I'm not American, I live in Scandinavia and I'm currently working at a regular store. 20 M
What I noticed from this sub is that a large portion of people seem to have a very dystopian
view on workplace-worker relationships. A lot of the posts I see are
Employer pays bare minimum.
Worker Does bare minimum.
From reading and hearing about working conditions in the U.S, I'm in shock as to how poorly the workers rights are treated. Listening some of these stories truly makes me sick, it sounds especially bad for those with medical conditions that are trapped in their workplace due to not being able to find new insurance.
Hearing all of these very sad stories I just wanted to tell you about my very positive
Experiences working in a regular store (Sweden)
Going to work makes me happy. I believe everyone at my workplace feels the same way.
Our manager is a Leader, not a boss.
Workers wages and well being are prioritized over profit and growth.
Employer will rather have us over-staffed than under-staffed.
5 min breaks every hour for resting/water/toilet/snacks.
Our boss is always smiling, never in a bad mood. Always asking about our plans, and what we did this weekend. Small-talk is not seen as time wasting, but rather as building connections. When mistakes that may cost the company money, the objective is never to reprimand us but are seen as doors to make the process more efficient, ensuring it does not happen again.
Attempts are never made to fire anyone, the employer understands that by lowering staff-turnover you get a more cunning personnel, that does their job faster, better and with fewer mistakes rather than to rotate teenagers around for lower pay.
The employer gave it their best effort, and in return so do we.
Everyone gives it their all, nobody is pretending to call in sick, or standing around in the break room. But most important of all, our good mood has a positive effect on customers. Walking into a store where people are truly engaged in their work, and genuinely happy to help has generated one of the most profitable stores in the country. With better working conditions comes better workers.
Every month we have a meeting where our employer gives us charts on how much
profit the company made last month, giving us a fair understanding on how well the company is doing as well as a guarantee that the money is being reinvested into us and not the owners. Last month the store made a net loss but still went through with increasing wages, knowing that better months of growth will follow.
Maybe this post was an incoherent mess, if so I apologize. I woke up thankful and wanted to share.
Final words: Unionize, Unionize, Unionize, Unionize, Unionize, Unionize, Unionize
(this is how you get there)