You’re living in a townhouse as part of an apartment complex. The apartment complex has benefits such as a pool and hot tub, indoor gym, full size basketball court, a library, and a garden. You have 2 other roommate/coworkers, and you have 6 neighbor/coworkers. A Labor neutrality agreement is guaranteed, and both tenant unions and labor unions will be voluntarily recognized.
We tried this before, they were called company towns and they got banned because they’re a horrifically abusive practice.
Imagine living around the same people you work with. Imagine a company that won’t even let you take a piss break having control over your housing situation. Imagine getting fired and having to move out of your apartment the same day.
The broader idea is that the job is paid by the government as part of a program to end homelessness
Then it’s housing that comes with a job, not a job that comes with housing. There’s an important difference.
Never thought of it like that
No.
We tried that with coal mining. Results were disastrous.
Read history.
Read the thread. It’s not a company town.
It’s entirely exactly a company town.
A company town has all of these things?
- Provides housing independently of the job
- Job is paid by the government
- Apartment complex is managed by the people who live there
- Has a Labor neutrality agreement
- Will voluntarily recognize labor and tenant unions
The job providing housing while paying starvaton wages is what makes it a company town.
This is what we call a company town. Soon you won’t get real money, just monopoly money you can only use at the company store. No thanks.
I know that’s not exactly what you’re scenario is saying but, feels too slippery of a slope for me personally.
You load sixteen tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt.
I was gonna say, this sounds like a company town. I’ve seen some videos on company towns and they’re fairly glamorous tbh, I forget the drawbacks, I’m sure it has its drawbacks.
In old school mining company towns the drawback was that they didn’t pay you in real money. They paid you in essentially monopoly money. The currency they gave you was only usable at places owned by the company. The issue becomes, you don’t like your job and want to leave? You have no money. You can’t leave.
What about being fully enslaved to a fucking corp seems glamorous?!
Like the living conditions I saw were pretty good. From housing to the gym they had and everything
It is one step back into this. It’s something we fight and died over in the past as workers only for these people to bring it back up again as a perk.
We learned this in school so I’m assuming the younger gens aren’t learning any history at all unless it’s a lie “Trump fought wwii single handedly!”
I have more details in other threads, but it’s distinct from a company town in that the job is paid by the government, the housing is provided independently of the job, and the housing is controlled by the people who live there
If that were the case then why would your roommates and neighbors be fellow employees? Also how would the government afford said housing if they’re also subsidizing the company you work for to allow them to be competitive for employees while only paying $15/hr?
Your scenario sounds like it at least has checks and balances which is the only way this could work without employees getting screwed.
How do you save money to leave if you want to? That’s where the difference will be and at $15 an hour… you’re never leaving.
Yes, but I’d immediately suspect I was joining a cult.
No lol it’s an idea I’ve had that I want to propose to my state to handle the housing crisis. Basically make really nice apartments with a lot of amenities nearby, and then hire librarians, maintenance crews, and social workers. The folks that rent have payments set to pay off the cost of construction plus an emergency repair fund with no profit margin
We can’t even open homeless barracks in my state.
Are you in the US? If so, you sound psychotic.
I am in the US. Are you saying you wouldn’t support this if it was proposed?
People like you and me are kept far the fuck away from making governmental decisions.
I’m not going to go to government, I’m going to go to tenant unions and housing advocates and get their support, then use my union connections to get time with the AG
I’m saying that you think the government cares about homeless people enough to, you know, HOUSE them.
Providing housing is a pretty basic concept, and not in anyway new. We have several types of housing programs, ALL of them desperately underfunded.
You are expecting a housing program that is much more convoluted and complicated and expensive but probably no more effective to be implemented. Why?
So this sounds like low income housing. Which they can’t afford. Because we already can’t afford to pay for this kind of stuff in nicer areas.
Do you allow dogs? Cats? Children? What if someone is allergic that is rooming with someone else? What if someone destroys the house because they don’t see value in something they aren’t paying for? Apartments have people coming in to take advantage you can’t even out toilet paper out because it would get stolen. My last middle class apartment smelled like piss in the hallways. One person was housing wild animals. There’s a reason why the state has its housing set up like it is.
Does it sound wonderful in theory yeah. Can I think of 1 million reasons on how to take advantage of that? also yeah.
Nope, roommate is a big nope. Give me a 1 bedroom to myself and yes I’d accept that deal. $15/hr with a 1b1b covered completely is a fair deal.
Oh but…I’m gonna need you to come in more this week and… if not… you can find another place to live.
Indentured servitude? Company owned housing? What am I, dumb as fuck? Well, I might be dumb but not as fuck.
But i am convinced the younger gens will be fooled by something like this and sign themselves away into slavery again.
Please read the rest of the thread. This isn’t a company town
No way, absolutely not. Even if I subtract my mortgage payments from my salary, $15/hr still less than a third of my remaining income. Plus, I have a wife and kid. We aren’t all fitting in a townhouse with two roommates.
Also, I don’t think I can go back to apartment living. I don’t like neighbors or people.
I used to work on cruise ships. I worked over 80 hours a week, and was making $1075/mth.
That’s about $13.50/hr.
But, i had room and board paid for (but had a roommate), and actually saved money during that time.
What about food?
That’s what “board” means.
I guess I never knew that, TIL
Only if it was temporary or I had backup housing, eg. working as a summercamp counselor.
I suppose I would also consider it if the housing was not tied to employment, but was free with employment, that is, it’s my residence and they can’t kick me out but it’s no-cost as long as I work there (which as far as I understand it, is kinda how the US Coast Guard does it).
Yes, the idea is that you’re allowed to stay there regardless of employment but the housing comes with a job
Sounds lovely, until you and the employer stop being on the same page about the tiniest of things.
Then it starts spiraling into a personal housing security crisis.
And you can forget about thinking of changing jobs any time soon. The moment your 2 weeks end, you’re homeless.
The tenant and labour union stuff sounds nice, but they’re not a magical fix. They can and often are bought and controled. While better than the alternative, they’re not a guarantee of protectedness.
This doesn’t mean the model is dead on arrival. It’s just not one I’d choose. I’d rather have a seperate boss and landlord, thank you very much.
Apart from company town concerns, I assumed you’re not being paid in scrip. This could be a great opportunity if this is something that sounds interesting to you. Do you know what rent is if you lose your job? How much float time can you save up off of $15/hour?
Rough math (double check me, I am bad at math): take average rent, divide by 160, and add that to your $15/hour to get a better idea of what you’re getting out of it via free housing.
Fuck no.
no. because when I stop working i have no place to live and at $15 / hour you have no ability to save for retirement nor any ability to afford anything fun.
Housing is not contingent on keeping the job
Depends what the cost of living is.
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