this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2023

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Work Reform

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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.

Our Philosophies:

All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.

Our Goals

Higher wages for underpaid workers.
Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
Better and fewer working hours.
Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.

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People who work from home all the time ‘cut emissions by 54%’ against those in office (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 2 years ago by MonsiuerPatEBrown@reddthat.com to c/workreform@lemmy.world

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[–] Ni@kbin.social 31 points 2 years ago (2 children)

I think work from home and also the adoption of the 4 day work week will be critical to tackling the climate crisis

[–] Phoenix3875@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Four day work will cut the emission even more. Just saying.

[–] irmoz@reddthat.com 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Isn't that also what they're saying?

[–] Ni@kbin.social 4 points 2 years ago

Yes!

[–] cooopsspace 3 points 2 years ago

It's also the 20% payrise we all absofuckinglutely need.

[–] Luvs2Spuj@lemmy.world 15 points 2 years ago

But think of the commercial property prices!

[–] MrBusinessMan@lemm.ee 14 points 2 years ago (1 children)

But at what cost? Employees are less productive without the watchful eye of a skilled manager.

[–] Viking_Hippie@lemmy.world 22 points 2 years ago

Another MrBusinessMan banger 😄

[–] cricket97@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

individual civilian emissions are so inconsequential in the grand scheme of things that it makes me laugh when people talk about shit like this. A vast, vast majority comes from industries, not individuals driving a car to work.

[–] hark@lemmy.world 23 points 2 years ago

They are, but when large masses of people are allowed to significantly reduce their emissions and with no downsides (other than middle managers' feelings, which no one but them consider a downside), then it's worth it.

[–] Gradually_Adjusting@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago

Tell that to my desk chair hahaa pass the crudité.

[–] Sanctus@lemmy.world 3 points 2 years ago

Fuck, just let us live our lives.

[+] HeartyBeast@kbin.social -9 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I find this quite surprising. When I’m working from home during the winter, I’m heating a lot of the house that would normally be unheated.

I would have assumed that bringing multiple people together into a single heated space would have been more energy efficient

[–] CustodialTeapot@lemmy.world 10 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This is based in the US. I imagine a lot of that also comes from air con, very long commutes and other wasted office energy use.

[–] HeartyBeast@kbin.social 6 points 2 years ago (1 children)

From the article > The main causes of remote workers’ reduced emissions were less office energy use, as well as fewer emissions from a daily commute.

Again - I'm really surprised that net energy use is less for distributed workers (setting aside commmute energy use).

[–] aggelalex@lemmy.world 9 points 2 years ago (1 children)

There's so many other things to consider, including e.g. traffic

[–] HeartyBeast@kbin.social 1 points 2 years ago (1 children)

Yes, of course. But I’m calling out the one factor that they specifically talk about

[–] JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)

What's more efficient? Heating a small home that id well insulated and geared towards economical energy use or heating massive empty spaces of a practically non-insulated office building with massive heaters while at the same times the homes are being heated? (Albeit to a lower temperature)

[–] HeartyBeast@kbin.social 3 points 2 years ago

There’s a whole lot of assumptions there. Anyway, the report says I’m wrong.

[–] BonfireOvDreams@lemmy.ml 8 points 2 years ago

I imagine a lot of people have the air on for indoor animals while they go to the office.

[+] DasRubberDuck@feddit.de -13 points 2 years ago (4 children)

And then there is the guys in the factory and the warehouse who can not be afforded this "luxury". The doctors and nurses, the school- and kindergarten-teachers who need to be at a specific place to do their jobs. This proposal simply does not work for everybody. The whole "work from home debate" seem to focus on a particular kind of jobs and disregards that all those jobs only exists, because manufacturing takes place in China. I'd love to see a change of focus, from product price to quality and sustainability of industry products to go along with qualified manufacturing jobs returning to Europe. And in that context we can hopefully stop shifting the exploitation of workers to Asia along with the Jobs and exploit our own workers again. NO! Of course, not exploit them as much anymore.

[–] retrieval4558@mander.xyz 23 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I'm one of those people who needs to be at a specific location. That has nothing to do with WFH for other people, and I think the option should be broadly available for jobs for which it's possible. There is no one solution that addresses all possible situations.

[–] DasRubberDuck@feddit.de 0 points 2 years ago

I'm not saying working from home should not be available for anybody who wants to do it, sorry if I sounded like it. I just wanted to emphasize that it is a solution for a specific subset of employees. I see a big potential to alienate a big chunk of people if we don't put this in context.

[–] GetAwayWithThis@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 2 years ago (1 children)

You are right but massive WFH adoption where possible would mean less commuters, less idling in trafic. Maybe even leaves space for some downsizeing of the car based infra we have, to be replaced with bike friendly or more walkable spaces/roads.

The manufacturing jobs are a tough one. It would be nice to see a shift, but not only by bringing the jobs back, but also by lifting up the exploited workers in Asia for example. It might just level the market to be competitive? I have no idea hoe it would look like, just a thouhht.

[–] DasRubberDuck@feddit.de 6 points 2 years ago

The manufacturing question is a tough one, because changing this requires taking short term profits away from companies and exchanging them for a long term better future. That's a tough idea to sell. But I guess I'm derailing the discussion a bit with that point.

Letting people work from home is an easy decision in contrast. That's just about changing some insecure managers minds. You can usually do that with numbers. Same goes for 4 day work weeks. Both of those are inevitable because companies who adopt it will have a competitive advantage in terms of acquiring talent in the next 10 years.

[–] GentlemanLoser@ttrpg.network 7 points 2 years ago (1 children)

IDK what to tell ya dude. It's an option for a lot of people. Sorry you work in a warehouse i guess?

Also don't look in your neighbor's bowl unless it's to make sure they have enough.

[–] DasRubberDuck@feddit.de -4 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Sorry you work in a warehouse i guess? [...] Also don’t look in your neighbor’s bowl unless it’s to make sure they have enough.

a. I don't.

b. That's my point. Improvements in the workplace are great. I just wanted people to be aware that this change is not applicable for a big part of the workforce. I was trying to make sure people saw that their neighbors bowl would still be empty so to say.