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Discussion » Statements » Rosie's Corner » Does a business owner also OWN his employees? He da MASSA and they're the slaves? Jerry Jones is playing that role. Why?

Does a business owner also OWN his employees? He da MASSA and they're the slaves? Jerry Jones is playing that role. Why?

Posted - October 11, 2017

Responses


  • 5354
    Slavery have existed under many names in many countries. In medieval countries peasants did not own the land they worked on except for a small plot of their own. Over time this became even worse with such peasants being forbidden to move away from the land they worked. By modern standards we would definitely call that slavery. Language even have a word "Serfs" to describe that kind of slaves. today that kind of slavery have been abolished,  Inventive people have replaced it with even never versions. "wage slavery" is one of them. You are free to work or not as you please, but if you chose not to you should not expect wages to let you buy food for your family. This new version largely depend on people NOT owning any land (where they could grow food for themselves). Slavery comes back, over and over and over.

    Mortgage slavery is another version. If you do not obey you loose not just food, but also any property you possess.

    Did you know that some 40% of early settlers in the US were 'indentured workers' people so indebted that it was cheaper for the government to buy their debt and then tell them "You go to colonize America now, or we put you in debtors prison for the rest of your life", than it was to find people willing to go voluntarily. The pilgrims fled from oppressive religion, many others fled from that sort of debt-slavery.

    Early US bankruptsy legislation was an attempt to stop that sort of thing, but have since been considerably 'eroded' and also used by 'smart' people to make more money.

    I wonder how the newest 'Mobile generation' will be enslaved. But I am sure greed will find a way.
      October 11, 2017 11:41 AM MDT
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  • 6023
    The "Mobile generation" is already enslaved ... to technology.
      October 11, 2017 11:43 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Thank you for your thoughtful and informative reply JakobA. Currently we are going through a bunch of nonsense here. AGAIN! It is a Constitutional right to peacefully protest. Some NFL football players chose to kneel during the national anthem in protest of all the unarmed young black men who were killed by cops who were not held accountable for the murders. It is a protest against injustice. A football team owner says he will bench any player who kneels. He da massa and the players are his slaves. I think that is disgusting. It is posturing and  politicizing something that should not be a big deal. But Trump once again is feeling a lot of heat because of all his FAILURES so he desperately tries to change the conversation. The lemmings and toadies will follow him anywhere. SIGH. Happy Thursday! :)
      October 12, 2017 3:03 AM MDT
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  • 6023
    I'm not familiar with any "Jerry Jones" thing ... but yes, sorta, employers do "own" their employees.  At least in two respects:

    1 - During working hours, and
    2 - During off hours the employer may hold the employee responsible for a "code of conduct" and social media postings.
      October 11, 2017 11:45 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Can the owner abrogate  Constitutional rights Walt? Is that legal? Thank you for your reply and Happy Thursday! :)
      October 12, 2017 2:58 AM MDT
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  • 6023

    Again, kinda sorta.

    During working hours, you have no Constitutional "Freedom of Speech" beyond what the employer allows.
    After all, as an employee during working hours you are representing the business, regardless of your position.
    And courts have also ruled that your "after hours" activities may also be limited by corporate policies.
    Even before social media, people could be disciplined for violating corporate code of conduct during their off hours.
    (this is why people should NEVER "friend" their coworkers or employers on social media.  Or at least create a different media page for coworkers and employers.)

      October 12, 2017 6:59 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    I'm not trying to be a hardhead m'dear. Here's the thing. The NFL players kneel BEFORE the game begins. They are not interrupting play to assert a Constitutional Right. Now they are at work..I grant you that. But it doesn't disrupt/disturb. I have a friend who worked either at Honda or Toyota. He is a car guy and knows all there is to know about all there is to know about cars. He was an engineer and a mechanic so he knows them inside out and even participated in writing owner's manuals. He worked in the technical department. He was fired. Why? On his own time at home he was on some website and the discussion was regarding current workplace difficulties. Employee problems. Technical problems. It was general conversation not a bitch session. I don't remember the exact details but I did read it and it seemed very benign/innocuous even. He did identify where he worked which I guess was not allowed? It would be like when I worked as an accountant at McDonald's and I said on the internet "our McRib isn't as popular as it used to be". Now I think that's not harmful. It doesn't disclose any company secrets. It does share some insider information but it isn't a rap on the company or the food. Just that customers don't seem as fond of it as they used to be. Would you fire me for that? Thank you for your reply Walt! :) This post was edited by RosieG at October 12, 2017 7:25 PM MDT
      October 12, 2017 7:12 AM MDT
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  • 6023

    It's all up to the company policies.

