Sounds and Fury

沃爾碼員工以集體訴訟的方式控告沃爾碼，美國左翼雜誌的特約撰述Liza Featherstone在去年寫了一本書討論這個故事：Selling Women Short: The Landmark Battle for Workers' Rights at Wal-Mart 。
上週一她來學校演講。

講的內容和書上及文章差不多。有幾點有趣的可以與大家分享。第一是即使訴訟成功也不能真正帶來勞資關係或性別歧視結構性的改變，只有建立工會才能壯大勞工談判權。
class-action victory would not fundamentally change the corporation. Although the suit may stop sexual harassment, women workers would still receive the same subsistence wages paid to male retail workers. Only unions and collective bargaining would give both female and male workers the collective power to raise their standard of living significantly.
第二是，沃爾瑪真正厲害的是，操弄勞工這種身份和消費者之間的矛盾，尤其沃爾瑪的主力消費群其實是收入較低的人。
Christi Davis Gallagher, a Wal-Mart spokeswoman, warned that higher wages could lead to higher prices. "It appears the unions want to take millions of dollars in dues from their members and use them to rob average Americans of their right to pay less for the basics in life," Ms. Gallagher said. "You need to ask one question: Is it fair to ask American consumers to pay higher prices to subsidize a relatively small pocket of individuals just because they are making the most noise?"

Yes, actually, in their cases, they have the resources to pursue individual suits, but they really want to change Wal-Mart. If they were to sue as individuals, Wal-Mart would settle and it would never have to make any institutional reforms. The only reason these women are doing the class action--aside from the strength in numbers--is because they want to chang，e the company.