want 1 week of PTO per year, no sick time, no parental leave, no retirement, bare minimum healthcare to keep your ass working until you drop.

      Why, asked Legasov? Because it's cheaper.

      Edit: Heck, they're already throwing child labor laws out the window, and it's not about "letting kids learn the value of a dollar." It's about explicitly exploiting people who don't yet know their own value, in the short term. And in the longer term, it's about making sure they never know what it was like to have a desk job, or a service job, or a job in education or the arts. Never let them yearn for a better life, by never letting them figure out that one could exist.

      • So then it would seem more productive to bash the Trump administration's labor policies than to bash the idea that there should be factory workers. The take away from this article for me is not that it is crazy for people and their children (once grown) to work in factories, but that we need to advance the policies you point out to make that into a reality that is sustainable.

        • Sorry this comment is a doozy, I had a lot on my mind with it lol

          While I agree with you, I did not come away from that article with the same conclusion. Nowhere in that article did the SOC mention supporting strong labor protections or progressive labor policy.

          In fact, we know from experience that Republicans hate those things, because they're backed by wealthy industrialists. This is absolutely crucial: the things that would make factory work a worthwhile career, like good wages, lots of PTO time, safe workplaces, low pollution, retirement funds, etc are not only expensive to capitalists, they are also the things people need in order to leave a factory job.

          Our hypothetical factory worker is happy, but he's getting older, slowing down, his hands hurt from all the work, its unavoidable. So he wants to move up the corporate ladder and into positions that require more soft skills. To that end, he pursues higher education, which requires money and time off. And once he gets his degree and reaches the top of this corporate ladder, he can now transfer his very desirable skills to new jobs, new industries, maybe even white collar work.

          You see how this is at odds with Lutnick's vision of intergenerational factory workers? Like, this utopia I've just laid out is not what he's selling. He's selling the complete destruction of class mobility. He wants people who can't leave their jobs, who can't pursue better prospects, and who can't create a better life for their family. He wants your children to know "you will never amount to anything more than your father, or your grandfather."

          And that's very appealing to the factory owner. He doesn't have to maintain a safe workplace, because the alternative is jobless and homeless. He doesn't have to pay a dignified wage, he doesn't have to schedule work around your vacation time, and he won't have to pay for the tools you need to escape. And, the cherry on top, he has the next two generations of workers lined up, learning from Pops!

          I grew up watching my father go from field technician, to night school bachelor's student, to software engineer. I saw my uncle become a car mechanic, stay a car mechanic, and is now too old to keep working but doesn't have enough saved for retirement. My grandfather worked in a glass cutting factory. Believe me, I'm not shitting on factory work. I'm shitting on the people who want to create shitty factory work. And the article is very captivated by the guy who wants to create shitty factory work.

          • Fair to point out that Trump and Lutnick suck bad and aren't really going to do anything to help factory workers. I guess that point feels obvious to me so I gloss over it in my comments. When I read an article like this, my takeaway may not always be the author's intended point.

            I still resist the idea that it must always be better to "escape" the factory and work elsewhere.

            You say you aren't shitting on factory work. But you also seem to feel that the ability to exit the factory is fundamental to having a good life. I agree that people should be able to choose what field they work in, so no I don't think that every person should feel locked in to factory work, but I do think that we should focus on how to make factory work appealing, unlike it is now.

            We need to be talking about more than just worker protections (although that is where policy needs to start and I agree they are the foundation for any further progress). We need to talk about government recommendations for management practices, grants for labor research, and possibly incentives for progressive management styles. We need to make factories into places that people don't want to escape.

            And as consumers, we need to push for the reality we want to see. If we have the ability, we should do our best to support companies with better labor practices - for example, the B corp and the Well certifications require certain employee wellness minimums, so when buying mass produced goods, prioritize ones with a certification like that.

22 comments