    Again, that's why I tell people NEVER EVER EVER to allow your work and/or coworkers on your social media list.

    Some employers are now "requiring" employees to allow the company to monitor their social media.
    There is no way they can legally enforce it, unless it is in a contract.  But that doesn't stop them from asking - and some people are dumb enough to let them.

      October 12, 2017 11:49 AM MDT
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  • 2217
    Not just employers. Border control routinely demand social media and laptop passwords from people entering the country.  
      October 12, 2017 12:21 PM MDT
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  • 6023

    Yeah ... that's totally stupid.

    Like asking a criminal if they've committed a crime.
    A criminal would likely have a "clean" social media and segmented drive they could "give up".

      October 12, 2017 1:03 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    OMG! SERIOUSLY? Yikes and gadzooks and good grief! Privacy is a thing of the past apparently. So is autonomy and sovereignty. All illusory. If you owe your soul to the company store you are stuck forever in the miasma and there is no escape. Geez what a revoltin' development that is!  Thank you for your reply Walt and Happy Friday!:)  Think it's gonna get worse?
      October 13, 2017 6:08 AM MDT
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  • 6023
    There's the saying: "Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it."

    OR, as we learned from Battlestar Galactica: "All this has happened before, and will happen again."  :)

    If you follow news snippets, as I do, you will hear that there is a growing movement to re-segregate blacks and females from white males.  >  Even the recent decision by the Boy Scouts to allow girls to officially join (though they have unofficially participated for decades) - the BSA will have segregated "dens".  >  But there are organizations allegedly representing blacks and women that are calling for segregated schools.  >> I mean, what was the whole purpose of the Civil Rights Movement, if not to end segregation?  And now they are saying they can't compete on an equal footing, so we need to go back to segregation?!?
      October 13, 2017 7:37 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    AARRGGHH! Segregation worked so very well in the past, right? The more things change the more they stay the same. Sadly I honestly think some if not many/of the movers and shakers and power brokers are insane. Insanity rules and is getting less hidden and more honored.  Anything sane is called PC you see and everything else is A-OK. How we got to this low estate I don't know. It happened so fast I was unable to follow its course. I blinked and there it was . How much crazier will things get before the pendulum swings back? I'm gonna ask. Thank you for your rely Walt! :)
      October 13, 2017 9:34 AM MDT
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  • 22891
    i dont think so or at least he shouldnt be
      October 11, 2017 3:57 PM MDT
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  • 32656
    It is called being the Boss. No one is owned, the players are free to go to another team or no one is being forced to play. And they are being PAID to play. Slavery don't work that way. They are under contracts though. 
      October 12, 2017 4:35 AM MDT
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  • 113301
    Thank you for your reply m2c. There are good bosses and rotten bosses. You choose for whom you want to work and if you are accepted you roll over like a good little girl or good little boss so that you don't cross the boss. Here comes another question. Thank you for your reply! :)
      October 13, 2017 6:10 AM MDT
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  • 7280
    This is working out the best way possible in terms of how labor contract disagreements are adjudicated..  The players union thinks that Jones (or any owner) can't do this, so they filed a grievance.  If they cannot reach a settlement between Jones and themselves, they can avail themselves of binding arbitration. 

    Then since the viability of the football "business" under whatever agreement is reached can also be voted on by the ultimate deciders---those of us to whom the players and owners want to sell their product.

    I think that small bump  Kaepernick  knelt on was the equivalent of "Pork Chop Hill" in the Korean war.  That is not a hill I would have chosen to die on.
      October 12, 2017 1:57 PM MDT
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  • 113301
    Thank you for your thoughtful, helpful and informative reply tom. Well I had a Miniscus tear in my right knee so I couldn't safely kneel realistically. If I did I'd need help getting up and I might further damage the knee. If my knees were fine I don't know if I'd kneel or stand. I would like the option of doing whatever my conscience dictates and not have it imposed on me because of partisan politics which is all this is. In my opinion. Grandstanding. Turkey strutting. Different strokes. :)
      October 13, 2017 6:13 AM MDT
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  • 2515
    Dallas Cowboys owner, Jerry Jones’s threat to punish players who kneel in protest during the national anthem violates the National Labor Act. Local 100 of the United Labor Union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in Ft. Worth, Texas. Jones is the first NFL owner to explicitly threaten discipline for the practice.
       The union says employers are banned from threatening workers for “concerted” activity. The union’s chief, Wade Rothko said Jones is bullying his employees to “unilaterlly establish a previously nonexistent condition”. 
       The law says you have the ability to act with your co-workers. And you cannot bully workers on the job. 
      October 13, 2017 10:19 AM MDT
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