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Joined 5 months ago
Cake day: June 14th, 2024
  • totallynotaspy@fedia.iotoNo Stupid Questions@lemmy.world•Did the concept of 9-5 included a 30 minute lunch and two 15 minute breaks?
    10·
    1 month ago

    That’s just salaried folks though. The vast majority of american workers are hourly or contractors. Per the Dept of Labor’s own site:

    The Wage and Hour Division is dedicated to protecting and enhancing the welfare of the nation’s workforce with a focus on low-wage, underserved workers. In fiscal year 2023, we successfully recovered over $274 million in back wages and damages for more than 163,000 workers nationwide.

    Wage theft is when employers don’t properly pay their employees and is a HUGE problem because it isn’t always out of malevolence, it can be as simple as the time clock not properly computing overtime, etc.

    If you don’t think that $274 million is large amount, think about how the vast majority of these things never get reported to the authorities; that number should be higher.

    Source for quote: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/data

  • totallynotaspy@fedia.iotoWorld News@lemmy.world•An Allegedly Corrupt Russian Commander Sent His Best Drone Operator To Die As An Infantryman
    221·
    2 months ago

    I boosted because for the most part I agree, however the 40k style commissar executions by the Soviets was wildly overblown by Hollywood and the joys of the First Cold War (imo, it either never ended or began anew in the past 20 years).

    I dug around to find some relevant info:

    These barrier troops operated by apprehending retreating troops and sending them back to the frontline. When this was not possible, retreating troops were detained to await trial. Although they had orders which allowed them to shoot deserters and “cowards” on the spot, and while this most certainly did happen, it was not the norm. Of those detained and found guilty (around 900,000), roughly 422,000 were sent to penal battalions where they would continue the fight against the Germans by performing the most dangerous jobs. This number accounted for around 1.5% of those who would serve in the Red Army during World War II. Another 436,000 were imprisoned

    An example of these ratios can be found in an internal list from the NKVD regarding the Battle of Stalingrad from 1 August 1942 to 15 October 1942. According to the list, 15,649 soldiers were picked up by barrier troops. Of these, 244 were imprisoned, 278 were shot, 218 were sent to penal units, and 14,833 soldiers were returned to their units.

    So these blocking units were technically being operated by NVKD orders and officers, and according to their data, the vast majority of retreating/deserting troops were sent back alive (to die on the front line). Also for context for any readers unaware, the NKVD was the predecessor to the KGB, much like how the US had their OSS more or less turn into the CIA.

    Couple quick sources since I’m too lazy to dig through my Russian history textbooks: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2022/11/05/the-soviet-army-once-shot-its-own-troops-for-retreating–the-russian-army-could-do-the-same/ https://www.thecollector.com/soviets-in-world-war-ii-myths-and-misconceptions/