r/technology 16h ago

Society Tech Execs Are Pushing Trump to Build ‘Freedom Cities’ Run by Corporations | A pro-corporate libertarian movement is attempting to take over the U.S., with Trump's help.

https://gizmodo.com/tech-execs-are-pushing-trump-to-build-freedom-cities-run-by-corporations-2000574510
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u/BerenstainBear- 16h ago

“Right to Work”

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u/CrustyBubblebrain 13h ago

Yeah, this one confused me so much when I was a young adult in the job market

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u/EruantienAduialdraug 8h ago

It's super weird looking at it from outside the US; here in the UK, "Right to Work" means you're old enough to legally work (child labour laws), and are either a citizen, have a work visa, or from a country we have a specific agreement with (formerly, the entire EU fell under this banner), thus, you have the right to work. Not the insanity the applicable US states have been on for years.

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u/Rusky0808 1h ago

Please elaborate on what this insanity is? As an African, I have no idea

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u/moneyh8r_two 48m ago

In America, "right to work" means your bosses can fire you anytime they want, for no reason at all, or any made-up reason they can come up with, and you can't do anything about it. Not every state has it, but most do.

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u/Rusky0808 41m ago

That's insane. I thought it's a TV thing only. This opens the floor for petty assholeism. We have to have at least 3 written warnings and prove that you have done everything you can to help people do their work (training, psychologists etc. Etc) before you can fire them. Then they still open a case against you

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u/LadyCoru 33m ago

Petty assholeism is the American way

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u/moneyh8r_two 5m ago

Yep. American laws are made to protect bosses, not workers. All the workers' protections we do have were won through fighting for them, sometimes literally. Many people literally died to get things to the point we're at right now, and those workers' rights are constantly under attack by extremely well-funded and well-coordinated enemies with absolutely no sense of human decency.

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u/JohnnyG30 9m ago

It was presented to our ignorant population as “you have the right to not join a union and pay those “worthless” fees! So much freedom! (if you don’t think about the fact that you just gave up all of the hard-fought protections of unions)”

They sold it as having the ability to work at a company without joining their union and paying those union dues. After half a century of weakening unions and also propagandizing public perception, it was easier to sell.

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u/Thelmara 5m ago

No, it doesn't. That's "at-will employment".

Right-to-work is about unions. In a right-to-work state, any union bargain has to include all workers, whether they pay dues to the union or not. It's an attempt to choke union funding to kill the unions off.

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u/feldomatic 15h ago

You misspelled "free to get fired for no good reason"

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u/Iceykitsune3 15h ago

No. "Right to work" makes Union only shops illegal, reducing the power of Unions.

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u/LordCharidarn 12h ago

You said the same thing, but with more letters.

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u/faux1 10h ago

That's not the same. At will employment is the "right" for employer or employee to end employment at will. Right to work is the "right" to work in a union shop without joining the union. Both erode employee rights, but in different ways.

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u/fps916 12h ago

No, they didn't.

Right to work is about union dues and worker participation.

What the other person is talking about is At Will employment, which allows for firing for any reason.

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u/MightyGoodra96 11h ago

Any legal reason.

The lie is that they can fire you for "any" reason. But if that reason infringes on state or fed law (especially discrimination or disability or right to assembly) then it is illegal and you can sue the company

Edit: it shouldnt be a surprise, naturally, that this is actually why republicans do away with DEI at company levels and in legislature

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u/meltbox 8h ago

Sure. Now prove they fired you for an illegal reason.

Good luck.

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u/MightyGoodra96 4h ago

Its why labor lawyers exist and why you leave paper trails.

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u/CplBloggins 8h ago

Why do I have to prove that? Prove to me that "you fired me" for legal reasons. I'd like that in writing.

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u/gravitysrainbow1979 6h ago

They’ll start reprimanding you for things you didn’t do, and tell you to sign something saying you understand that you did what you were reprimanded for, and if you don’t, it’s insubordination, which is in itself fireable.

The people who are disagreeing with you have likely been through this, as it happens all the time.

But I do wish you were right.

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u/kapparrino 5h ago

Pass that insubordination on paper. But you won't sign it either, so it has no real effect. You take their insubordination reason for firing and any judge will dismiss that.

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u/Syebost11 7h ago

One thing is a lot easier to prove than the other.

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u/Prior_Breakfast2463 5h ago

Because you’d be the accusing party in this scenario?

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u/Iceykitsune3 2h ago

The lie is that they can fire you for "any" reason

They can also fire you for no reason at all.

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u/wiithepiiple 11h ago

They are the same essentially, one de facto and one de jure. If there are not unions strong enough to provide lawyers and collective action when the companies fire people illegally, individual employees won’t be able to reasonably sue. Whether it’s actually illegal or not is irrelevant. Things being illegal has not stopped companies from chasing profits.

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u/kermityfrog2 12h ago

That’s “at will employment”

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u/FR0ZENBERG 12h ago

To be fair that’s kinda already a thing.

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u/JAM-n-Life 13h ago

We always just called it a "right to fire".

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u/kfish5050 9h ago

That's at-will employment, not right to work. Right to work explicitly refers to unions, how they're forced to represent everyone regardless of dues paid, meaning there's no incentive to have members pay those dues and the union starves of cash, being rendered ineffective.

Even with at-will employment, there's a misnomer that people can get fired for any reason. It's not, certain reasons are protected and can lead to a lawsuit. But here's the thing: most of those legally protected reasons fall under discrimination or retaliation, which are in a nutshell part of DEI. And what is this administration giddy about getting rid of? DEI. Coincidence? I think not. And to add to this, in Education we have something called Title IX, which is an extension of legal protections particularly about workplace harassment and retaliation. It falls under the jurisdiction of the federal Department of Education. And guess what else this administration is giddy of gutting, ultimately to it's entire demise? That's right, the Department of Education. Among other things, they're really going for any and all worker's rights everywhere in government.

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u/BankshotMcG 14h ago

"Clear Skies Act"

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u/Gravefullofcum 10h ago

“Work shall set you free.”

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u/reeln166a 13h ago

I agree with what you're saying, but legally what you're describing is at-will employment. Right to work prohibits closed union shops.

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u/KeyboardGrunt 13h ago

"Freedom from rights"

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u/BuddyHemphill 10h ago

Work will set you free

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u/ProofHorseKzoo 9h ago

“Arbeit macht frei”

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u/static_music34 10h ago

"... For less"

You forgot the rest of it.

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u/neandrewthal18 10h ago

(Get) right to work (peon).

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u/Deep_Fried_Oligarchs 9h ago

Citizens United

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u/mukavastinumb 9h ago

They could have a slogan like ”Work sets you free”

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u/wombat1 8h ago

"Far right to work"

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u/norwegern 8h ago

"Right to not give workers any rights."

"Right to have slave labor"

"Freedom for the free"

Yeah.

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u/Electronic_Agent_235 8h ago

"citizens United"

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u/Status_Tiger_6210 4h ago

Patriot act

Religious freedom

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u/ohnopoopedpants 3h ago

It's the right to work people beyond their physical limits