I think the problem here isn't capitalism so much as it is unregulated capitalism. Left to its own devices, capitalism will create a very few wealthy along with huge numbers of poor. Just witness the working conditions that existed at the turn of the century for proof. Few employers will treat employees decently unless they have to. There are only two means of encouraging this. One is by government regulation, the other is if there are at least some employers who will provide better working conditions. In other words, you'll lose your employees if someone else pays them more for the same job. Unfortunately, paying employees more cuts into profits, so few, if any, employees will treat their employees better unless forced by regulation. This is the major failing of capitalism. I might as well add that unless forced to be environmentally repsonsible, most companies won't be, either. Indeed, for some types of products, such as automobiles and airliners, the very fact that they are made at all, at least in their current form, is environmentally irresponsible, and yet the government refuses to step in because these activities produce profits, the almighty god of capitalism.
What can an employee do to be treated fairly? Either force the government to pass regulations or unite and refuse to work under substandard conditions. Both were done, and both worked well for a while. However, like capitalism they both reached the point of wretched excess. Fair wages and working conditions gave way to being grossly overpayed for menial tasks and having job descriptions so limiting that in some cases workers were idle most of the work day. Add to that unreasonable demands for fringe benefits, even including on-site day care, coupled with the near-impossibility of firing even grossly negligent workers, and you have the situation we have today. Small wonder employers are outsourcing jobs overseas.
I can see paying a fair wage for a competent employee with valuable skills. I can see providing safe working conditions. I can see investing something in an employee's health. These all decrease sick time and increase productivity. I can't see doing anything beyond that. You should decide before you have children if you can make arrangements for them, not expect your employer to have day care. You shouldn't take drugs or alcohol, then expect an employer to pay your salary while you're in a treatment program(or in some cases to even pay for the treatment program). You shouldn't expect health care coverage if you're 100 pounds overweight or smoke. You shouldn't think that your employer can't retrain and move you around as they see fit. You shouldn't think you're entitled to be paid more and do less just because you've been at a job longer than another person. You should expect your employer to provide transportation to the work site if they're saving money on rent by being located in an area with no convenient public transportation(yes, I feel very strongly about this). You should be able to get raises based on productivity and promotions based on merit, and these should have nothing to do with how long you've worked there. Conversely, you shouldn't expects raises or promotions just because you've been there a certain number of years. You shouldn't expect to be paid an excessive wage for low-skilled work because "you need it to get by". Either learn skills that make you worth paying more for, or learn to live on less. And you especially shouldn't expect to have any recourse if you get fired for doing something illegal.
It is all these excesses of labor unions which I hate, not the idea that someone should stick up for the little guy. I also hate the idea of CEO pay tied to profits, and think that should be made illegal. This single thing has encouraged more CEOs to lay people off and run good companies into the ground than anything else. In my opinion doing this should result in hard time pounding rocks, not huge bonuses.
Outsourcing jobs to other countries is something which needs to end as well. While menial jobs will in time be done be androids, as they should, if current trends continue there will be few decent jobs for even highly educated people. How can a parent tell their child to attend college if they won't be able to use their skills? The very advancement of society depends upon people bettering themselves and getting rewarded for it. I see outsourcing high-tech jobs as a very dangerous thing for this reason, and I think it should either be made illegal, or taxed to the point that it is cheaper to hire domestic workers. And for their part, more domestic workers should get the requisite education and skills. Sadly, lack of a suitable hiring pool is one reason many companies have taken to outsourcing. Moving low-skill jobs overseas is fine. I can't see paying $15/hour for union workers to do what someone in China will do for $100/month. When the union workers lose their jobs you can retrain them for more skilled work better done by domestic workers. However, if the current outsourcing continues, the promised jobs won't be there, and that will create a growing, angry underclass. In short, what most developed countries need is a migration from low-skilled jobs to high-skill, high-tech jobs which merit high enough pay to get buy on. Low-skilled jobs can never provide that unless the price of labor is artificially inflated by unions. Paying $40,000 plus benefits to a garbage collector, as is done in NYC, is ludicrous. I look forward to the day robots do those things. You'll get more consistent, reliable work, and you won't have garbage pails thrown on the sidewalk. Or you'll be able to go in a fast-food place and not get an attitude plus somebody spitting on your food.
