Labor in the United States 2025: We're Going Backward, People
Pretty soon, corporations will have more rights than humans
Every scrap of news feels like a dumpster fire right now. Everywhere I look, I get bad news. Terrible news. Horrifying news. Like, stay-in-bed-for-a-week news. But we cannot lie down and let fascists win, so I collect information. I write. I connect the dots to what is of utmost importance to me.
In my line of work, it’s labor.
I worked on a retail sales floor for twenty-four years. I was in store leadership for a lot of those years, and I lived on hourly wages for most of my life.
Today, I advocate for people in the field. I share my best practices because most people in retail are working way too hard. I also track where labor is going in this country.
Right now, it’s bad.
We’re headed in the wrong direction.
The NLRB
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is an independent federal agency. It has the power to safeguard employees' rights to organize. It can also determine whether to have unions as bargaining representatives. The agency works to stop and fix unfair labor practices by private-sector employers and unions.
The board exists to protect labor—working people.
A week after this new administration grabbed our country by the throat, the president fired the chair of the NLRB, Gwynne Wilcox. He also fired the NLRB General Counsel, Jennifer Abruzzo.
So, now:
“The Board has five members, each appointed by the president to 5-year terms with Senate approval. As a result of Wilcox’s termination, the NLRB currently only has two members. Under law, the Board needs a quorum of three members to make any decision.” - Fortune dot com
The board cannot function.
This is the goal. The administration wants workers out in the cold, fighting for themselves. They know that there is power in collective bargaining.
On Wednesday, the president asked the US Supreme Court to let him remove Democratic members from labor boards "for now". Right, for now. Like we’re ever going to get those people back.
Like every other piece of dumpster-fire news, this is another attempt to broaden the president’s power and limit checks and balances. It’s strategic. Because they’re trying to bring manufacturing back to America. Who will work in these factories? Well, we will.
That’s the plan.
Dangerous, Dirty, and Difficult
In 1970, 38 workers died every day. In 2023, that number was 15. Working in a manufacturing plant is dirty, dangerous work. These plants also have major environmental impacts. They spew toxins into our water supply and create smog that chokes our clean air.
The government is rolling back all these environmental protections from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
See how it’s all connected?
Roll back environmental protections, crush unions and collective bargaining, fire federal workers, get rid of benefits like Social Security and Medicare, and force people to work in factories.
In 1954, union membership included 33.5% of the workforce. Now, it’s about 10%. Tax rates on the wealthy ranked 70% in 1980. Today, it’s 37%.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, recently said that all the people who were just fired from their federal jobs could go work in factories. “That will give us the labor we need for the new manufacturing.”
What a dick.
And yeah, right. Civil servants who took an oath to our constitution and made careers out of helping people in need are going to head to the factory floor. Yup, that’s totally going to happen.
It will take at least five years to build a new factory, by the way.
The average hourly wage for a factory worker in the United States is $35/hr. In other countries, that wage is under $2.00/hr.
So, we’re really going to spend billions of dollars, spend the next five years building manufacturing plants, to pay American workers $35/hour? And make them work 12-hour days? We’re not. It’s not going to happen.
“Just a reminder we are not a textile or hardware-making country. The majority of our parts come from China. Made in USA is not, nor ever was, the answer when 97% of all apparel / footwear is made overseas. About all we have left is horrible print-on-demand merch. Reinventing 1950's America with tariffs vs planning for 2050's digital economy is the real problem. Community is infrastructure now; people are the only KPI.” - Joanna Williams, Since Tomorrow.
I guess we can now employ children.
Don’t scoff; it’s actually happening.
Child Labor? Sure, Why Not?
I actually wrote about this in June 2023.
Now Florida is in on this.
The Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, has proposed new legislation to roll back the state’s labor laws. This dummy wants to let teenagers work overnight shifts and long hours without a meal break.
“Florida law currently states that teenagers (ages 16 and 17) can’t work before 6:30 a.m. or after 11 p.m. on a school day and can’t work during school hours unless they are in a career education program. They are also limited to working no more than 30 hours a week when school is in session unless their parent or a school superintendent waives that restriction.” - Miami Herald
During my retail career, I employed many teenagers. My staff was made up of mostly teenagers. I worked in California, where labor laws are very strict. I was a kind and caring boss. I made sure every employee took all mandated breaks and did not work more than four hours on a school day.
It’s a ton of work, which is why most places don’t employ people under the age of 18.
However, even with these laws in place, employers routinely break the law. Or they make kids sign waivers giving up their rights. Teenagers don’t know their rights, and they want a job, so they sign whatever. Then they’re made to work a ten-hour shift on a Wednesday and are not given any breaks.
Man, it sucks.
It’s about to get worse.
Liberty and Justice for All
The National Labor Relations Board is currently hobbled. Loyal federal workers have been thrown out. EPA regulations are in the trash can. The administration is telling us we should bring manufacturing back and that we should hire children to make up any gaps in the workforce.
FUCK.
This is not it. Child labor and dumping toxins in our water supply don't make America great. Corporations and billionaires don’t make America great.
What makes America awesome is the people. The hardworking people from all over the world who have come here to innovate. They’ve come here to form partnerships, make a good living, and raise their kids in a society that forbids child labor.
The people who came here to work or get an education and never left make this place amazing. They make America, America.
I was raised to believe that we are a country that provides a safe harbor for those who need it. Every day in school, we began the day with the Pledge of Allegiance.
I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
When I said “for all," I meant that shit. I didn’t mean, “for a few white dudes at the top who have more money than they could spend in five lifetimes.”
No take backs.
We are here for all.
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Kit Campoy is an accomplished retail expert and author. She leverages her two decades of leadership experience to inform and inspire. Kit is now booking panel speaking sessions for Q3 of 2025. Book a call on her website today!
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You have laid out the hard facts perfectly and also given inspiration. Quite a feat! We need voices like yours for the workers in these tough times.
"When I said “for all," I meant that shit."
SAME. And having a best friend who was an immigrant only drove that home. His parents were two of the hardest working people I ever met.