It seems to me when it comes to jobs in the United States, there are several factors to consider
1) What responsibility does the employer legally have
2) What responsibility does the employer have to their shareholders (i.e. the bottom line and the all mighty buck
3) What responsibility does the employer have to their employees
4) What responsibility does the employer have to society as a whole.
It seems to me, right now, in the U.S... the major corporations to all intents and purposes ONLY think of 'the bottom line'.. and only go beyond that when there are legalities involved. Those legalities are little things like 'quality control' and 'environmental issues' and 'don't poison the customer'. It seems the fiscal conservatives want to get rid of those controls to increase the bottom line.
Some of that 'going for the bottom line' include some things that are not for good for their employees, and not good for society as a whole. It seems that the people with the money have convince the government to mainly be consern with the bottom line, and for the monetary well being of the corporations and the shareholders, and not to concern themselves with the employees. They are the ones with the money and he who has the gold makes the rules.
That is the situation as Percy describes. But.. is that
the right thing to do
In my opinion.. no, it is not.
What ever happened to 'an honest days wage for an honest days work'?? It's gone. Many of the people who work hard live at a subsistance wage, while the CEO's of those corporations earn multiple millions.
80% of the people who work at walmart qualify for food stamps... which means the tax payer to subsidizing walmart for their salaries.. and the CEO made 35 MILLION a year. Let's compare that with Cosco, where the owner/ceo made 500K, and the average worker made $16 to 18 dollars , and 85% had health care.
Now, what Walmart did was legal. But , in my opinion it is unethical. The modern wealthy are supremely interested in just getting wealthier... at the expense of exploiting the poor.
It seems that greed rules the day, and Laissez faire economics does not allow for a healthy distribution of wealth. I think the government SHOULD get involved, and put the kind of proper regulation into place to insure that people do get a proper wage for honest work.
There is what is currently legal, and then there is was is ethically and morally correct.
Edited by ramoss, : No reason given.