 February 20, 2004
Indexing federal minimum wages of past eras (in current dollars) for per-capita economic since, yields: *
a) 1980: $7.00 x 145% = $10/hour;
b) 1974: $7.50 x 160% = $12/hour;
c) 1968: $8.50 x 180% = $15/hour;
d) 1956: $7.00 x 235% = $16/hour;
e) 1939: $4.00 x 400% = $16/hour.
An oral surgeon extracts a tooth these days for $200+. A 1950s dentist might have charged only $5:
a) Multiplying that by 7 for inflation = $35;
b) Multiplying by 2-1/2 times for 50 years of expanding per-person, economic output = $90;
c) Multiply by whatever aptitude an oral surgeon today brings to the job that a dentist 50 years ago did not and we should probably leave a tip.
All of which is to say that labor has been taking home less and less of it's fair share of productivity over a long stretch of time -- American labor that is.
The book "The State of Working America" demonstrates that folks bringing advanced education to the stateside labor market (computer programmers, etc.) have not been running off with a disproportionate share of income. Federal stats disclose that the top 5% of earners have been scooping up a disproportionate share of -- America's -- growth: folks who bring a unique talent or product to market. European CEOs to take an example of a heavily unionized economy take home around 5% of what their American counterparts earn.
It's the "self-reliant" pioneer spirit that enfeebles American labor, stupid! If you squeeze a toothpaste tube at the bottom - where there is no back pressure -- the goo oozes through the middle - where inside and outside pressures equalize -- and flows out the top -- where nothing gets in its way.
Should America's "self-reliant majority" ever wake from their go-it-alone complacency and catch on to the decades of growth that have passed all of us by, the kindest and gentlest way to organize 90% or ourselves overnight would be to employ 51% of the vote in Congress to a mandate German style, sector wide labor agreements from sea to shining sea.
The fast food, instant on, plug and play appeal of universal unionization to hurry, hurry Americans would be bolstered by the knowledge that said system was designed by and has been operated for half a century by those moderate, methodical folks who send us VWs, BMWs and Benzs.
The moderate to conservative majority of American workers will have little wish to import Europe's wild welfare schemes (which do not produce an American-style underclass over there seemingly because people get paid enough to work over there) nor the continent's business strangling over-regulation which hinders "creative destruction". America could, very quickly, lead the world again in both wealth sharing and healthy economics if we could just get ORGANIZED.
Denis Drew
Chicago
[* www.eh.net/hmit/gdp -- Economic History Services' GDP figures use the Census's CPIU-X1 inflation measure and 1996 dollars; simple arithmetic converts these numbers to current dollars and the BLS's, roughly 25% higher, CPIU inflation rate for compatibility with my minimum wage chart.]
February 21, 2004
Dear Barbara:
I recently saw the Philadelphia Theater Company's adaptation of your book "Nickel and Dimed," and immediately went out to buy the book! I cannot only relate to the jobs you had to perform, but the feelings that passed through your mind when working those jobs. One in particular that sticks in my head, was while you were working at wal-mart and were envious of a man in a wheelchair because he was able to sit down. You just become bitter after a while, feeling as if, when you walk through the doors of that store, you are stripped of all your human rights and dignity, and pimping your body out for seemingly nothing! Who wouldn't become a "disgruntled employee" in a short amount of time!
Let me tell you about my experiences. I moved out of my house at 17, just shortly before my high school graduation. The plan: to get a full time job and go to community college. Ah....so nice to have dreams, isn't it? I very quickly realized that after an eight or sometimes ten hour day (I worked as a fabric cutter for Fabricland retail stores, which are now out of business), even driving my car home the three or four blocks was painful on my feet, and i often went to bed without dinner; a combination of being too tired (not lazy!) to cook, and not having enough money to eat. That job wore me to the bone, and paid me a stunning $6.15 an hour! This afforded me a luxury eviction notice from my apartment, and six week accommodations in the back of my station wagon.
