Column: Workers bleed cash while corporations make bank

By Jordan Scenna
Deputy Editor

I used to work with Henry at a busy restaurant named after railroad workers who performed grueling work for low pay. These “section crews” laid track across the country, before the advent of machines, providing the infrastructure needed to propel America into a global economic force; and just like these unsung heroes of hard labor were to the prosperity of the country, so was Henry to the restaurant.

Henry worked the dish line five nights a week. It’s a hard job. A thankless job. With his clothes soaked through to the skin and his right knee wrapped in a makeshift brace, Henry faced down an endless barrage of dirty dishes night after night. The place couldn’t function without him, yet Henry didn’t profit from his hard work. He earned a small hourly wage which was just enough to get by; just enough to eat, pay your bills, and get yourself back for the next shift.

There are many hardworking, indispensable employees (ask any kitchen manager how hard it is to find a reliable dishwasher) like Henry, and how are they being rewarded for their service? Not with pay raises, universal health care, or affordable housing, but with exploding gas prices, overcooked grocery bills, and raised rents.

The same corporations that the Henrys of this country help to make obscenely rich are contributing to the record-breaking inflation we have today.

In a forgotten Senate hearing in Dec. 2021, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) said that Kroger, the largest grocery chain in the country, reported profits 40% higher over the past year. Kroger CEO Rodney McMullen was quoted bragging to investors, “A little bit of inflation is always good in our business.” Nothing has changed. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, retail food prices increased 8.9% as of Aug. 2022. Tyson Foods, one of only four companies that control the beef and poultry industry, doubled their profit margin.

Oil companies are doing even better. It’s hard to see how oil companies are increasing prices relative to increasing cost when Shell reported a $9.5 billion third quarter, more than double what they made during the same time last year. We’re talking profits here. The oil companies are making so much money that even President Biden, who’s not known for going up against greedy corporations, spoke out on Halloween.

“Then along came Exxon. Exxon’s profits for the third quarter were at $18.7 billion. One quarter: $18.7 billion–nearly triple what Exxon made last year and the most in its 152-year history. It’s never made that much profit.”

If Joe Biden, a neo-liberal when it comes to capitalism and the free-market, is shocked by corporate greed, then you know companies have gone too far.

I’m not going to pretend to be an economist, and I know that there are other factors that go into inflation, including supply-chain issues due to the pandemic and the war in Ukraine; but it’s impossible to deny corporate greed is the gas fueling the fire.

Republicans will argue government spending and wage increases are the problem, but this just isn’t true. According to an October. article from Forbes, inflation is at 8.2% while wages are rising at a rate of 5.2%, which means workers are still getting short changed. 

In a House hearing last month, U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Calif.) dispelled the myth that government spending is driving inflation. With an easy to read chart in hand, Porter asked Mike Konczal, the director of macroeconomics analysis at the Roosevelt Institute a simple question.

Porter-“What is the biggest driver of inflation during the pandemic?”
Konczal-”It would be corporate profits.”

Corporations are dragons breathing the fires of inflation down upon us and turning our lives into ash. They hoard the wealth of America that they didn’t earn, but claim as theirs, and theirs alone.

The majority owner of the restaurant with the whimsical name is a billionaire. He didn’t accumulate that wealth by himself. Henry helped him do it, and yet Henry doesn’t make anywhere near what he’s worth. I’m not against the ownership class making more money than workers. I understand owners take on more risk, and their ideas and ingenuity should be rewarded; but they don’t do it alone. Not only does taxpayer money provide the infrastructure corporations need, like roads, air travel, and education; they get federal tax subsidies. Exxon alone costs taxpayers $12-$19 billion annually.

The Pandemic taught us the value of workers like Henry. It also reminded us that corporate greed showcases one of the more vile aspects of the human condition; an indifference to the suffering of others for personal gain. It’s a crime comparable to manslaughter. It’s the killing of a human being, without malice, but for money and power; and killing with economics is killing just the same. It’s just a slower death.  

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