Here’s my ten cents having talked to thousands of people in and out of the workforce.
Franklin D Roosevelt knew that to revitalise revitalise the American economic activity during the Great Depression, every worker needed to be decently paid.
Instead of businesses trying to make profits by cutting wages, they should dedicate more energy to competing on the quality of the goods and services they’re selling.
Make wages and conditions non-negotiable.
To work, businesses would need confidence that they wouldn’t be undercut by bad businesses refusing to play by the new rules.
So there would have to be a level playing field on wages and conditions, supported by government.
The change from starvation wages and employment to living wages and sustained employment can be made by an industrial covenant, supported by legislation, to which all employers subscribe.
What type of industry, or economy, or society, will emerge from a “race to the bottom” on wage costs, compared to one that’s built on a “race to the top” with a properly paid workforce producing quality products and service?