After reading the post complaining about the nice manager posts, I wanted to share a positive story of solidarity.
It is an old story.
I worked for a third-party company of IBM, which was a call center. “Third party” really means that the company belonged to IBM, but it was registered as a separate firm.
We had a really low salary. In Argentina there is also high inflation, so if you do not get a raise at least twice a year, your real salary decreases.
For at least 30% of registered workers in Argentina, salary increases (to offset inflation) are negotiated by your union (it used to be higher when the economy was performing better). Normally you get increases twice a year.
IBM, as a good American firm, is known for preventing its employees from unionizing (although it’s illegal).
So they decided to make our bonus become part of our salary instead of increasing the overall pay package. They had effectively lowered our wages.
Some friends and I had heard of attempts at unionizing from the employees of the actual IBM.
We decided to join them, and I particularly became very vocal.
I got fired.
Then we started demonstrating even more. We demonstrated in front of the company’s building, negotiated with the ministry of labour, we blocked the entrance to the company’s main building for a day.
And they were forced to close down the “third party” company. They hired everyone with a higher salary in IBM instead.
I did not get my job back because the union that we wanted to join was composed of men in their 50s and they saw me as a “a little girl” (I was 19 at the time). So they decided I was not worth going against IBM for.
But I did get much better jobs afterwards.
So what is holding you back?