The most important thing to know is that right now, if you care about workers’ rights at all, you should not be buying Fritos, Cheetos, Doritos, Tostitos, Lay’s potato chips, Ruffles, and Walker’s potato crisps. And that’s going to kill me, because chips are my crack. When I’m angry or sad or bored, I dive into the chips, baby, and I don’t come out until I’m bloated and feeling slightly sick to my stomach.
But more important to me than a chip addiction is the desire to support fellow workers when they go on strike. Union strong! Power to the people!
One of the few positive things to come out of this accursed pandemic is that workers are starting to realize their power. They’re no longer willing to be treated abominably for obscenely low wages. And in this COVID labor market, they now have options.
And make no mistake, this isn’t about some workers getting a little horsey. The 600 factory workers who walked out in the Topeka, Kansas Frito-Lay facility have plenty of reason to be outraged. Frankly, I’m amazed they kept their cool for as long as they did.
According to this article, these employees haven’t received any meaningful raises in over a decade. In one job type, 20 cents per hour total in all that time. Shame on you, Frito-Lay.
They’ve often been forced into 84 hour work weeks, and have been working under extremely hazardous conditions with no hazard pay. When a worker dropped dead on the line, they moved the body, put in a replacement worker, and made everyone keep going. That’s seriously effed up. FUBAR is what that is.
During a wildfire the employees were forced to work in dense smoke. They had to work during a deep freeze. There are other horrific examples of poor treatment in the article above. Read it as a primer on how no one should treat another human being.
So join me as I shed a tear and stop eating one of my favorite foods on earth. Do it to send a message to all the greedy corporations out there. Tell them they have stepped over the line.
Enjoying my view? Then you’ll enjoy my book! http://amzn.to/2mlPVh5
The View from a Drawbridge 