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Structural Robbing of Workers: How Politicians and Corporations Transfer Wealth from the Working Class

Structural robbing of workers is a term that describes the process of transferring wealth from the working class to the political and corporate elites, through various policies, practices, and institutions that exploit, oppress, or exclude workers. Structural robbing of workers is not a new phenomenon. It has been happening for centuries, since the emergence of capitalism and industrialization. However, structural robbing of workers has become more prevalent and severe in recent decades, due to the rise of neoliberalism, globalization, and financialization.

Neoliberalism is an economic and political ideology that advocates for free markets, deregulation, privatization, and minimal state intervention. Neoliberalism emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as a response to the economic and social crises of the post-war era. Neoliberalism has been promoted and implemented by various political leaders, such as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, and others.

Globalization is the process of increasing integration and interdependence of the world’s economies, cultures, and societies. Globalization is driven by various factors, such as trade, investment, migration, communication, and technology. Globalization has been accelerated and facilitated by various institutions and agreements, such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, and others.

Financialization is the process of increasing dominance and influence of the financial sector over the real economy and society. Financialization is characterized by various phenomena, such as financial innovation, speculation, securitization, leverage, debt, and risk. Financialization has been enabled and supported by various policies and regulations, such as the deregulation of financial markets, the liberalization of capital flows, the removal of capital controls, and others.

These three processes have contributed to structural robbing of workers in various ways:

  • Neoliberalism has eroded workers’ rights and protections by weakening or dismantling labor unions, collective bargaining, minimum wage laws, social security systems, health care systems, education systems, and other public services. Neoliberalism has also increased workers’ insecurity and precarity by promoting flexible or casual labor contracts, outsourcing or offshoring jobs, reducing or eliminating benefits or pensions, and imposing austerity measures or budget cuts.
  • Globalization has exposed workers to unfair or unequal competition from foreign workers who are willing to accept lower wages or worse working conditions. Globalization has also reduced workers’ bargaining power or leverage by enabling corporations to relocate or threaten to relocate their production or operations to other countries with lower labor costs or standards. Globalization has also created a global reserve army of labor that can be exploited or discarded by corporations at will.
  • Financialization has diverted resources and attention from productive or useful activities to unproductive or speculative activities. Financialization has also increased workers’ dependence or vulnerability to financial markets and institutions that can manipulate or crash at any time. Financialization has also created a financial elite that can extract or appropriate wealth from workers through various mechanisms such as interest payments, fees,commissions,bonuses,

Bailouts, or subsidies.

These processes have resulted in a massive transfer of wealth from the working class to the political and corporate elites. According to some estimates, the top 1% of income earners in the US have captured more than 50% of the income growth since 1979. The top 0.1% of wealth holders in the US have increased their share of wealth from 7% in 1978 to 22% in 2012. The top 26 billionaires in the world have more wealth than the bottom 50% of humanity.

Structural robbing of workers has serious consequences for the economy and society. It reduces workers’ income and consumption, which lowers aggregate demand and growth. It increases workers’ debt and poverty, which creates social problems and unrest. It widens workers’ inequality and injustice, which undermines democracy and human rights.

To address these consequences, there is a need for laws to pass fixes that can reverse or prevent structural robbing of workers. Some of the possible laws are:

  • Strengthening workers’ rights and protections by restoring or expanding labor unions, collective bargaining, minimum wage laws, social security systems, health care systems, education systems, and other public services.
  • Enhancing workers’ security and dignity by regulating or limiting flexible or casual labor contracts, outsourcing or offshoring jobs, reducing or eliminating benefits or pensions, and imposing austerity measures or budget cuts.
  • Promoting workers’ participation and empowerment by encouraging worker cooperatives, worker ownership, worker representation, worker education, and worker activism.
  • Restraining corporate power and influence by enforcing antitrust laws, taxing corporate profits, limiting corporate lobbying, and holding corporations accountable for their social and environmental impacts.
  • Reforming financial markets and institutions by regulating or banning financial innovation, speculation, securitization, leverage, debt, and risk.
  • Redistributing wealth and income by taxing the rich, subsidizing the poor, providing basic income or services, and supporting social movements and organizations that fight for workers’ rights and interests.

These are some of the laws that could pass fixes for the problems of structural robbing of workers. By implementing these laws, we can ensure that the economy and society serve the needs and interests of the working class, not the political and corporate elites.