【Text/Observer Network Liu Chenghui】
At the end of this month, the United States will usher in the annual "Black Friday" shopping festival. But this time, the hearts of American bosses are probably hanging...
In the "Antiwork" section of the well-known forum Reddit in the United States, some people recently launched a vigorous "strike" and "strike" campaign, claiming to shatter the illusion of capitalists making a lot of money by taking advantage of shopping festivals and making them suffer. At present, the number of members of this section has surged from less than 80,000 at the beginning of last year to nearly 1.02 million this month, and the number of posts is increasing rapidly.
In fact, this mobilization is just a small wave of the growing wave of strikes and resignations in the United States. With the CRISIS OF SUPPLY CHAIN IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE HIGH INFLATION RATE, many industries across the United States have ushered in the "Great Resignation Era", exacerbating the crisis of labor shortage in the United States. The U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) surged again in October, up 6.2 percent year-on-year, its biggest gain in 31 years. According to the statistics of the US Labor Bureau, more than 4.4 million people in the United States resigned in September this year, with a resignation rate of 3%, breaking the August record again and setting a new high since the statistics were established.
The revolt of American workers has gradually become a trend, and the topic of "how to fight the boss" has even become the most popular pastime on social media, and even the American media can't help but chant "American workers are fighting" and "they are showing their strength!" ”
But are American workers really "awakening"?
Shen Yi, a professor at fudan university's department of international politics, told the observer network that the current actions of American workers, whether it is the boiling tide of resignation or the boycott movement, are just their instinctive reactions to dissatisfaction with the status quo.
Wall Street Journal: The resignation rate of American workers has set a new record
"Doesn't work! Not produced! No shopping! ”
On November 26, the United States and other Western countries will usher in the shopping promotion season known as "Black Friday". Seeing that there are less than half a month to go, some Americans have already sounded the clarion call of "strike" and "strike" - "Let Black Friday pull the gate and cut off the power, hit the bottom line of the bosses!" ”
On the "Antiwork" section of reddit, a well-known forum in the United States, people have recently released some memes and their own experiences, frantically complaining about work-related depression and anxiety, complaining about the abuse of life by bosses and endless work. Some people are still posting tips on others, how to join a union, how to "touch the fish" at work and strategies related to resignation.
The "anti-work" news section of Reddit in the United States has exceeded 1.1 million members
"During the pandemic, people have experienced too many terrible stories about work." One user wrote in a post, "The anti-work movement is targeting the evil bosses and management who are tired of being controlled by them." ”
"This Black Friday, let's hit the boss's bottom line." Another post garnered 68,000 likes, "Turn off your phone, spend more time with your family, and let's systematically boycott those who shop on Black Friday, whether online or in stores, to stay safe!"
Some users felt that simply venting their grievances online was not enough, and they also set up a dedicated post calling for people to strike offline and refuse official duties. People gathered to offer advice and action guidance for the day's boycott, a post that has garnered nearly 13,000 likes.
In addition to venting emotions and formulating strategies in the forum, some users have also produced large posters for publicity, with eye-catching slogans - let black five power off, do not shop, do not work, let the store empty, let the boss bleed inside!
Posters made and posted by people on the Reddit forum
It is worth mentioning that the "anti-work" sector that is currently exploding did not receive much attention before the outbreak of the new crown epidemic. In January, the segment had just 76,000 members, but nearly two years later, its number of users has surged to 1.02 million, especially since September this year. Today, the average daily number of comments in the "anti-work" section is among the top ten in the world.
"The boycott of Black Friday stems from the idea of how we can turn the current call into reality." A moderator of the "Anti-Work" section said, "We don't think Reddit is a good place to organize workers or mass action, and it would be great to introduce this kind of action into the offline community." ”
What happened on the Reddit forum actually spread on other social platforms. The US VOX website has noticed that watching other people's resignation experiences and stories of fighting "bad bosses" on the Internet has become a real pastime. On TikTok, YouTube and Twitter, the number of posts about resignations is surging.
"This anger is triggered by a lot of factors, people have just gone through the hell of the epidemic, especially if your boss has made a huge profit, which makes the workers even more angry." Heidi Shierholz, head of the U.S. Economic Policy Institute, said.
The wave of "great resignations" reflects the uneasy mood of American workers
In fact, the wave of revolt set off by American workers on the Internet is just another projection of the wave of "great resignation" in the past few months.