Then, when the company was finally out of business, I went back out into the labor force. Being a religious Jewish girl, who is unable to work on Saturdays (no electricity even!), I found it almost impossible to find work. I would have taken anything at that point. I finally found work with Eddie Bauer at their catalog call center. They were very good at getting us "pumped up" about our products, but in the end, it all amounted to them wanting us to use pushy sales tactics on our customers. How can I justifiably try to sell a customer a "weekly special" item that was more expensive than what they had already ordered??!!
On to the grocery store..and this time, there was a Union!!! I was so grateful for that. I finally got good pay, benefits, and even an entire hour of paid lunch!
Lets fast forward a few years....last year, I moved in with my mother and landed what was probably the most humane retail job I'd had yet. I worked at Toys-R-Us in Everett, Washington. The people there were so nice, and you never felt "dehumanized" by your boss. The pay wasn't anything spectacular ($7.15 an hour, and a lot of single mom's working there), and you were exhausted to the point of collapse by the end of the day, but the difference was, the managers were out on the floor doing the same work as us "underlings," it made a big difference in morale.
Then, I did something that you deemed strange and rare in your book: I picked up, with two suitcases containing a few clothing items, two religious books, and my pillow, and boarded a plane for the East Coast (I had previously lived in the Seattle area of Washington State). I knew exactly one person when I moved here. Determined to start a new life, I started work at the Toys-R-Us in Burlington, New Jersey. It was the exact opposite of the one I just came from. They started me off in "children's apparel" where I was to "size" (make sure sizes were in ascending order on all racks) for eight hours a day. We were not allowed even a lunch break on most days, because there was only one person at a time in apparel, and we needed to have "a greeter in each world at all times to assist the guests." Not only was this grueling, boring, and tedious work (you could go over the same rack easily twenty times in one shift because customers never put stuff where it belongs), but when I was given the task by my immediate manager to take new merchandise out to the sales floor, I was forbidden by my upper manager to do so! She would lock me out of the apparel store room, and then complain to the store director that I was not getting my work done!!
After three months of this, I'd had enough. So, the search for work started. I found something...it sounded good at first...work in a dry cleaner's, ironing clothes. as many hours as I wanted, they said. This turned out to be the worst job of my life. Stuck in a tiny room with an industrial HAND iron (not a large press machine), I easily ironed 600 to 1000 pieces of clothing a day, most of which were military uniforms, which needed creases perfectly in each spot. Some were so heavily starched that any wrinkles put in them at the cleaning plant, would not come out, resulting in massive customer complaints, and eventually me being yelled at. Some days, after coming off a 12 hour shift (I made only $7 an hour, and even 12 hour days were not enough to support me), I would look like a hunchback, slumped over after all those hours ironing, and my hand, red from heat and steam, calloused from constant work, and stuck in a claw after holding that 10lb iron all day. There were times when I had to have someone else drive me home because the starch irritated my eyes and nose to the point I couldn't see straight..nevermind the rashes and constant exhaustion. I got Saturday's off, but if I wanted another day off during the week, I had to stay late and do all the next day's ironing before I went home. No breaks. I didn't have time.
Now, I work as an executive secretary for a very nice company. Thank G-d! Still, I barely make enough to make ends meet.
In short, Yes, there are crazy people who pick up and move with little possessions, sometimes very far away from their home to seek a better life. The truth is, it's not much better any place else. I truly hope to see some rise in the minimum wage standard over the next few years.
Hope you have enjoyed this letter!
Sincerely,
Amanda
Teaneck, New Jersey
Age 23
P.S. I still haven't been to college. Who can go with so little money, so little expenses, and no time???
February 23, 2004
Hi Barbara,
I work for Lowe's Home Improvement. I moved to be where my mother (now retired) lives in Henderson, NV. The state of Nevada would be a story to write about all in itself. The only full-time position offer that I received was from Lowe's. I applied for a management position and they would not hire me at all. I then applied for customer service which they were very quick to hire me for $10.00 hr. I moved back to the San Francisco Bay Area thinking I would have better opportunities.
