Idea: Worker's Scorecard

[mermaid]

I'd like to start up a sort of "Workers' Scorecard" where corporations are rated according to how well they treat their workers.

What I am trying to work out are the logistics of arriving at a score that really means something.

What criteria ought to be considered, and how much weight should they be given in the overall score? Obviously some things should carry more weight than others, but here's a quick list of criteria I have thought of so far...

Do they pay employees a living wage for the area in which the employees live?

Do they offer medical/dental benefits? Other perks?

What is the gap between executive pay and worker pay?

Are they unionized? Do they allow a union?

Are they fully compliant with all OSHA regulations concerning a safe, healthful work environment?

Do they offer 401K, pension plans?

Do they offer paid holidays, sick days, vacation days, and how many? How does this compare with the national/world average?

Is there a lot of forced overtime? Or do they staff what they need so that too few people are not forced to carry too heavy a load of work, and sacrifice time with their families?

Do they employ a diverse workforce, free of discrimination and/or harassment? Does the gay man or the black man or transgender woman stand just as much chance for hiring and promotion as the white man who is straight and married to a Stepford Wife?

These are some of the initial ideas I had. Any other ideas for criteria would be welcomed...as well as what weight each item should carry. I think starting up a poll on DU (which I'll do later) would be a good way of determining what should carry what weight...based on what is most important to the American worker.

The point then, is...we could do the following with such a listing. We could use it as a list of companies with which to do business, and which to avoid, based on who treats their employees right and who doesn't...and we could use it as a job-resource listing, as in...a company that scores high is the kind of company you might want to work for yourself! So there's a dual benefit to a list such as what I am proposing.

And it allows us to "vote" with the companies that do things as WE WORKERS say they should be done. THAT is where we will have our voice. Our DOLLARS. We withhold them (our DOLLARS - which are our REAL VOTES) from companies that create so-called "McJobs" or who otherwise "Wal-martize" our economy. We reward those companies that do right by the American worker. And punish those who do not. There is no other way in which we can create change, because nothing else matters to the business moguls.

Besides, our DOLLARS are the only votes Diebold can't fuck with.

[mermaid]

1. Kick

screw y'all, not answering to this post...