>

Yup, they did the same with PPP loans and the Trump tax cut, all major companies did. Let the stock market die and make these absolute wage slavers lose everything.
"We can't afford to give workers more sick days plz daddy government don't let them strike"
2 Months Later.meme
Record Earnings
Fuck them >

They don't want to spend money on employees, not that they can't. For profit organizations have no reasons to throw more money to employees than they have to. >

Striking is a good reason why they should have to pay employees more. >

Strikes cost them more than just a few sick days and a couple extra bucks an hour.  When your entire income is shut down due to a strike,  that’s millions a day in lost money, potentially loosing contracts.   Companies may choose trucking over trains if you aren’t reliable. >

And if truckers strike? >

Back to wagon caravans, baby! >

What happens when they all get dysentery? >

We go by boat, on the newly formed shit river. >

But what if you can't ford it? >

Well, then you're in deep shit. >

My company just fired a bunch of people from major roles, gave their job duties to other people in major roles expecting them to now do the work of two people, and sent us all an email wanting us to congratulate them. Then they promised at the end more changes to be announced soon.
I haven’t gotten a raise since 2019 or a Christmas bonuses since 2018.
They also made great profits last year. But their investors are constantly HONGRY. 
I’ve updated my resume. >

My company had only 50% growth this year so they rewarded us by firing 10% of people and not doing merit raises. Woohoo.
I'm putting in the absolute minimum to not get fired and trying to pick up a second job in the same role where I will do the same. So instead of working diligently I'm going to be playing 3 card Monty with s few companies because that's the only way to get ahead. >


My company had only 50% growth this year so they rewarded us by firing 10% of people and not doing merit raises. Woohoo.

It's not always that extreme, but if I had a dollar for every time this happened...


Quarterly Town Hall:  "And we did really good growth!  And we're making lots of money!  Yay money!"


Literally 5 minutes later:  "...but unfortunately we didn't hit the growth target so there will be headcount reductions sowwy lololol"


...I'd have like a few dozen dollars or something >

quarterly town hall vs earnings call is really interesting to hear the two faced CEOs >

Earnings calls will give you the real deal. They can spew bullshit to employees, but can’t legally lie to investors. >

Correction...can't legally lie to investors >

Good point. Added that to my post. >

This is what happens when Wall Street is dominated by hedge funds, private equity firms, and massively wealthy individuals.  It was always a bit of a rigged game, but never like it is now. >

Rent and Housing are at top levels all over the map. Bailing out the sausage mortgage holders in 2008 did nothing for people who actually want a house to live in. It saved the banks and left the people with inflated rent/house prices. >

and then it happened again in 2020 >

This is after they can’t get a week off? >

Weeks off don’t make profits. Obviously. Also I agree with the workers.Companies care more about profits than working conditions >

I don't even think that is true. People overworked make mistakes and are miserable in their job. The customers of the trains are paying for it, let more of the money and benefits go to the people actually doing the labor. >

Yeah but those arent an immediate cost. That could happen next quarter and I get my quarterly bonuses now. >

"Why do railworkers keep saying they're going to strike?"

People who haven't seen this headline 2023. >

Stock buybacks should be more heavily regulated. >

I completely agree, and I actually think that maybe they shouldn't be allowed at all. Not a finance expert or anything, but something doesn't feel secure about companies being able to inflate their stock value by purchasing their own. At the very least, if they are propped up by subsidies, they definitely shouldn't be allowed to do it >

They were illegal until 1982. Give you one guess which Presidential administration that change happened during... >

But don't worry, our buddy Bill came in during the 90's and demolished glass steagall act and made everything all better... 
Both sides aren't equally bad but both sides absolutely contribute to the degradation of our country due to the blatant use of money in politics.
Edit: when I say sides, I mean D vs R, not conservative versus progressive. Progressives are historically better for the populace as a whole. >

When the bastion of liberal left wing politics is a governor from Arkansas, you are only going to get so far...
Edit: TBF, Seeing him play sax on TV was way too much for my young little mind. I'm sure I wasn't the only one. >

they need to spend more improving the transit lines. I want a passenger train to every major city in the US and I want it 50 fucking years ago. >

An unholy alliance of everyone from oil and gas companies on one end to Elon Musk on the other end have made sure rail transit stays dead and car remains king in the US. >

which is so duuuumb with how large the USA is. >

if only you could buy a yacht with foresight >

I'd like to see you try to take a yacht from Orlando to Denver. >

LeVar Burton would know how >

Holy shit, time to strike for some sick days. >

Nationalize the rails. 
Fuck ‘em. >

Any utility should be publicly owned. >

I'll bet a shiny wooden nickel that the higher ups are getting more in bonuses than what they would be giving in benefits for the workers. >

This!
Companies be like we can’t afford $15/hr minimum wage but dish out million dollar bonuses to execs. >

This is the issue. Robert Reich's YouTube channel has lots of info on this. Interesting. >

I'm just not shocked anymore. >

Tons of growth, but it feels like the railways are clogged AF and contributing to our supply chain issues. 
For example: my new vehicle, among a ton of my dealership's stock, has been sitting in a junction yard for over a month with no concrete delivery date. Makes you wonder what other goods and materials are just sitting there, rotting away. >

There's no actual competition for railroads anymore. Basically four companies each own 1/4 of the country.  The new railroad business model is about ridiculous long trains that don't run on schedule and are constantly late because they're so long only one train at a time can use the tracks for a hundred miles because they can't pass each other.  
What are you gonna flip about it? If you need to haul huge quantities of bulk stuff they're a de facto monopoly so they can make whatever terns they want. There's not enough Trucks to carry what trains do. >

So… it’s 4 railroads just like monopoly >

The entire reason Wallstreet is tolerated is because it allows companies access to extra liquid wealth for the purpose of investing in expansion, modernization, and other developments that increase the end of day productivity of the company's assets.
And yet here we see fortunes vanish into the ether so some jackasses can have larger slices of an overall diminished pie. Why the hell should society put up with people playing games like this? If the sum of your efforts, your times of good fortune when good fortune is hard for most come by, are consistently directed to making yourself a better parasite then I see no reason you shouldn't be treated like a parasite. >

There should be some sort of Bullshit Index that shows how much of any company's share price is attributable to buybacks. >

In 2022, Bed Bath and Beyond filed a higher amount on stock buybacks than they claimed they lost for the year. 
Let me reiterate that.  The company told investors they lost $559 million while also doing $589 million of stock buybacks.
Over the last ten years they’ve done $7.9B in stock buybacks while their business goes bankrupt. >

Reminder to self: don't shop at BBB