Work Reform

10152 readers

107 users here now

A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.

Our Philosophies:

All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.

Our Goals

Higher wages for underpaid workers.
Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
Better and fewer working hours.
Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.

founded 2 years ago

MODERATORS

[email protected]

750

[Texas Tribune] “We are dying”: Houston workers protest new state law removing water break requirements (www.texastribune.org)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

89 comments fedilink hide all child comments

https://archive.is/2CsfM

House Bill 2127, which takes effect on Sept. 1, will do away with local rules that require water breaks for construction workers. The cities of Austin and Dallas, for example, require 10-minute breaks every four hours. San Antonio officials had been considering a similar ordinance.

“We are human beings who need respect,” Martínez said. “We really need to be allowed to work without problems, without any barriers … Believe me, we are dying inside those buildings when they take away our water and our [break] time.”

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I don’t see how school is the same scenario at all. In school, you have a natural break every 45 minutes or so, and can choose to do your business then, rather than disrupt class for everyone. Also, kids do need to learn some control, to pick appropriate times when you can. Most importantly, too many kids abuse the freedom to disrupt or skip class: they have no reason to care about a reprimand whereas an adult probably has their income on the line.

Of course, after saying that, I do have to add that my ex is a teacher who does not want kids to ask. She controls the potential for abuse with a token (beanie baby) allowing only two to go at once, and she has the privilege of a private school with higher standards for their kids

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

By "natural break", ate you talking about the times between classes? If so, I do not know of a single school around the area that I grew up in that gave their students more than 3 minutes to get to the next class. That wasn't even enough time for us to go to our lockers to get the next classes books; we all had to carry enormous bags that would fit all of our morning, and then afternoon classes books. There was absolutely no time to use the bathroom during that time. Even lunch time wasn't enough, because they didn't give us enough time to eat, forget about doing anything else. If you chose to use the bathroom at lunch, you were choosing not to eat that day.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

We definitely went to two different school systems. I went to a school where one of the teachers told my brother he couldn't use the restroom so he had to use a bucket, in his emergency. He got detention for it. My mom with 10 kinds of pissed off.