Antiwork

In 06' I took an “extended unpaid vacation” to travel Europe with friends. It was 4 weeks. This franchise rib joint I was at was swirling the bowl. Found out somewhere in Rome, I think… it closed. I was officially unemployed. YAY? Oh no! My $2:13/hour. Like 2 weeks after returning my old manager shows up with a check! Here is your vacation pay! Which I didn't expect or qualify for because I was just barely under the “vacation” line of 32 hours. It wasn't a lot, but damn!! And it was my tipped pay! He was losing his job too and took the time to sneak on some extra pay/literally an hour for me, cause F them. I'll never work for that company again but that guy gets it and my thanks. TL:DR Manager flubbed the numbers (slightly) so I got vacation pay when the restaurant closed while on…

So I recently saw a post praising In-N-Out Burger for it's “progressive pay” and the prices for the food in this subreddit. This post will come off as extremely ranty as I get so worked up about this company, so I apologize for any spelling errors. I've worked for INO for over 7 years and its nowhere near as great as you think it is. The pay is always just enough to work their instead of McDonalds, BK, Carl and other fast-food locations and its almost always impossible to make it to fulltime unless you're a higher level and desire to make it into management. The more fulltimers at a store the less money the Store manager makes from their paychecks incentivizing them to keep the number low. The culture is extremely toxic and almost runs as an “Old Boys Club” only recently have I seen the culture slowly allow…

Just an observation. I’ve noticed that Facebook and Twitter posts (at least the ones shown to me by the almighty algorithms) don’t have as many interactions and likes as most of the posts from r/antiwork. Mainstream, corporate-financed media is definitely blacking out and ignoring much of the labor movement, regardless of political inclinations. I’m curious if their Nielsen ratings are as underwhelming? We should continue proselytizing the gospel of the proletariat, and deprogram the masses.

The mods having their bot try to discourage us from naming and shaming every single time somebody acknowledges one of the few tools we actually have for fighting back against exploitation has gone on long enough. To name and shame a company is one of the only tools we even HAVE in order to defend ourselves against this shit and we have a moral obligation to name and shame every single company that chooses to exploit us.

I’m talking about the posts that are pics of fast food hiring signs, heaping praise on these mega-corporations for paying what is barely a living wage and providing the bare minimum of benefits. With hundreds of comments praising how well they treat their employees, their delicious food and their low low prices, while the comments from people who actually work there are way down at the bottom. I can’t help but feel suspicious when I see dozens of comments mentioning “always fresh never frozen!”, “great benefits, happy workers!” and “damn can’t wait till I get off work so I can get some orange chicken/a double double etc!” Listen to the workers. Panda Express, In N Out, Dick’s and McDonald’s don’t care about you. They are not here to save us. Being not as bad as the absolute worst doesn’t mean they’re good.