| Imagine something that doesn't exist and then claim it's "fair framing" to argue as if it does? One of the most depressing things about the US is the corporate authoritarianism that many employees seem to suffer from. Of course shareholders should have priority over workers because... that's just the "natural" order of things? If a company fails, shareholders risk some small percentage of capital they can mostly afford to lose, while workers risk poverty and homelessness? It makes no sense at all to me. Not just from the point of view of comp, but from the point of view of democracy. Because you can't have a functioning democracy when you have huge power differentials between different castes. Unions - including board representation for unions - are one way to shrink those power differentials. They're not the only way and they're not infallible, but when they do work they're guaranteed to better than nothing. They not only redistribute income, but they also give individuals collective pushback against corporate bullying and abuse. Or perhaps you'd rather continue to grumble that HR is always there to take the company's side, but do nothing about it? |