"Everything is not all right and there's no end in sight. you can call it, whatcha like. come on, stand up for your rights! stand up, stand and unite! it's time for a general strike!"
-D.O.A.
"Who are watching the Watchmen?"
Today I'm going to the library to print up some resumes and then spend the rest of the day following up on job leads.
I'm off to a much later start than I hoped because I couldn't sleep at all last night. I finally found out who all was "let go" from Forbidden Planet and they were all hard workers and genuinely good people. With a few of them it was clear the managers didn't like them because management at the Planet tends to have the unprofessionally bad habit of talking shit about employees behind their backs in front of other employees. "So and so's a fucking retard" "So and so should be fired. I hate him." But still, their choices for who they laid off leave me completely baffled. Unless they were trying to weed out dissent.
Taylor fucking worked hard but they thought he talked too much. Heaven forbid someone have a friendly positive attitude, get along with their coworkers and customers, and try to make the workday a little more fun while still getting their work done. Kyle was one of the only new hires who was laid off, but I still can't understand it, I never once saw Kyle slacking off, he was always working, and I don't know anyone who didn't like him. Kevin was a shock too, because even though they used to shit-talk him heavily, he really started taking the job more seriously and management acknowledged that. The one thing Kevin always had was excellent customer service skills (to put it in terms that capitalists can relate to). Kevin was always really friendly, and people tend to like that.
One of the biggest surprises was James because he was actually one of the managers. Never saw that coming. He was one of the only managers there who ever treated us with any sort of respect. The only one who wasn't constantly bossing us around. He pretty much just let us do our jobs. He did some f-ed up things, as all bosses are apt to do, but he generally did them out of fear. Fear that apparently wasn't unfounded. The only really messed up thing he did to me was kick my girlfriend out of the store because she was talking to one of my coworkers. Not that I'm making excuses for his actions, but it was clear he did so because of the multiple cameras which Forbidden Planet owner Richard watches from home, because [in my opinion] he's a control freak and a lonely, sad old man. That was the third time she was kicked out of the store for "distracting" my coworkers. Couldn't possibly have been because she's a union organizer.
The fifth person who was laid off was Deepak, and how they did it was shady as hell. Deepak just came back from his trip to India and found he was not put back on the schedule! How freakin' low is that? Deepak is another one of my fellow workers who really knew his shit about comics and went out of his way to help people find what they were looking for, but management would still just trash him behind his back. Their biggest problem was that he "talked too much." Their beef wasn't that he talked to coworkers (which was strictly forbidden) but that he was too talkative with customers. The issue was that once he had made the sale he was still talking. They wanted him to just move on to the next customer once he had already talked someone into buying a book. It was all very assembly line and was clear that they only see customers as walking dollar signs. Get all their money and move on to the next one. Besides they really don't seem to want knowledgeable staff, they really just wanted us there for "loss prevention." We were basically underpaid security guards. Oh, and don't even get me started on racial profiling! I can't even tell you how many times I was asked to follow people of color around the store (specifically Black and Latino men) and when I would ask if they were seen trying to steal something the answer would always be "No. but they just look shady." or "They just look like the type."
But here's the bomb that was just dropped on me, what I found out that made me so mad I couldn't sleep at all last night: not only did they lay the five of us off under the pretenses that they had to cut back on labor hours, but they just hired three new employees!!!! Seriously, WTF!?!?! That makes me so mad! It makes me so much more upset that I was "let go." If we were laid off because they needed to cut back on labor (which I never believed in a minute) then why in the hell did they just hire new people to replace us?
The fucking stupidest part of all this is that if they just let us organize the place would run a whole lot smoother, what they just don't get is that is that they are running that place into the ground. They are the ones to blame, not the workers.
The bosses need us, we don't need them.
Back at it?
15 years ago
Ok, I have something to add to this. First off all I found out that my coworker MK was laid off too, bringing the total to seven. Actually eight if you count Jessi who came back from his annual cranberry harvesting and was never put back on the schedule. They did him kinda like they did Deepak.
ReplyDeleteMK really knows her shit about indy comics, and as an independantly published comic book artist she has a lot of connections to the indy comic scene. She was definately an important asset to the Planet. Goes to show that were all expendable to bosses.
Also when I was in the store the other day I found out that they hired four new employees at a much lower rate than we were making. How much lower I don't know yet, but we'll find out. That's really shady, because I was being paid shit wages, well below poverty wages for New York City, so I can only imagine how bad the new hires are being paid. Also everyone they hired was younger, mostly college students, which I'm told by people with more union-organizing experience that that's a classic union-busting tactic. Fire or lay off people who have been there longer, especially those with grievances and hire younger kids for less money because if it's someone's first job they're less likely to complain about ill treatment or low wages.