I have explained my desire for a better position only to be told I would have to wait 90 days after the transfer. They did not tell me of the position or pay until I arrived. Even though the cost of living is at least double that of Nevada, I am paid the same wage and working in the same position. All of the management team are men and they walk around with clipboards or sit in the office while we are blamed for having so little staffing and poor customer service. They turn the air vent off at night while there are still employees working so they can save on utilities. They just put in these bright vapor lights that hurt my eyes from working under them all day. If I did not have money saved I would be homeless.
They are the worst place I have ever worked for in my entire life. I have worked in Management for McDonald's Corporation and have served in the Army and was treated much better. If you will notice, Lowe's, Walmart, & Home Depot are from the South. I feel like a slave picking cotton. I have seeked legal aide, but what can we do to rise up against these organizations. In one of Lowe's newsletters they had an article praising Bush for attending a NASCAR event which Lowe's participates in. Lowe's & Bush should just walk around with a confederate flag, because that is what they truly stand for. What can we do to fight back??
April 13, 2004
Barbara,
I recently finished your book, which lead me to read the responses that were posted online. I was struck by something I didn't expect, the invisibility of the poor. I have always lived paycheck to paycheck. I have worked two and three jobs. My parents died when I was 12 and my sister, who is 16 years older than I am, generously took me in and taught me how to budget, stretch my dollars, float checks, and make it through the month by paying the people who demanded payment and putting off those who "let payments slide". I have been a steel worker, grocery cashier, gas station cashier, hotel maid/desk clerk/laundress, waitress, sales person for Cutco, sales person for Rainbow, telephone customer service rep, pizza delivery driver, door to door sales person, auto parts delivery driver, and daycare worker. I have over 18 years of experience with children being cheep or free daycare for my struggling sisters. When I was 17 I couldn't afford Christmas presents for my sisters so I made gift certificates for one year worth of free babysitting. After 6 ½ years at a grocery store (a union shop) I quit cold. Unions are not always the savior of the low-wage worker, as you pointed out. I gave my two weeks notice and went back to school. Fear has been my constant bed mate. School did not pan out, even though I have a strong talent for computers, the dot-com boom did not benefit everyone. I have a restrictive schedule because I'm a single mother and I do not own a car. I have gone without benefits. I have had to pay $173 for prescriptions when I was unemployed and sick with a fever of 102 degrees. I have lived with people I discovered doing drugs. I have contemplated suicide, sleeping in my car (when I had one) or a tent. I know the stress and fear of the working poor.
I did find a boost in private corporate security. I am a Card Access System Administrator. As far I as I know there are about a dozen similar such persons in the country. I make 24,000 per year gross. Almost my highest ever wage. I work in a corporate office where I am practically my own boss. If I show up and do the job the "powers at be" are happy. If I was a dishonest person I could even sleep at work and no one would know or care. I have benefits that are adequate. A $500 deductible and 80% actually amounted to my paying $1000 six months after an emergency in which I was hospitalized, instead of $10,000. I have a very reliable, responsible man with a good work ethic and working car. He has a job that pays 10/hour, gives overtime like it was going out of style, benefits like they grew on trees, and monthly bonuses to the tune of $200 per month to the lowliest of employees. Your book led me to count my blessings.
However, in all the years I have lived in Seattle, WA, one of the most expensive places in the US to live thanks to Microsoft and Rand-McNally, I never considered the possibility that the upper 20% simply did not "see" the working poor. I have lived and worked in a city that holds more Millionaires per capita than almost any other city in the world and it never occurred to me that they just didn't see me. How could they not see me? I live in what is quite possibly the "liberal" capital of the free world. Seattle has more shelters, more food banks, and more programs for the poor than any other place, except possibly California. Yet even here on the "Left-coast", as we are called, I was denied many forms of government assistance, or the daunting mountain of paperwork and red tape was impossible for me to wade through. "I scrape my dimes across the floor; each day's the same as before.
