I want to preface this with the fact that I know there are SO many people out there who have been so victimized by the system that quitting is just not an option at all. We've seen so many of the stories here: People who have sick spouses who depend on their company-provided health insurance, people who don't qualify for aid soon enough to keep them off the streets, people in recovery from addictions that need to have stability to keep them from relapse. This post is not for these people to take action on. This post is for the rest of us, to help them by proxy.
If you are in a situation where your work is unsafe or treats you poorly and you have any kind of landing pad (savings, parent's house, a friend who would take you in, etc.), you need to quit. It won't be comfortable. It never will be. But you need to do it, and you need to tell your employer why you're quitting. Even if it's a bad time for the other employees. Scratch that, ESPECIALLY if it's a bad time for the other employees.
So often we tell ourselves that we're just keeping at it it for our fellow employees, so that the burden doesn't fall on them. But frankly, it is NOT our job to share in their suffering, and doing so only makes the suffering imposed on all of us more sustainable. Yes, it might get harder for them. It might even fail. Let it fail. It NEEDS to fail. Because that's literally the only thing that speaks to the owner class. The more we tolerate bad working conditions out of the goodness of our own hearts, the more exploitation seems reasonable and is sustainable. Quit FOR the other employees. It will be short term pain for them, of course, but it will be long term gain for ALL, including those who don't have the power to help themselves, if those of us who HAVE the power quit.
Thank you for coming to my TEDTalk.