The Fair Share Manifesto: Why You Deserve More From Your Job
How is wealth created?
Wealth is created when people join together to create a product or service that other people pay money or trade other things of value for. There is no wealth without labor. Even intellectual creations—such as novels, songs, poems, paintings, computer codes--must be put into physical form and then be physically or digitally distributed before people can buy them
If wealth is created by everyone involved in making a product or service why is it so unevenly divided?
Wealth is unevenly divided for two reasons: (1) In some cases, one of the persons involved in the creation of a product or service has enough brute force to take and keep more than his share—such as a pimp who does little work but is nonetheless strong enough to take away most of the money from the prostitutes who have actually spent their time and risked their bodies to earn the wealth. (2) Generally, though, the unfair division comes about because business owners have lobbied to have laws passed that favor their welfare over that of the people who have spent their time and risked their bodies to earn the wealth. The common denominator is that the owners have the power to divide the wealth any way they want to, and the workers don’t—unless they take a greater share by brute force or by getting laws enacted that favor their interests, such as laws ensuring fair pay, safe working conditions, the right to organize and job security.
But don’t the people who have started companies with their brains, their seed money and their investors deserve more than the people who work for them?
No. Why should they? If you’re risking your life or your family’s welfare to do the job, how can anyone possibly risk more than that? You are just as essential to the company’s success as the owner is. True, you wouldn’t have this particular job if the owner hadn’t created the company and hired you, but then if he hadn’t hired you, he wouldn’t have anything to sell. You’re just as important as he is. And, once the company becomes profitable and the employees know how to run it, the owner may be even less important to its success than you are. He’s already made his major contribution by getting the company started. You’re making your contribution every day you go to work.
The Economic Realities
No one becomes wealthy on his own. It always requires the labor of others. Therefore, no one has the right to accumulate great personal wealth while those who have helped create that wealth go without—or without enough.
An idea isn’t worth anything until it’s implemented. Brilliant though Bill Gates’ ideas for Microsoft were, they wouldn’t have earned him a cent had it not been for the work of software engineers, computer designers, distributors, truck drivers, salesmen, advertising copywriters, retail store clerks and the thousands of others who helped make the product available.
Bosses say they pay themselves huge salaries and bonuses because they “work around the clock” while their employees put in only eight-hour days. Generally, that’s an overstatement. But let’s just say it’s true, that they do work around the clock. Then pay them three times what their highest-paid hourly employee gets. That should be fair compensation.
Demanding your fair share is not greed, envy or jealousy. It’s simply recognizing that wealth is created by many and should be shared fairly by all.
Don’t be sidetracked from fighting for your fair share by stories about how workers “screw off” on the job by coming in late, taking unneeded sick days, stealing company property, failing to do their duties, etc. For every story about a bad employee, there are dozens about bad or greedy bosses who come in late, take weeks off for vacations, take sexual advantage of their employees, hire incompetent members of their own families and appoint them to high-paying positions they haven’t earned, etc.
Capitalists make a big deal about “creating jobs.” But what good is job creation to you if your job isn’t protected and paying you a living wage? Companies make their owners and shareholders rich by selling their products and services for as much as the market will bear while at the same time paying their workers as little as possible to keep them on the job. If they can find people willing to work cheaper elsewhere, they’ll send your jobs elsewhere or use the threat of doing so to blackmail you into accepting less pay and fewer—if any—benefits.