Since last month, more than 100,000 workers in all walks of life across the country, from workers on machinery and food production lines in the United States, to nurses in Massachusetts and winemakers in Kentucky, to workers in Hollywood, are either on strike or preparing to strike. According to a recent Bloomberg statistic, nearly 40 factories across the U.S. have gone on strike since Aug. 1, nearly double the number from the same period last year.
The latest data released by the US Department of Labor on Friday (12th) shows that more than 4.4 million people in the United States resigned in September this year, with a resignation rate of up to 3%, once again breaking the record of 4.3 million people in August and refreshing the highest value since statistics were established. The U.S. labor market is still shrinking, with 4 million fewer jobs than before the pandemic, with 10.4 million job openings in September.
The resignation rate of Americans has been trending since this century, and this year it has set a new record (CNBC according to the US Department of Labor data)
It is worth noting that when the epidemic hit the US economy hard, although the US GDP achieved growth under the stimulus of the US government's "flood irrigation" policy, under the bright figures, it was a "false prosperity", and the unemployment rate and inflation rate remained high. In October, the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) surged again, up 6.2 percent year-on-year, the biggest gain in 31 years.
The New York Times described the "great wave of resignations" as reflecting "the uneasy mood of the broad masses of workers." CNN reports that 19 months after the outbreak in the U.S., the labor market is changing in a way not seen in decades. In this change, employees, rather than employers, have taken the lead, allowing unions to exert their influence. Bloomberg also mentioned that in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. union workers suddenly found that they suddenly had the upper hand in wage and benefits negotiations.
The US media noted that a series of related events, including the epidemic, inflation, and supply chain crisis, aroused their courage to negotiate with the company, "they decided to take back what belonged to them."
Employees of Kellogg's company who held a strike in October this year (Pictured from US media)
For example, the American business magazine Fast Company analyzed in the report on the 12th that the trend of the arrival of the "great resignation era" can not be ignored, although all walks of life in the United States are seeking a clear answer to this question, but some labor analysts speculate that this may be the result of a combination of factors.
Reported on the website of The Fast Company, an American industry magazine
"The first is the continued fermentation of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has raised concerns about public health safety, which has led to people's reluctance to stay in the workplace. The lockdown of schools due to the epidemic has also forced some parents to give up their jobs and stay home to take care of their children.
Second, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of dramatic things over the past year, which may have sparked a rethinking of self-worth – whether it's necessary to risk their lives to create value for their bosses. After all, when the pandemic hit, unemployed Americans suddenly found themselves abandoned by the companies they had worked so hard for years. Now that the companies are hiring again, angry Americans are reluctant to go back. ”
Finally, the shortage of the labour market also puts job seekers in a better position to propose better working conditions and remuneration to employers. ”
"This is not a really conscious workers' movement"
Right now, the vigorous movement of American workers is intensifying, but are they really "awakening"?
Shen Yi told the Observer Network that the current actions of American workers, whether it is the boiling tide of resignation or the buying campaign, are just their instinctive reactions to dissatisfaction with the status quo, and on the whole, there is still a big difference from the real sense of the workers' movement. If there is a characteristic, it is more a characteristic of spontaneous anarchist restlessness.
Under the pressure of the epidemic and the economic recession, the US government has unscrewed the faucet and turned on the "flood irrigation" mode. Approaching next year's midterm elections, from a certain point of view, American politicians are not going to economic goals, but to grab political benefits and win more voters. But things have gone beyond expectations, and the consequences of the continued intensification of resignations have been concretely demonstrated.
The U.S. government originally hoped to support the Americans who had overcome the difficulties back to work through a certain amount of social assistance. But it backfired, and high inflation ate up the purchasing power of Americans, and more Americans quit their jobs in the hope that the government would give them more benefits. But if the Biden administration increases welfare spending again, it will undoubtedly further increase the US economic bubble, plunge the problem into a vicious circle, and expose the United States to the risk of stagflation.
"The direct cause of this phenomenon is the insufficient governance capacity of the US government." Shen Yi predicted that in order to lead the US economy to achieve a full recovery, the Biden administration is still deeply trapped in the dead end of the new crown epidemic. If effective control of the COVID-19 epidemic cannot be achieved, the US economy and society will not be able to return to normal conditions, which is not subject to the subjective will of individuals.
This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.