this post was submitted on 31 May 2026
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Work Reform
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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.
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If you want them to flip burgers for you, pay them what you'd want to make flipping burgers for them.
And I'll even say, I don't want to flip burgers. The thing I want to do most is my job, and other people can do other jobs. I feel like there's always this fear, oh, who will do the skilled/educated jobs! Like, smart folks will not suddenly be like "Eh, I don't want to be a doctor anymore because people can survive on flipping burgers."
I get it, I love my career, but burning out is a real problem in high skill labor as is. This is especially the case for medicine. But I think the bigger concern is people dropping out of the education. Engineering school was brutal, and there were points I considered dropping out, but stuck around because it offered a better life than anything I could hope for if I dropped out. Medical school is even worse for that. Trades are physically difficult, often dangerous, and require education.
I don't think even most people would drop their career in that scenario, but I do think we'd find ourselves in a position where there's very little competition for jobs like these and a lot of competition for currently low wage jobs, though that would probably push more people into training for more stable employment.
Minimum wage still needs to be livable though
I just said something along these lines in a different comment, but ... I have been both a barista (1 week of training-ish) and a physical therapist (4 year bachelor's and 3 year clinical doctorate). At times, I really enjoyed both. However, doing either full time either bored me or burned me out. I would love to swip-swap between those positions (and others) just because I could because my ability to stay in my home would not be dependent on having a "high skill" job.