When Corsair Components in Hayward, California, laid off its workforce, but needed the workers it had just fired to stay on for several weeks to clear the warehouse shelves, the company offered them each $2,000 in addition to their wages.
“I’m sending mine to the Socialist Workers Party,” Eric Simpson, one of those hit by the layoffs, told a co-worker when she texted him to see if he’d gotten the money. “So you’re not keeping it for yourself?” she asked.
“We do this so party members can’t be bribed by companies,” Simpson explained. “The bonus wasn’t wages, it was a small bribe to get us to stay to the end. It was cheap for the company.”
SWP members and supporters proudly turn over production, attendance, safety and other “bonuses” to the party, because the bosses’ aim in handing out these bribes is to deter workers from resisting speedup, lower wages and worse working conditions.