Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker (R) has deployed up to 250 National Guard members to drive students to and from school to address the lack of staff. One wonders why the Tea Party, MAGA, Free Market, Republicans are are so quiet over this. In a free market, anyone who needs a bus driver would simply have to increase their wage offer until “the market” decided what a fair market price is, you know, the old “supply and demand” thing, eh? For decades, we’ve watched blue collar wages stall and the typical Republican response has been, “Well, that’s just the free market!” Now that the same market might help the blue collar workers, it’s time to “send in the troops” according to Mr. Baker and state Republicans.
For that matter, where are Democrats in the state, defending labor? How is it fair to labor if the State deliberately interferes with employer/employee relations and sends in government troops to help employers who refuse to pay a fair and open negotiated wage with labor?
My hunch is that if the government troops being sent in were filling roles previously filled by the college educated or jobs seen as “skilled” by the college educated, there would be some dissent from party leaders. As it stands, there is nary a peep from the “pro-labor” Dems….
Can anyone imagine a situation where Charlie Baker sends in the National Guard to take over for a district where the teachers are on strike? I can’t recall this ever happening here or anywhere in the USA….but wondering if it ever has?
I’ve been wondering about the same thing.
I know that “data” is not the plural of “anecdote”, but I thought of you during a recent stop at the Burger King in North Chelmsford. I stopped in there for what I thought would be a quick bite last Sunday afternoon.
There were signs all over the establishment saying “Burger King is hiring”. The line at the single open register inside was long. There was one cashier doing her best to keep up. She was time-sharing between the inside register and the drive-through window. She would take an order inside, print the resulting ticket, do whatever they do with those tickets, then literally run over to the window and do the same.
There were several other workers feverishly trying to keep up. The soft-drink machines were broken. There were no condiments packets and no condiment dispensers. Instead, there was a bin of mixed salt and pepper packets on the inside counter. Anybody who wanted ketchup had to stand at the counter and wait to be noticed. Eventually, a worker would appear, go to the back of the kitchen, and return with a plastic water glass with ketchup in the bottom.
I never order the “meal”. After waiting twenty minutes, I ordered a burger, small rings, and a glass of tap water. The order was entered as a meal with fries and a Coke. Another twenty minutes later, a worker put out a tray with fries and a bottle of water (not free!). The worker was friendly and put an order of rings on the tray.
The result was that it took an hour for me to get my “quick” lunch. These workers and their supervisor were doing their very best. They were completely overwhelmed by the traffic — and it was not that busy at 1:30 on a Sunday afternoon.
I didn’t ask what Burger King is offering its workers — whatever it is, it isn’t nearly enough. If companies like Burger King refuse to offer enough compensation to attract hourly workers, they won’t be able to hire enough hourly workers to keep their businesses running.
I had a similar experience at a Hilton in Burlington, Vermont last week. Their front desk said on the phone that they had a full-service dinner menu available at the hotel bar, and said that the bar was open until 11:00 each night. When I arrived at 9pm hungry and tired, I asked at the bar for their dinner menu. The only option was a “Chicken Caesar Salad” — a brown box stuffed with tired and wilted lettuce and a few pieces of chicken tossed in (no more than 3 oz — not nearly a dinner portion). I came back for a glass of wine at 9:30 and was told it was last call — the bar actually closes at 10pm, not 11 pm. There is no housekeeping service at the hotel — again “because of the pandemic”.
The Hilton does not, of course, reduce its room rates to reflect its significantly degraded service.
The explanation from the beleaguered bartender is that the hotel has been “unable” to hire any chefs “because of the pandemic”, and “unable” to hire enough bartenders to maintain the 11p closing time. There are full-service restaurants all over downtown Burlington — so there ARE chefs available.
It seems clear that the Hilton is not willing to offer enough compensation to attract the hospitality workers they need to maintain the level of service they promise and charge for.