I was terrified and immensely relieved by your book. I don't consider myself middle class, but I'm not living day by day with the fear that I was before. I do not understand how the working poor can be invisible to the upper class, but I accept that they are. The fact that your book was given to me by an upper middle class person, who had no knowledge of my life but was fascinated to discover how true "Nickel and Dimed" was from someone of actual life experience, is (for me) part of God's great irony. I for one intend to "do something" by purchasing as many copies of "Nickel and Dimed" as I can afford and leaving it (free of charge) in as many upper 20% offices, government offices and Wal-marts as I can find. From an aspiring author to a published author, fight the good fight.
Heather West
Seattle, WA
"A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user."
- Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)
July 1, 2004
I'm not sure if you're still accepting letters about your book. I just finished reading it and want to thank you for validating the feelings I've had when I've been in job-related situations like you experienced.
At one point in my life I was working 4 jobs to pay my house payment, car insurance, utilities bills and groceries. I worked 40 hours a week in secretarial/clerical positions through a temporary agency making about $7 per hour. I also worked 3 part-time retail jobs ($6.50 - $7 per hour) during the evenings and weekends. I honestly only came home to sleep. All I did was work - go from one job to the next - and sleep.
I always felt that it was somehow my fault that I felt so demoralized in the jobs I was working. My whole world was so dark and miserable. You very eloquently described what I was feeling and why I was feeling it.
The entire time I was working 4 jobs, I was seeking a permanent full-time job that would pay me a living wage so I'd be able to work just one job. It was difficult to find such a job while working the jobs that I was because it appeared that I was in some way transient (because of going from temp job to temp job) and that I wasn't skilled enough or responsible enough to hold a permanent full-time job.
I spent a year and a half working 4 jobs until I got a break. A woman I worked with at one of my retail jobs knew there was a job opening where her husband worked and she paved the way for me to meet with her husband (the human resources manager). Through that meeting I was asked to interview for the position and, thankfully, got it. I was
making $13 per hour and had health and dental insurance.
I never want to go back to a situation anything even remotely like when I was working day and night. I now work for a college but because our institution receives 50% of its operating funds from the state of Michigan (and the state's economy is in bad shape) I feel like working 4 jobs is as near as the next staff reduction.
As I was reading the stories of people in your book I cried because I knew what they felt like, I knew how low you can feel. The United States needs sweeping changes in how its citizens are treated. A living wage has to somehow be implemented; adequate housing and food must be made available to everybody; education and specialized training must be made more easily accessible.
Thank you for writing your book. I hope that people will be mobilized by it and changes will eventually be made.
Name withheld
July 9, 2004
I know you are a busy person but ,I just wanted to write and tell you how wonderful I thought your book, Nickel And Dimed was. I picked it up last fall when I was writing a paper on the working poor and my own experience as a maid. I went through many of the same things you did including budgeting out my monthly bus pass and food.
Over the years I have been lucky enough to make job changes, marry and have a child. Making all the right choices I have been able to attend school and work at the college I attend.
But just reading your book not only made me remember how my life was in my early twentys but also, my own childhood. My mom after a divorce worked two low wage jobs (3.25 p/hour) to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads. I can remember her watering down juices to stretch their drink-ability and going out for walks to pick up wood and pop cans. The pop cans were returnable here in Michigan and help offset the groceries. The wood we could burn in our wood stove so we didn't have to buy wood (we couldn't afford a cord) and it would allow us to keep the heat turned low. Generally about 59 degrees.
Sometimes now when I look at our thermostat and realize it rarely changes from its comfortable 71 degrees I am shocked at how I grew up and even more shocked that I didn't think it was odd as a kid. It was simply a way to get through day after day.
Anyway thanks again. Not that it was ever truly that far from my memory or didn't always effect the way I spend money now but, thank you for reminding where I was and how really grateful I should be about where I am now.
Best Wishes,
Barbara Lajiness
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