Avarice

The system needs incentives, and must pay
the market rate for managerial skill.
No matter what the Jeremiahs say,
the profit's there to take if we've the will
to trim the fat and junk the featherbeds:
By vigilant outsourcing and downsizing
we've cut the wage-related overheads
and, thanks to us, the dividends are rising.

Our corporate commitment shows its strength
in all industrial negotiations -
where we hold kings and aces, and at length
the workforce must scale down its expectations.
It knows the market, in this day and age,
is what dictates an economic wage.

-------------------------

© Brian Fewster,
Published in Envoi 119, 1998

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