Vol. 81/No. 43 November 20, 2017
Workers give ‘blood money’ to build
Socialist Workers Party
The money stems from a settlement in a class-action lawsuit against Kelly Temporary Services where they worked over four years ago, about the wording on the paperwork that workers had to sign for background and credit checks in order to get hired.
“Some attorneys made a killing and we got $71.33 each,” they wrote. “They worked the crud out of us at this temp job in a cold warehouse assembling wire cables for aerospace use and then laid us off at Christmas.”
Payments from employers in settlements like this; production, attendance and safety bonuses; and contract-signing incentives are all bribes — blood money — to convince us to be grateful to the boss instead of standing up and fighting for our interests.
From Oakland, California, Eric Simpson sent in a settlement check for $184 from another class-action suit. This one was filed awhile ago by workers at Flying Foods Group, an airline catering company in Burlingame, where Simpson used to work.
“The company located the time clock inside the ‘clean area,’” Simpson wrote, “meaning we were not paid for donning and doffing safety equipment, which was a job requirement.”
Communists and other class-conscious workers turn these bribes into their opposite by donating them to the SWP’s Capital Fund, which helps finance the long-range work of the communist movement.
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