PHILADELPHIA, January 28 — “The bosses got this slave thing going on,” a Philadelphia hospital worker complains. She observes that supervisors are more disrespectful and quick to write up workers for insubordination. Then there’s the two-tier wage system and biometric testing brought in by the contract in July 2012, which are used to divide workers.
Another hospital worker noticed that the bosses at their hospital are hiring many new inexperienced workers, especially nurses. These new workers more readily follow supervisors’ orders to do work in other workers’ job descriptions. Meanwhile older, more experienced workers are more frequently harassed. And everyone is being overworked.
Thousands of years of civilization, decades of union fights — so why do we still have this slavery going on? The answer is capitalism. Only communist revolution can abolish this wage slavery because only communism abolishes classes and wages. The whole point of capitalism is wage slavery for the working class to generate the greatest profits for the bosses.
Under capitalism the rich bosses use state power, the government, to rule the working class. Racism and sexism are necessary to generate superprofits for the bosses. Communism means that the working class holds state power and runs society. Communism is the only way to organize society without wage slaves or slaves of any kind.
Capitalism also creates profit wars as competing bosses fight for resources and markets. To pay for these wars and to discipline the workers the bosses need fascism, a more open dictatorship by the capitalists. Any workers’ “legal rights” are abolished. Workers’ wages, benefits, living standards and “rights” are destroyed. Fascism is the scientific name for this type of slavery. The bosses need an obedient working class to accept a poverty living standard and to fight their wars.
The two-tier wage system and biometric testing in the Philly hospitals are a part of fascism. A two-tier wage system obviously means greater profits for the bosses while bringing new workers’ wages down further toward poverty wages – like it was before the union! The biometric testing means that workers must agree to a health screen. If they refuse they must pay a penalty of paying more money for their health benefits.
Many workers rightfully suspect biometric testing is a ploy to sneak in drug and alcohol testing on everyone. Other workers think it may be a good idea because it would compel people to get medical treatment for their untreated health problems. “Some of us are walking time bombs!” as one worker said.
The biometric testing however not only opens the door to drug testing all workers but also attacks all workers with health problems, which is tied to living under capitalism. Many workers suffer from diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, respiratory and cardiac issues, anxiety, depression and drug addiction.
Capitalism fosters these diseases through the production and marketing of unhealthy foods that generate the greatest profits, promoting smoking, alcohol, drugs and other unhealthy life styles. It’s stressful just to live in this damn system. The biometric testing penalizes the very workers that capitalism victimizes.
There’s only one way to end this slavery once and for all: the working class must destroy capitalism with communist revolution. On the day-to-day level, this means that the Philadelphia hospital workers who read PLP’s Challenge newspaper should distribute it to more and more workers. Study groups should be formed. Readers should promote, organize and lead small and large fights against the bosses’ attacks. Let’s bury this slave system once and for all!
(For more info on PLP in Philly call 267-319-3515.)