Is There Something in the Water?

What is going on Central PA in the labor world? Well we would not know because new outlets no longer cover labor, they cover business. Those of you who are paying attention though, you do know that Central PA has had its share of "disputes as of recently.

Guest workers at a Hershey Company distribution facility went on strike in the summer of 2011 over allegations that the visa holders made barely enough money to do anything other than show up for work.

A McDonald's in Dallas Twsp. PA paid its employees for months not in checks or direct deposit but in JP Morgan/Chase reloadable debit cards with tough restrictions on how much money could be withdrawn and where.

A McDonald's franchise owner in the Harrisburg area whose guest worker employees were barely scraping by went on strike last March and the same franchise owner is now embroiled in an age discrimination lawsuit.

And then there is this; Pennsylvania ranks fourth nationally in number of hotels breaking labor laws.


 So this all begs some questions. Are we special? What is going on here?

According to a Federal Department of Labor study there is an "epidemic" at least in the field of wage and hour theft. For those who aren't familiar with labor law, and many aren't which is part of the problem, wage theft is time spent working while not being paid for it. 

To no one's suprise the study stated

They’re (violations occurring) mostly in non-unionized, low-wage industries.

Contrary to popular opinion, maybe no one is being done a favor by continuing to allow for the passage of measures which contribute to the  reduction of union density in the commonwealth. [It is currently higher than the national average at 13.5 percent in 2012]

Continue to encourage Democrats to oppose so called "Right to Work" legislation and support union efforts as well as alternative labor movements as they progress. To look at say public sector unions and demand for those silly state employees to be like the rest of us with our ungaurenteed retirement and healthcare is non-sense. We should be demanding the opposite. We should be demanding to our employers to be like them.

As they say, "Together we bargain, divided we beg."

A Word about Welfare

There is a lot going on during the annual PA budgeting triathlon, and while there certainly are bigger issues at stake semantics are important.

 

Semantics

Discussion on a certain word is warranted by the derisive attitude to which it is referred. The word I am talking about is Welfare, and the action which spurs this diatribe is the PA House Rules Committee, led by Majority Leader Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny), changing the Department of of Public Welfare name to the Department of Human Services.

While the new name is not, not befitting the role and mission of the department in question the change from the old one is only further proof of Republican victory in a messaging war which has been ongoing for decades.

 

What Does Welfare Mean?

I am no etymologist but the accepted definition of the word welfare is: the state of doing well especially in respect to good fortune, happiness, well-being, or prosperity. This does not seem then like any other dirty words. You would not know it though given the reception the word receives from Republicans. 

 

What Good is a War of Words Really? 

A messaging victory on this does have implications. To change the name  sends the message that we accept Welfare is in fact a "bad word". It is a word we don't want our government to have a part in.
Why would we want our government to have a hand in helping its citizens achieve a state of doing well especially in respect to good fortune, happiness, well-being, or prosperity anyway?

If we take the changing of the name to based on the word's meaning as it applies to government assistance, then this is too problematic. The changing of the word then means that we do not believe that government should be assisting people, and that the distribution of that assistance is shameful.

Both predicaments are unfortunate results of a failure by Democrats or anyone who feels there is a deserving poor, or that government has a role in the direct development of prosperity, to speak out.
Next time someone casually uses the term welfare in a negative context remind them of what they are really saying. This is all it takes to turn the tides in the messaging war.