I, in general, wish I would write more about things I don’t understand, things I don’t have experience with; I often find myself wishing to be imbued with knowledge and thus able to solve everyone’s problems, but alas. I think if I could pick, I would want to write more about gender and race.
I don’t often talk about that aloud, so writing my thoughts out would be very refreshing and relieving. I know we’ve already talked about it in class, but to just get all my thoughts down on my experience with POC in my childhood to now, discuss implications in the media (race and women), history, the disabled, current politics, would be nice. I struggle to think of something more specific or something that hasn’t been talked about because I find that I really haven’t thought of this stuff at all or had anyone ask my opinions on it until my college years.
In high school, it was kind of just, a thing, but we’d never talk about it. It was too “controversial” or “not appropriate;” something to be kicked under the rug. I think I’m not giving myself enough credit by saying that I don’t think my experiences are all that meaningful or knowledgeable, like I couldn’t give an adequate (or “correct”) take on something such as race or gender, even though I believe that deep down. I know it isn’t true; I just haven’t dug down enough to remember something on topic or analyzed it enough to connect it to the material from class. In sum, race and women in social inequality.
I think everyone could just chill out for starters. Maybe understand that everyone deserves a voice. But really, I think just talking to people and getting to know them is a great start for combatting inequality in the workplace. Most behaviors (directed at others, at their expense) are learned. These circumstances we cannot control in our spaces but we can educate from there, by gathering a diverse group of people and just existing together. Unlearning beliefs tied to racism, sexism, or xenophobia is difficult, but exposure goes a long way. Related to what my mom goes through at her workplace, fostering accountability and commitment among workers would make the share of work more even and bearable (if everyone worked together); I think this comes through with communication and adequate accommodations. This is easier said than done but on a social level, working towards a common goal and finding fulfillment in your occupation is the fuel that lights the fire of comradery.
I think capitalism is a driving force here too. If everyone was compensated for the work they DID, not for the work they could do or should do, based on democratic agreement among workers (this would especially be beneficial among my mom’s small cohort of workers in her department), we wouldn’t have to beg for raises or to get the bare minimum to survive in our economy. Everyone should be compensated enough to live independently within their jobs, otherwise, I don’t think they deserve to be a company. I believe that once one or two problems are solved, the rest will solve itself; at least thinking within the viewpoint of my mom’s workplace.
My dad also deals with the hierarchal system of job positions, but communication is just terrible. And, relatedly, people are not adequately compensated for their work related to their positions; my dad was “promoted” to a technical supervisor (a “white shirt” they call it; they just approve cars that leave manufacturing and check them over for errors) but didn’t get a raise unlike people who just started, reportedly fail inspection multiple times, and are just hired in as “white shirts.” I think they don’t properly train their workers and rely on experience solely, then suddenly change plans/hours/positions without consent of workers and reprimand them if they don’t follow through. My dad, for instance, was moved to another building last minute where (they weren’t sure) cars and trucks to be built were not present, he did get more hours, but this change was not run by him. He also, that same day, was written up for an error on a truck while 3 others (who had made the same mistake) were not. His workplace is entirely men with women working the secretary positions.
To combat workplace inequality, the start would be to enhance solidarity among workers, communication through the ranks (potentially limit/eliminate ranks altogether to avoid power dynamics) and increase diversity. Getting capitalism gone so workers are not robbed would also be nice. I once heard a story about (I believe) a pizza place, giving their employees their share of the money that came into the store, including their wages; they each got $70 an hour that day, and the store did not suffer.
