Thanks for subscribing to /c/workreform@lemmy.world ! Now that we’ve grown (and are growing) so quickly, I’ve had some calls to discuss what this community is for!
What we stand for
As the sidebar says, Work Reform aims to increase the share of rewards reaped by the workers (as opposed to capitalists - be it shareholders or owners), and make work more equitable. We do NOT aim to abolish labor altogether - I personally don’t think that’s a viable societal system. There is no known system in human history where majority of the population can subsist without doing anything in return.
What we need to do
I see a few things necessary to reform the current economic system - let’s call it Awareness, Advocacy and Action:
- Awareness means getting people to realise that the corporate propaganda they’re hearing isn’t the whole truth.
- Advocacy means going out and telling people to join the cause, form a local union, etc.
- Action means taking organized action - writing to politicians, organising dialogues and strikes, etc.
What this space can be used for
In short, all of the above!
- To raise Awareness, you can post anything that talks about the issue of wage disparity. That means venting about scummy practices, that means posting news that counters corporate propaganda, and that means posting memes and screenshots of relevant tweets.
- To engage in Advocacy, you can post news about organised action taking place elsewhere that we can celebrate or contribute to.
- To take Action, you can start a local chapter of your union, organize/engage in online campaigns, etc. This space can be used to help gather people for that purpose.
I personally think the most important thing now is to get more people to rally behind the cause (which means Action and Advocacy). But some of you have really good ideas on taking Action. So feel free to use this space for that purpose.
As it grows, we can discuss how best to use this community as well, so the rules may evolve over time.
You misunderstood me - when I said I was “part of antiwork”, what i meant was that I was a subscriber (and somewhat frequent) poster, but I was never a moderator of anything on reddit. And by “folks”, I meant people who participated in the sub, not the founders or mods.
I know about the whole debate with the founders being CIBC bankers. I honestly don’t know what’s the true story with the mods. What I do know is that the name, description and stated purpose of “work reform” is more in line with my personal views than “anti work”. antiwork started off as an anti-labor movement and as the sub grew, the mods didn’t really keep the discussion on track, so it became this weird hybrid sub that was supposed to be antiwork, but had 70% workreform and 30% antiwork posts. Admidst the discussion after the Doreen incident, it was clear from the comments within the sub (from users, not mods) that there were strong antiwork voices as well as strong workreform voices. It was just the catalyst that gave the workreform participants a chance to split off.
The only moderation experience I have on reddit was a few years ago, and I stepped down after the sub got past >25k subs because I just wasn’t interested in dealing with reports. I have no intention of becoming a “top mod” or whatever here, and I’m not that interested in admin/mod drama and shenanigans. Lemmy is a new start for many of us old-timey Redditors, and I created this community because I couldn’t find one that gels with my philosophy on work, and I believe it’s something that affects enough of us that we should talk about it.
If you believe in the stated goals of workreform (addressing wage inequality and capitalism, as opposed to abolishing labor altoghether), you’re welcome to participate here and mod if you want!