Bernie Sanders: Pay your workers better. Warren Buffett: That's not my job

[Uncle Joe]

(snip)

"Our companies deal individually with their own labor and personnel decisions (except for the selection of the CEO)," he said in his response to Sanders, which was released by Sanders' office. "I'm passing along your letter to the CEO of Precision Castparts, but making no recommendations to him as to any action. He is responsible for his business."

Unlike many other of the nation's richest people, Buffett has positioned himself as someone concerned workers and income inequality. He has called for higher taxes on the rich and pledged to give away most of his fortune, which now stands at just over $100 billion according to a real time billionaire tracker by Forbes. Buffett doesn't have the anti-union reputation of many other billionaires, such as Amazon (AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos or Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, who have both battled with union organizing efforts.

Buffett's letter to Sanders cites several examples of unionized subsidiaries of his company, incuding NetJets and See's Candy. And Sanders letter plays on an appeal to Buffett to live up to his expressed concerns about income inequality.

"Mr. Buffett: You have spoken out eloquently on the crisis our country now faces in terms of growing income and wealth inequality. You have correctly pointed out that, while working families struggle, the top one percent is doing extremely well," Sanders wrote.

(snip)


https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/31/business/bernie-sanders-warren-buffett-steelworkers-strike/index.html

[BeckyDem]

1. From the alleged "good" billionaire.

The strike began October 1 after the company demanded cuts in overtime pay, seniority, and vacation days for the union’s 450 members, most of whom have worked at the plant for a decade or more.

Most drastically, the company demanded a drastic increase in healthcare costs that would force some workers with families to pay as much as $700 a month more in health insurance costs. The steep increase has many members unwilling to accept the proposed deal and head back to work.
https://paydayreport.com/huntington-steelworkers-dig-in-for-multi-month-strike-at-warren-buffetts-special-metals/

[Uncle Joe]

3. That part wouldn't be an issue

if we had Medicare for All.

[airplaneman]

2. If I remember correctly over many years

Buffet, Gates, and Bezos have all been against raising the minimum wage.
-Airplane

[YP_Yooper]

4. Frankly,

workers should be paid in labor AND hold shares in any company they work for. Ie, their direct labor generates revenue for the company, but they should also benefit from the value of the company their revenue creates.

[Uncle Joe]

5. The problem with that is

the top tenth of 1% won't be able to get the lion's share of the nation's wealth anymore

The wealthiest 10% of American households now own 89% of all U.S. stocks, a record high that highlights the stock market’s role in increasing wealth inequality.

The top 1% gained over $6.5 trillion in corporate equities and mutual fund wealth during the pandemic, according to the latest data from the Federal Reserve.

The bottom 90% of Americans held about 11% of stocks, and added $1.2 trillion in wealth during the Covid-19 pandemic.

(snip)

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/18/the-wealthiest-10percent-of-americans-own-a-record-89percent-of-all-us-stocks.html

and this isn't just about wealth, it's about power as well, in a nation with a strong, vibrant middle class and rock solid, foundation strength social safety net, power would be more equally dispersed as a result vs a dysfunctional oligarchy; wherein it's much easier to manipulate the peoples' government.