tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6052097781213973653.post3367067744171592749..comments2023-10-25T02:52:26.716-07:00Comments on Tzimiskes: An Interesting Initiative in TextilesTzimiskeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13002441291627298737noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6052097781213973653.post-1772627522371190932010-07-20T07:27:22.117-07:002010-07-20T07:27:22.117-07:00SirW,
I've generally had good experiences wit...SirW,<br /><br />I've generally had good experiences with employers. I've also usually worked for large companies which have strict procedures to prevent that kind of abuse and training materials on what you're entitled to. I assume they're afraid that low level management will abuse workers given the chance.<br /><br />I think there's probably a cultural explanation there with classist attitudes and beliefs that those on the lower end of the income scale are in some way defective. I see enough comments on blogs to that effect. I'm not aware of any academic studies looking at it, though I'm sure they exist, but anecdotally it seems that in the higher management strata they've learned good business practices and seek to avoid these abuses (except in health care, banking and law, which is a subject that can stand alone). The problem is with decentralized management practices where you get people that think being "tough" is a good thing and that have negative attitudes to their employees. Doesn't work, but it doesn't surprise me that it exists because I see the attitude pretty frequently.Tzimiskeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13002441291627298737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6052097781213973653.post-42534851318711809522010-07-20T07:07:00.449-07:002010-07-20T07:07:00.449-07:00Sick leave is a benefit that you pay employees. I&...Sick leave is a benefit that you pay employees. I've never had an employer care what I did on my sick leave, if I was sick or not. In fact my last employer gave very generous leave and wanted you to take it so that you would be a happier worker, not just so that you wouldn't make everyone else sick. The one I have now lets me work from home, so when I finish my work, I do whatever I want, like write on your blog. I think the problem here with these employers that have low-wage workers is that they want to control them. Now. I really wonder how that attitude came about, because really it's different that what I said before. It's some sort of trust issue. I know the drug thing is a problem, but that can't be the root of it. I believe they think if they treat the employees like dirt they will get better results some how. Even though they don't. They have enormous, costly turn-over. It makes no sense.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6052097781213973653.post-3109631474997483682010-07-19T19:59:38.870-07:002010-07-19T19:59:38.870-07:00SirW, I'd agree this is a PR plow for the bran...SirW, I'd agree this is a PR plow for the brand and that there's some inefficiency problems with how the industry is run. Textiles seem to be a highly mobile industry though so I expect it to perpetuate since cost pressures seem so high.<br /><br />As for US companies, I really have no idea. Bad management I'd guess. You simply don't get good results for not giving sick leave. Even if it's abused a little bit now and then it's still better than making people work when they really are sick, it's not worth paying them for the crap productivity you'll get from them and everyone they'll infect. I'd guess it's a combination of bad management everywhere and a misplaced idea of work ethic that holds it as ideal that you just suck it up and suffer through, even if it means half the plant is vomiting next week cause you didn't stay home.Tzimiskeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13002441291627298737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6052097781213973653.post-36485457973001664462010-07-19T19:55:33.405-07:002010-07-19T19:55:33.405-07:00Doug, it seems with the textile industry they alwa...Doug, it seems with the textile industry they always find it easy to move whenever the prevailing wage gets too high. If this factory gets better results the best I'm hoping for is for there to be improvement in specialized sectors. Abuses like not giving sick leave could probably end though, that's just not good management.Tzimiskeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13002441291627298737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6052097781213973653.post-55267000922916011322010-07-19T08:54:30.627-07:002010-07-19T08:54:30.627-07:00I read this as being a simple PR ploy. People in t...I read this as being a simple PR ploy. People in textile factories generally make a living wage anyway. Raising their wages is a way to sell more shirts to American college students who will pay more.<br /><br />I think these outsourced factories are very inefficient is many many ways. That's why when thr wages go up even a small bit, it becomes unprofitable to run the factory there and some even come back to the US. <br /><br />I think a better question is why do some companies in the US think it is more efficient to do these things, like not provide sick leave? My general understanding is that they see their work-force as completely expendable. I suppose this is caused by decades of underemployment of our working class. The high level of drug use among the working class is another reason. Employers don't want to give people time off when they call in sick when they really aren't, but are rather on drugs or drunk. (Seriously)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6052097781213973653.post-13149012207716557212010-07-19T06:24:25.615-07:002010-07-19T06:24:25.615-07:00I think that's a smart insight. Management is ...I think that's a smart insight. Management is much more complicated than how and what a person is paid. But the results Henry Ford got with his "efficiency wage" are impressive, too. He lowered costs by more or less tripling the prevailing wage. One problem with that, though- everybody can't pay above the prevailing wage.Doug The Unahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04753071669562594194noreply@blogger.com