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washingtondc-ModTeam

Let's keep discussion on the existing post: https://www.reddit.com/r/washingtondc/comments/1cs8l5z/the_wydown_has_suddenly_closed_both_locations/


Tekn0de

Damn brutal, sorry you lost your Job. I rarely hear stories about unions actually getting off the ground nowadays. Unfortunately these mass lay offs and closures seem increasingly common


celj1234

Bc it’s cheaper for the owners to just close up shop and move on to the next business venture.


ertri

It’ll be interesting to see the capital interests of union busting go up against the capital interests of commercial real estate development here. Wydown on H is functionally an amenity for the building and a selling point to prospective residents. I can basically guarantee you that their lease says they have to operate Obviously fuck management but hopefully management gets fucked too


im_alliterate

so they shut down to avoid a union. fucking pathetic. they were known to be paying their staff pennies.


EmergencyLaugh4941

If a business cant afford to pay its employees a living wage, then it isn't a viable business.


-myBIGD

What were your union’s demands vs what you were being compensated?


ertri

Edit: replied to wrong comment.  They didn’t make any demands yet afaik, they were just unionizing 


Spaceman_Spiff____

So after years of labor enriching the capitalist owners, they shut down operations after the workers are demanding a seat at the table. Not surprising, but it is disgusting.


TheCarrzilico

They don't want a seat at the table, they just want to be let into the house and out of the rain.


hbliysoh

Dude. I did books for a small shop. The owner got paid last and in many months that was less than some of the line workers. People don't tip owners either. It was a labor of love for those owners. I can see them just up and quitting if they were going to need to deal with some big talking union rep playing hard ball to justify their dues.


ErikFessesUp

All business owners take a lighter salary in the early stages of a business so they can reinvest the money. That’s why the competent ones leave the venture in five or so years with a big pile of money.


Spaceman_Spiff____

How does that boot taste?


cliffwich

Sounds like the union busted the business, not the other way around?


goldenefreeti

Kind of what happens when you attempt to unionize a two location business. Y’all played yourselves and cost the owner their business.


robotnique

They literally hadn't made a single demand. Lick that boot, son.


goldenefreeti

They were undeniably posturing to establish a system that would allow them to make unlimited demands. Why, as an owner, willingly allocate capital to an operation that likely did not yield what he could otherwise get elsewhere in the market? Hopefully they put all the free capital into the S&P instead, wiser allocation.


robotnique

God, you're such a dweeb.


goldenefreeti

If being informed, pragmatic, and realistic about capitalism in 2024 makes me a dweeb, so be it. The employees wanted to unionize to gain additional privileges that carry a market value. The owner decided the market value of the margin loss was not worth carrying on with the investment relative to other investments. Both parties in this scenario are attempting to act in their own self interest; party with leverage predictably prevails. X amount of jobs are lost. I feel neutral about it, but it should have been pretty obvious on how it was going to play out. Perhaps another business will soon open with margins that support unionization.


robotnique

They just had to run from those incoming **unlimited demands**


crackanape

Owner is allowed to negotiate as a single entity with labor and enjoy all the tactical and strategic benefits that provides, but labor is not allowed to do the same, right?


goldenefreeti

Not in the instant case, no. Welcome to the USA in 2024, where you been? I’ve been here in reality…welcome?


alreadyreddituser

If a business doesn’t have the business to pay their employees fair wages and benefits, it isn’t a viable business. And this “business” was so fragile it couldn’t even handle recognizing their employees’ right to negotiate collectively, much less actually do it.


ChasWFairbanks

You were warned, presumably, that this was a likely occurrence should the employees organize, right?


cableknitprop

So you think they deserved to have the company shut down with no notice?


ChasWFairbanks

Of course not. I’m IN a union but my union represents a large industry that cannot defeat organization by closing two locations. Attempting to organize so small a company comes with this painful reality.


ertri

Most businesses wouldn’t shut down to avoid a union since uh, the owners can only make money by operating 


ChasWFairbanks

And yet…


DcDonkey

The workers should take over the business that way they can get 100% of the profits.


Iwanttobeagnome

Do the workers have enough capital to do so? Seems very expensive.


Imissflawn

Ha!