This is in regards to the story submitted by publisher Michael Messerly entitled, “It’s no longer about the job, its about the work.” You’re peddling the same garbage line that larger media sites have taken and ran with, headlines like “Poly-work” and “The Gig Economy.” It’s just another excuse to make up some tripe about the current workforce to fit whatever narrative people such as yourself seem to need to ice down their bruised egos because for the first time in decades people are realizing that management and the ownership class need us more than we need them and they need to come at us accordingly.

First it was that we were “Killing the _____ industry,” when really it’s because we have no money for the superfluous stuff. Then it was that we were lazy and entitled when we just wanted the life that was promised us when we either took on student debt or got a job in the trades. And now it’s “these crazy kids are so bohemian man, they actually want jobs that don’t have any benefits or strings attached.” It’s enough to make me want to vomit.

The generation before ours outsourced factory jobs and killed unions and jacked up tuition rates so high we either never had a shot at college or sold our soul to get a piece of paper that had no actual promise of a job afterward. You mock us for not all going into “The Next Big Field,” (currently it being STEM, “learn to code” being the refrain directed at everyone from young kids to industrial laborers who now find themselves without a job) only to be shocked when it turns out that there are a finite amount of jobs in these sectors, and we don’t even have the infrastructure for that in this state.

People who offered well paying jobs with reasonable hours and benefits never truly experienced the labor shortage last year and they never will. People who treat their employees like actual humans and come at them with understanding will never be without loyal hardworking employees who will literally bleed for them. So how about instead of just making up new excuses or giving such astute reporting as “I don’t know man, the vibes are off.” You tell the public about what your positions entail up front and openly and you listen to the demands of the free market you capitalists claim to love so much.

This one goes out to the small business owners (tyrants) and the managers who sit around and do nothing all day while the people they think so little of do the actual work. Either step up and pay people more than the dirt wages and benefits you clearly think they’re equal to or be prepared to be rendered obsolete (shout out to co-ops and union.)

Joshua Trosclair

Jeanerette

Michael Messerly’s story was published in an email newsletter from The Daily Iberian. To sign up for the newsletter, submit your email address in the link at www.iberianet.com.