Labour: Why It's Good

To have a strong labour movement and good labour policies:

From chillycrap, obviously

Yet while Europe may be worse off statistically, most Europeans are not feeling the crisis to the same level as most Americans. Millions of European workers have been spared the full impact because of strict labor laws that make it profoundly difficult for a company, in, say, France, to lay off employees in times good or bad. And those workers who lose their jobs in Europe often receive generous unemployment benefits, covering the lion's share of their lost salaries for many months.

And when those rightwingnuttians start whining about how taxing the rich at a fairer rate will "drive them away," be sure to ask them where the fuck those exploitative bastids will be driven. Because most Third World countries lack the infrastructure to support large-scale business investment, not to mention the stable political climate necessary to doing business. The risk of being kidnapped, murdered, or having one's assets nationalized are far worse than having to pay a couple of percentage points more on the tens of millions or billions those bastards already have.

Those Third World nations that have the required political stability and infrastructure also have strict laws on pollution, stronger labour laws, and high taxation.

Eastern Europe is currently in such a slump that taking one's business there is not a sensible move. Needless to say, the political climate is unstable, and the cost of doing business is NOT minimal. Believe it or don't, employees in Eastern Europe have far more generous vacation and sick-leave and time-off policies than most Americans. In Russia, for example, most people take a good part of the summer off, which can sort of put a crimp in one's deliverables.

So where exactly are the wealthy capitalists going to put their money? The USA is the best bet, for low taxes, lots of tax cheating, a highly industrialized and efficient infrastructure, and truly shitty labour policies. Nowhere else do workers get a lousy 2 weeks in vacation time per year (if that). Nowhere.

Stumble It!