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Why are we all working so hard? For what?

The common theme I see on this site is that everyone is being worked to death. Why? How are our societies - in the U.S., U.K., Australia, N.Z. , Canada or wherever we are from - actually being improved by all this crap? At least in my country (U.S.), people are working longer hours than ever before, yet it's getting harder and harder to keep up. Who are we supporting, exactly, with our overtime hours? Is there any evidence whatsoever that the higher-ups -- the CEOs and "movers and shakers" or whoever -- even notice our effort, much less intend to do anything but run their people and companies into the ground in order to make a fast buck and retire to their 6th home in [insert trendy locale here]?

We've traded physical suffering (hunting and foraging, incurable illnesses, etc) for mental suffering. What is the point?

Instead of logging in here and separately complaining about our bad jobs, we ought to be using the power of the Internet to make each others' lives easier... wouldn't it be great if we could create an F This Job network where we could recruit hundreds or thousands of other fucked-over employees all over the world and create a massive, secret dossier database on employers and specific jobs so that anyone considering taking a job could check with the dossier first.

Why the heck not... if there can be such a thing as Credit Bureaus whose job it is to monitor YOUR credit rating without your knowledge and tell banks about you, why can't we monitor employers without their knowledge and tell other prospective employees about them?

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I Like it
Submitted by Mister X on Mon, 11/07/2005 - 01:39.

I would be the first to contribute to setting it up. Instead of the 100 Best Companies to Work For, their would be the 100 Worst Companies to Work For.

The trouble is, in our great "fair" country, the USA, that would be "disparaging" others. IT WOULD BE THE TRUTH, but we are not allowed to tell others because that would be "UNFAIR".

I guess it's bad to tell others about someone, but OK to quit or walk away and let others get screwed. That's crazy.

The closest thing on the net right now is ratemyemployer.com. I plan to leave a HUGE comment there after I leave my current employer.

[Moderator]

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Sucky Employers
Submitted by juliewess on Mon, 11/07/2005 - 17:54.

Mr X is right. If we started to rate employers and put the true dirt on the net of who is a crappy employer we would have to name names, then that shitbag employer could come back and get us for "defamation of character" even though it would all be true.

Just a word about certain types of business - never, NEVER work for a homebuilder. They are the scummiest, most lying thieves out there. They practically make Enron look human. There is no limit to the illegal shit they pull everyday of the week. No to mention treating ALL employees like shit.

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Wrong
Submitted by gloooom on Mon, 11/07/2005 - 19:22.

Of course if we set up some website or public database, you'd get in trouble. But I'm talking about setting up a bona fide NETWORK, not a website. All you need to do to have a network is a contact person who is e-mailable.
This person would convey messages back and forth thru email to people who are trying to get the real dirt on any given position or company. (It would work better inside a single company, probably) How can they charge you for slander if you're merely passing on what somebody else said (and not "publishing" it?)

Simple rule... if you want information about another job, you have to give information about your job first (essentially you have to agree to be a contact).

Why do it up front? Believe me, the corporate creeps don't do it up front when it comes to YOUR job!!! Wouldn't it be cool if the corporate types believed there was a vast, secret network of job haters who were telling the TRUTH among each other about their masters...
It would make them crazy!!

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Sorry, but you can't do that.
Submitted by Mister X on Tue, 11/08/2005 - 02:39.

No offense. I'm not a lawyer but here's a quote:"False and defamatory spoken words tending to harm another’s reputation, business, or means of livelihood. Slander is spoken defamation; libel is published."

You or I would be sued. Another website said one person speaking to another, falsely about another person is slander. It would be hard to prove a boss is mean. He could always get someone to say how generous he is to his employees. And the brownnosers would stick up for him too.

I love your idea. But "they" have it locked up tight. All you can do is walk away and vote with your feet as they say.

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there's always a way
Submitted by gloooom on Tue, 11/08/2005 - 04:03.

The problem with the idea is not the method. The problem is the scope. If you had a very trusted circle of users, you could e-mail away with each other and no one would ever overhear your "slander." People talk trash about their bosses at Happy Hour all the time and don't get sued.

Also: You could get sued for saying (or even e-mailing) "Bob is a drunken lout." I'm not too sure you could get sued for saying (or e-mailing): "Dear User 23: User 189 tells me that in his experience, Bob behaves like a drunken lout. Signed, User 66."
Now, conceivably if Bob ever found out and was real pissed, he might subpoena User 66's e-mails so he could prove that User 189 said it and not him. But how many people, really, sue for Happy Hour slander?

So I'm not too sure it's all that dangerous. The challenge would be in the formation of a strong cohesive network of job seekers... also, finding trustworthy, discreet individuals to be the gatekeepers of the information. Imagine this: a Job-Seekers' Union. Organize BEFORE you get on the job!!!

They DON'T have it locked up tight. I don't accept that. (Plus, I'll bet some smart guys in India are thinking about this same idea right now...)

I just think it's a damn shame that we're all here complaining when we could be defending ourselves when it comes to our mental survival on the job. Who wouldn't give anything to know what an employer or work environment is really like before they go on the interview? We're supposed to give THEM references... well, think of this as an employer reference service.

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Glooom, dude, I like your han
Submitted by Jiggus on Mon, 11/14/2005 - 12:43.

Glooom, dude, I like your handle.

A colleague of mine was reading somewhere that Amercian CEO's salaries have gone up around 700% over the last 10 years, whilst the average Shmoe is probably making less.

You are correct in thinking that us disillusioned ones should do something together to improve our lot, and maybe the lot of the world one day. No, that's a bit too rosy. Just improve out lot would be fine.

There's another idea, and that is to put up a website, much like this one, and collect all the best stories and then publish it as a book. Everything can be anonymous.

Or we could get more brainstorming sessions between like-minded, intelligent, disgruntled workers and see what sort of business opportunities we could come up with. If you can't beat the capitalist insanity, why not join it?

Maybe we could be starting a company that uses cheap Chinese labour for something or other. I don't really know, but I do know that Glooom has the right idea.

How can we make more personal contact here? Is there a private message function somewhere?

Jiggus

"I like your attitude; feisty, yet spineless."

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