Our service economy is in shambles because employers refuse to offer high enough compensation to attract service workers. It seems clear to me that Burger King, the Hilton corporation, and similar corporate entities are still choosing to prioritize executive compensation, corporate profits and share price over customer experience — and blaming “the pandemic” for the consequences of their own greed.
It appears to me that this debacle has very little to do with education or skills, and everything to do with greed and wealth distribution.
I share your cynicism about the silence of Democrats as this unfolds. The use of the National Guard to drive school buses is a giant red alarm light flashing brightly. I have heard absolutely NOTHING from our “Democratic” super-majority.
I’ve started blocking the relentless stream of incoming texts, emails, and similar breathless communications from the multitude of Democratic political organizations. I am actively hostile to these ever more strident demands that I give money to “fight Trumpism” in California and the various red states while Democrats do absolutely nothing to address the wealth concentration crisis right here in MA.
When I see Massachusetts Democrats fighting tooth-and-nail to rein in the plundering of all of us by the ultra-wealthy right here in Massachusetts, I’ll be more willing to offer my financial support. At the moment I’m directing my contributions to local candidates for city council and the upcoming Mayoral race.
I note that I continue to have radio silence from my new state representative (Erica Uyterhoeven) and new congressional representative (Ayanna Pressley).
Until I see evidence that the Democratic Party is actually DOING anything, I’m not going to waste my time with any of them.
Tom, thanks for the reply. I’ve experienced much of the same out here on the Cape. Sign after sign “Help Wanted” all paying $17 an hour.
If anyone can show me how one can live on the Cape on $17 an hour, I’m all ears.
Even in my case, I’m retired and would not mind a part time gig for pocket money, but the idea of exposing myself to undue risk of infection and being poorly treated by the public for $17 had no appeal. Quite honestly, I would consider taking the risk and swallow my pride but not for $17. I do have experience in restaurants and grocery stores and have been approached by people asking if I’d be interested and my reply is this, “Yes, at $30 an hour, no more than five hours a day, three days a week and a set schedule “. So far, no takers.
I think it was on a TED Talk where the speaker referred to the fact that if one falls off a tall cliff while sleeping at night and awakens shortly after, one feels that one is flying, until one hits the ground.
Our economy has been in free fall for the past five decades and we thought we were flying.
They will also lose business and money when more customers lose their patience with the speed of service. In many ways they are short-sightedly shooting themselves in the foot. You weren’t very specific about what you expect Dems to do about this situation. Raise the minimum wage I suppose is always a possibility though I believe we are already among the highest in the country.
I think we’re past the idea of Democrats raising the minimum wage. Last time they did that in this state, they took away time and half pay on Sundays and Holidays.
Tom just posted a great idea… “ funding immediate emergency appropriations to cities and towns to allow them to offer higher compensation to drivers”
Sure. That would work.
The news report I first heard about this worded it as “Governor sends in National Guard to help kids get to school.” My mind immediately went to civil rights battles when the Guard was deployed to help black kids integrate racially segregated schools when local authorities resisted and wondered is that an issue again. I don’t know how much drivers make or whether compensation is an issue, but this is an immediate need where you can’t just say oh well, no drivers I guess means kids will just have to stay home.
A few years ago, it took the MA legislature just hours (after local media ran several salacious stories) to close a loophole in state law that was allowing voyeurs to take “upskirt” photos on MBTA vehicles. The legislature is certainly able to move quickly if both it and the governor agree on something.
Did either the legislature or Mr. Baker ever consider — for example — funding immediate emergency appropriations to cities and towns to allow them to offer higher compensation to drivers?
I saw nothing in any news feeds about that if so.
This “emergency” didn’t happen overnight.
Cities and towns knew this was happening. I have to believe that each and every representative knew this was happening.
This is yet another manufactured crisis — it exemplifies the unwillingness of our overwhelmingly Democratic legislature to actually ACT to address urgent and immediate needs of the state.