I thought this would be the best community to express my thoughts on the problems I see with how things have turned regarding workers' rights and employee treatment, though I'm happy to take a redirect by mods or members. I know you all have heard and lived through this a million times but I'm trying to gather support for effective collective action of some sort. Rant/discussion/open-ended post.
Was briefly hospitalized in the ER last night after calling the police on myself because I became so psychologically impaired due to overwork and excess stress. I ended up destroying equipment (replaceable and inexpensive) at work because of how mentally unstable I'd become. As usual, I was skipping meals, sleep deprived, and burdened by a myriad of excessive tasks that I was juggling unsuccessfully.
I'm a doctoral student at a world-class university and I joined a laboratory group that started up during the COVID-19 pandemic. I put good faith in the system and meritocracy and valued hard work.
I ended up repeatedly working 70 hours a week, weekends, and pulled a couple all-nighters to get to the point I am now. I must have either mentally broken down or had some sort of spiritual reckoning when I realized that what is currently in place in terms of workers' rights and agreements is far from what is sensible and morally justified.
It's almost as though there's an invisible plexiglass box confining people to how things have always been, only it hasn't even always been this way.
When I work excess hours now, I don't feel virtuous or productive. I feel chock full of greed and self-resentment. There's no reason that I should succeed and sit on a mountain of wealth and money while there are families and homeless people who are suffocating in poverty. All employees deserve to have joyful, stress-free time off where they can pursue hobbies, life goals, and self-care.
This isn't fair and this isn't correct. Something has to change and we all have to do something, and we're better off if we try to coordinate and do it together. Even if someone isn't a union member, they can still assert their rights and try whatever is possible to bolster agreements with your employer or the system. Sitting and accepting this abuse won't make the world a fairer and happier place.