The Great Neoliberal Burden Shift (Part II)- How Corporate America Offset Liability Onto Its Workers --- Citations Needed Podcast

I lived this from the factory floor in the central valley of california from 1980-2010
In my experience safety was driven by workmens comp insurance companies. The would be a clip board conga line a couple of times a year made up of representatives of our company & insurance company people, checking to see if their "suggestions" had been implemented & new threats [to the bottom line] identified
Anyone who had a moderate to serious injuries were fired with the expectation the injured would sue the [insurance] company, requiring a lawyer who got a percentage of the award
A fun bit of outsourcing that generates billable hours for the guild of lawyers & shifts responsibility back to the victim

As time went on the monthly mandatory safety meetings became the perfect time for all of us to sign off on liability for normal operations

I found the suggestion box to be a powerful tool
Careful wording can force managers to answer difficult questions in front of all the other managers :D

The primary dysfunction is corporate personhood, more than all the rights of a human, none of the responsibilities beyond the bottom line
Socialize the costs
Privatize the profits

Money as speech has always been the case
Having an impactful political opinion has always required one to have excess resources, what rules there might have been eroded by the guild reinterpreting founders intent

3 comments

Is there a transcript?
- https://citationsneeded.medium.com/episode-205-the-great-neoliberal-burden-shift-part-ii-how-corporate-america-offset-liability-92be45955dd2
I lived this from the factory floor in the central valley of california from 1980-2010
In my experience safety was driven by workmens comp insurance companies. The would be a clip board conga line a couple of times a year made up of representatives of our company & insurance company people, checking to see if their "suggestions" had been implemented & new threats [to the bottom line] identified
Anyone who had a moderate to serious injuries were fired with the expectation the injured would sue the [insurance] company, requiring a lawyer who got a percentage of the award
A fun bit of outsourcing that generates billable hours for the guild of lawyers & shifts responsibility back to the victim
As time went on the monthly mandatory safety meetings became the perfect time for all of us to sign off on liability for normal operations
I found the suggestion box to be a powerful tool
Careful wording can force managers to answer difficult questions in front of all the other managers :D
The primary dysfunction is corporate personhood, more than all the rights of a human, none of the responsibilities beyond the bottom line
Socialize the costs
Privatize the profits
Money as speech has always been the case
Having an impactful political opinion has always required one to have excess resources, what rules there might have been eroded by the guild reinterpreting founders intent