#commodification of labor

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Escaping the Jungle: Rethinking Land Ownership for a Sustainable Future

Introduction: Beyond the Jungle For centuries, capitalism has told us that land is a commodity to be bought, sold, and exploited for profit. It has also sold us a dangerous myth: that humans are inherently competitive, isolated individuals, destined to fight for survival in a brutal world. According to this worldview, land belongs to those who claim it first and use it for personal gain. But…

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[theamericanbear]

Emphasis mine:

I opt here to discuss just one facet of [Joe] Burn’s book [Reviving the Strike]: his first principle of labor rights. In Chapter 7 of the book, Burns argues that labor activists should rely, both philosophically and rhetorically, on the principle that “labor is not a commodity.” Drawing upon the speeches of notable labor leaders like Samuel Gompers and Walter Reuther, Burns makes the case that a labor movement which accepts the idea that labor is merely a commodity to be bought and sold on the market immediately reduces its role to mere wage-bargaining.

By conceding the commodification of labor, unions implicitly accept the idea that “once workers sell their labor, they have no further interest in the enterprise, as the employer now owns the final product and all profits derived from its sale.” But, according to Burns, this should not be aim of union organizing. Unions should stand for the principle that workers do have a stake in their workplaces, and that management and owners do not have the only legitimate say in the direction and functioning of any particular enterprise. Under that principle, workers that halt production do so justly: it is their workplace just as much as it is management’s, if not more so.

Further, according to Burns, labor commodification functions as a form of social control. Unlike other commodities — soybeans, lumber, and steel for example — labor consists of the actions of human beings with moral importance and lived experiences. The majority of an adult’s waking hours are spent laboring, and if we stand for the principle that labor is merely a commodity to be controlled by its owner, then management and shareholders are free to dominate and control individuals during the majority of their waking lives. Given the profound immorality of such an idea, Burns argues that labor leaders should flatly reject the commodity status of labor, and consequently the idea that “the market should govern every sphere of human activity.”

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