I’m noticing that job titles with the word “associate” in them are turning out to be least critical and most vulnerable: hotel associate, sales associate, service associate. That term, it seems to me, has been used ubiquitously for the last twenty years to do immeasurable harm to America’s working class. I remember when the term started showing up, all based on the argument that it provided a more respectful job title. Instead of being a janitor, you now could be a sanitation associate. Instead of being a secretary, you now could be an administrative associate. But the term did not confer more respect or money. It didn’t offer union membership or collective bargaining. It is a false and empty title, used to make laborers feel more connected to the white-collar world, to ensure that they identify less as workers and more with their bosses. It is a prime example of the ways that language can be mobilized by those in power to obscure the exploitation of workers and prevent the growth of class consciousness. These are also the positions that make the least amount of money. These are the people who are now filing for unemployment after working hard for their adult lives.

Not surprisingly, upper management is suffering somewhat less. Meanwhile, hotel staff find themselves “reduced,” their weeks or hours “shortened.” Two days ago, Sorenson recorded this message to his employees. It went viral. Just today I notice that Forbes has hailed this video as “a lesson in authentic leadership.”[1] Here is a portion of the transcript of this video, released as Marriott furloughs two-thirds of its payroll.[2]:

It is a lovely message, which seems heartfelt, even if it only gives cold comfort to those who can’t pay their rent. Mentioning his cancer is a nice touch. I wonder if he has to worry about whether or not he can afford the premiums and deductibles that his health insurance still requires him to pay. Admittedly, for Americans right now, in this world that we have created, we are torn between wanting everyone to stay home to stop the virus and be safe, and feeling deeply sorry for people who are left with nothing when they do just that. We have not created a society where people can go home for the public good and also not starve or be evicted. I know that most Americans see this as an inherent and unavoidable paradox, but it actually does not have to be this way. There are lots of countries where people pay into a system that protects everyone, where getting healthcare is not always tied to having work, especially in moments like this.   

Perhaps because of the exploitation and absurdity of this system, I am not scandalized when I read the story about Robert William Cullum, a worker at the Gestamp automotive manufacturing plant in Union, South Carolina, who found a way to use the virus to get out of work. He told his co-workers that his son at home had COVID-19. His bosses sent him home to quarantine for two weeks. Evidently, a rumor got around at the plant that Robert also had COVID and people started calling in, saying they felt unsafe coming to work. The plant faced serious worker shortages. Eventually, exasperated, the executives at the plant called the police. They needed to know what had happened to Robert.

What’s astonishing is that this wasn’t the first time someone in that county used the virus to get out of work. Saying that you have COVID is like yelling “FIRE” in a theatre, except that the theatre is the planet and you can use it to skip out of your lousy job, assuming you can figure out how to get away with it. This is a classic example of what the famous historian, James Scott, called a “weapon of the weak.” You cannot overthrow the system, but you can find innovative ways to undermine structures of power and carve out a little space for yourself.

Notes

[1] https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2020/03/21/marriotts-ceo-demonstrates-truly-authentic-leadership-in-a-remarkably-emotional-video/#132a9d2b1654

[2] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-03-17/marriott-starts-furloughs-that-could-hit-tens-of-thousands