Fatou Gaye
Dr. Felipe Filomeno
GLBL 301October 25, 2017
Introduction
AT&T workers and members who are a part of the communications workers of America went on a three-day strike over contracts and inequality. The strike was nationwide and even DirecTV workers were involved. Different parts of the company either had an issue or benefit from this situation. The communications workers of America were upset about their contract that was going to expire without renewal, while other workers we striking because of job outsourcing, and the ending of their job contract with no benefits. AT&T is working on negotiating with CWA and other employees, but the strike did not have a harmful effect on the company. AT&T’s issue with the strike and employees could be tied to professional theorist’s ideologies. AT&T is a capitalist company looking for profit and benefits to get ahead of other competitive phone companies. I argue that AT&T is a company trying to grow and use its power to earn more and spend less, which is normal for a company or firm. AT&T is undermining the problems here in the United States because they know outsourcing is easier than trying to please or give benefits to employees here in the united states. I tie this AT&T situation to the world system theory, capitalisms mode of production, and a cosmopolitanism character to production and consumption in different countries. The workers are demanding for changes so that capitalism could evolve, way so that everyone could benefit.
Theory
Capitalism is a system of economics based free market and on private ownership of capital and production put in, it's also the production of goods and services for benefit or profit. In capitalism, market forces and firms decide on which goods are produced and make their own decisions on wage and labor. Karl Marx has great work on capitalism and its capitalists. Marx believes that Bourgeoisie were the people who owned businesses with the goal of earning a profit, and the working class was replaced by the proletariat, the people who labored for wages. Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other (Marx). The bourgeoisie and Proletariat are facing each other even though they cannot be successful without the other. Karl Marx states that “ The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, establish connexions everywhere.” Business owners and bourgeoisie are only concerned with making a profit and are willing to go anywhere for it. The bourgeoisie is exploiting the world market, they have a cosmopolitan character, which features interrelatedness and interdependence of people across the globe, having a sense of sameness. So The need of a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the entire surface of the globe. (Marx/Engels) Marx was concerned with the distribution of income and that profits came from exploitation, as a result, Marx thinks that there should be a society with no class system.
Wallerstein, on the other hand, believes in the world system theory. Wallerstein criticizes capitalism and is concerned about the working conditions. Wallerstein believes that there is world economic system in which some countries benefit while others are exploited. He Explains that there has to be a less than free market for capitalism. He brought out The world systems theory which is established on a three-level hierarchy consisting of the core, periphery, and semi-periphery areas. Whereas the core countries or people dominate and exploit the peripheral countries and people for labor. The semi-peripheral, are the ones right in the middle, sharing both characteristics. The peripheral will always depend on the core. “We are in a capitalist system only when the system gives priority to the endless accumulation of capital” (Wallerstein 228). Wallerstein even compares the core and periphery to an elephant, claiming that the top of the elephant is smart and strong, while the end or back is the periphery. The back end of the elephant is smelly and nasty while the core is strong and the leader.
Critical analysis
The AT&T strike could be tied to Marx’s ideology and Wallerstein’s ideology. AT&T and its owners and leaders are the bourgeoisie while the workers and employees on strike are the proletariats. AT&T workers are protesting because the company is failing to negotiate contracts. They are instead AT&T is sending call-center jobs overseas and diverting retail jobs to so-called authorized retailers not owned by the company and not unionized, and where wages and benefits are lower. They are outsourcing which is a feature of capitalism. Outsourcing takes jobs away from workers in the western countries. Outsourcing helps companies be more competitive in the global marketplace. It is cheaper to pay employees in underdeveloped countries than people in the western countries. Underdeveloped countries also have close to no labor laws or regulation. AT&T, who are the bourgeoisie are superior provide jobs to proletariats in countries like the Dominican Republic. “The union estimates that AT&T has cut 12,000 call-center jobs in the United States since 2011 while creating many such jobs overseas.” (Schreiber). In the United States workers had to pay more for their health insurance. AT&T rather send jobs to countries
With fewer demands. The bourgeoisie has to negotiate with its proletariats. “Mr. Richter said that AT&T had successfully negotiated contracts covering nearly 130,000 workers since 2015 and that fewer than five of the company's more than 25,000 retail workers lost jobs last year because of store closings.” (Schreiber). The workers are revolting against the bourgeois. AT&T gathered and made a plan to get what they want. Their ultimate goal is also to overthrow the bourgeois. AT&T workers are forming unions in the country before going global. They then form a huge union with other workers out of the United States like in Puerto Rico, to later revolt. The bourgeoisie itself, therefore, supplies the proletariat with its own elements of political and general education, in other words, it furnishes the proletariat with weapons for fighting the bourgeoisie. (Marx19) The AT&T workers set themselves up when they supply proletariats with education. Marxist would claim that the world is becoming flat and everyone is benefitting from it, even though the bourgeoisie is the main actor of capitalism. AT&T may claim that their actions are good for the countries they outsource to. They may claim that it benefits them because they are becoming more knowledgeable with the sharing of information and relations to an American company.
