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Published 8 years ago by spaceghoti with 5 Comments

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  • skolor
    +4

    I've brought this up in other, similar threads, but it bears repeating here: working full time at $10.33/hour is about $1650/month, before taxes, eligible for food stamps by about $50/month. It seems insane that the US Government is contracting out their cafeteria in the senate to a company which is going to get paid to be there, get paid for the food they sell, and then that company is getting another subsidy by paying their employees well under the Welfare limits.

    Even then, this woman is getting paid above minimum wage for DC.

  • TwoADay
    +2

    There is a surplus of unskilled labor in this country, so it's natural that the compensation will be low.
    The United States' constituency needs to come to terms with the fact that market forces, without government intervention, will always promote inequality and poverty.

  • staxofmax
    +1

    I'm struggling trying to figure out what the point of this article is. I don't know what her being a cashier working for a private contractor working for the US Senate has to do with it. Is she saying that even in the current wage framework she should get special treatment because she serves coffee to bigwigs? She isn't a direct employee of the Senate either, so they would not by any means have any direct knowledge of what her compensation is.

    It's tragic that someone with her background has had to resort to stripping to make ends meet. However, one could also argue that legalizing and regulating prostitution and addressing the shame we have in this country around human sexuality we would also go along way to improving her situation.

    I'm 100% for fixing wage inequality. I just don't see what weight this author's perspective adds to the argument.

    • spaceghoti
      +6

      She's providing service to some of the richest and most powerful people on the planet, people who are more likely to hold her professionalism to higher standards than your regular customer service position, but she's still paid less than a living wage. The fact that she serves Senators isn't meant to be an appeal for exceptional treatment, it simply highlights the inequality rampant in our nation. Everyone deserves at least a living wage to provide for themselves and their families, but we lack the political will to create the change necessary and people are suffering because of it.

      So either we need to toughen our regulation of private business practices or we need to divorce our wages from our access to necessities like food, clothing, shelter and medicine.

      • staxofmax (edited 8 years ago)
        +4

        Maybe my problem is this article wasn't written for me. I read it and I think: Of course a contract worker is going to make as little as a company can get away with paying them! All the company cares about is their earnings and the workers replacement cost! Why would they care one iota about an employees life situation if said situation has no bearing on their job performance?

        Then again some would label me a cynic of the highest order, who at the same time believes adamantly that everyone is entitled to a minimum standard of living much higher than that afforded by the current minimum wage. And this minimum standard should be entirely independent of ones skill sets, life circumstances, or adherence to traditional "Christian" values.

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