Tired of Being Abused Yet?
Let me preface this entry by recommending a book titled "Fast Food Nation", The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser (2002). It was required reading for my Philosophy class and certainly worth the read. It chronicles the rise of fast-food industry for about the past fifty years or so. Moreover, and the reason it was required in Philosophy, it points out some of the areas of concern and abuse of our society by large corporations.
There is an issue that’s coming up more and more frequently. I have to admit that it is really starting to chap my hide. It’s starting to rust my shorts because to me it is another example of Corporate America stepping in to control our lives–even in our leisure hours (when we are actually allowed to have them without being on call by said Corporations).
We are being told what to eat, when to eat, where to eat, who to eat with, what we can say, and who we can say it to, and; who we can sleep with, where we can sleep, and in what position if any. As K@os pointed out this morning, one more Blogger has bitten the dust because he dared to have a blog that somebody didn’t like, or because some competitive fellow employee could use it against him.
If we look at this from the company’s viewpoint for a minute, they are within their legal rights; unless an employee has a contract, they can be terminated for any reason, or for no reason. This is called being employed at will. Keep in mind however, that an employee who is terminated without justification cannot be denied unemployment benefits. There is a misconception that if you are fired or quit you are unable to collect unemployment—not true. If you are fired without just cause (gross misconduct, willful negligence, theft, etc. All of which has to be proven to unemployment.), or forced to quit for due cause (unreasonable or illegal actions by the employer) an employer cannot stop you from collecting benefits (check with your state’s employment division). This does not keep them from bad-mouthing you to other employers however if you have to use them for a reference. That is technically illegal but it’s difficult to prove. Either way they still get to screw you.