Wallerstein’s approach could also be tied to the strike. His world-economy ideology is based is an extremely unequal division of labor. For Wallerstein, uneven distribution of quasi-monopolies over time and space leads to unequal exchange, which after results in the core-periphery hierarchy. In this case, the AT&T company is the core and the workers are peripheral. The world system theory is essential to this situation. “Producers seek to reduce costs in order to maintain their share of the world market. One of the mechanisms is the relocation of the production processes to zones that have historically lower wages, that is, to semi-peripheral countries. (Wallerstein 231) AT&T as the core and as well as the United States. The core takes advantage of the periphery states which are countries like Trinidad. For AT&T some company stores had been converted to noncompany stores and that much of the recent growth in the retail workforce had occurred at noncompany stores.
AT&T who are the capitalist are on the top or are the head of the elephant, while the workers are the end of the lower part of the elephant. Capitalists goal is to accumulate money in any way possible. I believe that AT&T does not mind whether its workers have jobs or not, they are competing with other phone companies, and is worried about how to spend less and make more. The flows of resources to the core countries contribute to their further development of technological innovations and expansion. The periphery working with the core only benefits the core. AT&T hiring internationally is a great example of them only being concerned with profit. In one of the articles, the author mentions that the people answering calls are in a different country because of wages. It also has a side effect which is that the callers will not get good customer service. The development of the north is the underdevelopment of the south. The jobs being sent to the Dominican Republic is benefitting the citizens they're trying to make a living. With the world system theory there is no way out of the core and periphery, it has been set up in this way too long. The periphery cannot revolt against the core; they must work with them to stay away from poverty. In this case outsourcing is benefitting the periphery because they are feeling that they are a part of this system of capital. If the a country like the united states did not have so many regulations and requests, their jobs would still be here.
Conclusion
In relevance to Marx, the proletariat, which is the workers and union members at AT&T demand assurance and proof that their jobs will not be taken overseas. AT&T is using both Marxism’s and Wallerstein's approach to capitalism. The phone company only cares to make a profit and will do anything they could to do so. I suggest that there should be a restriction to how many jobs travel outside the United States so that everyone gets a fair share. In this global world, technology and information is the reason why anyone could sit in a different country and work. AT&T is only doing what most companies do. The bourgeoisie could be tied to any company or firm that takes advantage of the proletariats. The bourgeoisie could claim that this whole idea brings equality and later reduce poverty since people are able to work overseas. I tie this AT&T situation to the world system theory, capitalisms mode of production, and cosmopolitanism character to production and consumption in different countries. The workers are demanding for changes so that capitalism could evolve, in a positive way so that everyone could benefit, as the AT&T company is trying to accumulate capital.
Bibliography
Shaun Nichols in San Francisco 5 Jun 2017 at 23:55 tweet btn(). "AT&T cuts fresh deal with 17,000 CWA strike-threat union workers." The Register® – Biting the hand that feeds IT. Accessed October 25, 2017. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/05/att_union_contract/.
"AT&T Strikers Returned to Work on Monday." Fortune. Accessed October 25, 2017. http://fortune.com/2017/05/22/att-strikers-return-to-work/.
"Why AT&T Workers Traveled to the Dominican Republic to Protest." Fortune. Accessed October 25, 2017. http://fortune.com/2017/05/04/att-outsourcing-dominican-republic/.
Scheiber, Noam. "AT&T Workers Start 3-Day Strike in Contract Impasse." The New York Times. May 19, 2017. Accessed October 25, 2017. https://nyti.ms/2qClaJw.
Channick, Robert. "AT&T workers strike in Chicago, nationwide." Chicagotribune.com. May 19, 2017. Accessed October 25, 2017. http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-att-workers-strike-0520-biz-20170519-story.html.