I Couldn't Afford to Go to Work Today

[midnight]

What frustrates me the most is that I shouldn't even be in this position. I'm employed full-time, and I've been with this company for over five years--yet I cannot get ahead, no matter what I do. The reason why has much to do with the company's recently-adopted position that full-time employees aren't really an essential part; that is, they've come to believe that only salaried employees really matter. They don't even call us non-salaried workers "associates" any more. Now they refer to us as "unskilled labor."

About a year ago, my company announced a pay freeze for all full-time employees. This was done, we were told, in response to the economic dowturn. The reasons made sense at the time, and we took the news in stride. But lately, it's starting to seem like something else. It seems there is money to be had...but not by most of us.

The pay freeze occurred at about the same time that the outgoing CEO was receiving a million-dollar severance package. Salaried employees--supervisors, managers, and such--were ostensibly included in the pay freeze, although they would continue receiving their monthly bonuses, typically three to five hundred extra dollars per paycheck. The Director of Operations (enjoying a salaried position, of course) actually joked out loud, "Whew! I was afraid I wouldn't be able to buy that new car!" Ha-fuckin'-ha, asshole. Turned out, it wasn't just a joke: two months later, he was coming to work in a shiny new Lexus convertible.

The average worker on the floor makes $8 or $9 an hour, which is barely enough to support any size family. Supervisors, meanwhile, start out at the equivalent of $25 an hour (with bonuses and other perks on top of that); managers and up are pulling six-figure salaries, at least. Now, on the face of it, I don't mind that they make more. It's how they go out of their way to make sure they get most of what's left as well, to hell with everybody else, that has me and my co-workers silently enraged and visibly demoralized.http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/07/1051233/-I-Couldn-t-Afford-to-Go-to-Work-Today

[xchrom]

1. du rec. nt

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. I saw a great poster.

Big natural resource company. Picture of a forest with some happy employees in the foreground. Below that the slogan: "Employees are our most important resource"

Someone with a sharpie had crossed out "important" and replaced it with "renewable".

[baldguy]

3. The rich get richer & the poor get screwed.

[SaintPete]

9. Mom used to say "The rich get richer & the poor get the picture" /nt

[LiberalEsto]

4. Unrestrained greed

I have to add, though, that not all salaried workers get a good deal.
My husband has worked in IT for 30 years. It people have to worked long hours of unpaid overtime and do the jobs of several people. They put up with it because they know the company can always replace them with cheap foreign labor in the form of people with H1-B visas.
Years ago, Congress allowed the corporations to classify many IT workers as salaried professionals, in order to avoid having to pay them overtime. Now a Democrat from North Carolina wants to extend this "salaried" status to other IT workers. God forbid anybody should get paid overtime.

[cyberpj]

12. Yep. Yep. And more yep. My IT guy w/30 yrs has same experience.

We used to enjoy extra money for on-call pay, OT pay, travel pay; we used to get comp time if no OT was available -- now - nothing. Just a 40hr workweek salary that stays the same although most weeks are 60hrs or more AND he and 1 other guy are doing the work 4 guys used to do. As of 2011, he's making less than 2/3 of what he was making in 2001. And toss into that equation -- the outrageous increase in healthcare costs, also coming out of the reduced paycheck. If I had to make a guess, it's probably more real to say we're living on 1/2 what he made in 2001.

They know workers can't unify and strike because the company can and will just hire new workers - and no doubt, for less.

Knowing how bought our government is, I can't see any way of changing what's being done to today's workers. I hope someone smarter than I can come up with something.

[TBF]

5. Not just greed - this is systemic

when you have an economic system - capitalism - that only rewards greed and getting rich at the expense of others those are the behaviors you are going to see. It is time to transition to socialism.

[byronius]

7. I have to agree with you. The benefits of a 'free market' are impossible to achieve as long as

corporate espionage, cheating, and gaming the system remain the prime economic activities.

We're so primitive. This is so early. I hope we can evolve.

[TBF]

10. Love your last line

and I think that's absolutely correct. I used to think it wouldn't happen in my lifetime but times are getting much tougher ...

[Populist_Prole]

6. Kick and Recommend, but

This really makes me seethe........

[chervilant]

8. OMG!!!

WHAT have we become?!?! What is wrong with our species?!?! How can so many of us be so hedonistic, narcissistic and hateful?!?!

I just finished conferencing with my yard man, who in just over a week will be helping me load a rental truck with the pitiful remains of a once-functional household. Having been un- or under-employed for the past three years, I am now three months in arrears on my rent. I am moving in with a friend a state away, whose generosity and kindness overwhelm me in my time of extreme need. I don't know how long I will have to impose on her...

The unemployment people are now telling me that I have to reimburse them for the last four disbursements they gave me: just over $1200 (which should tell you how LITTLE income I have had over the past few months). They say it's because I resigned my part-time job for no "good cause connected with the work," whatever that means. Do they expect me to commute from northwest Arkansas to Houston every day?! I am appealing their decision, but I have to wonder if they think I can crap that $1200+ out of my ass...

I have been fighting a toxic mix of sadness, ennui, and anger. Mostly, I have been grieving the moral turpitude of a significant number of my fellow beings. How can we have so little regard for one another?!?

Sad, sad, sad...

[Tsiyu]

13. I finally had to stop asking those questions

The answers are not pretty.

I hope that your shock and sadness will soon transition into hope and into a view to another chance at happiness. Maybe something awesome will happen in your new state, and you'll be glad for the nudge out into the world.

But people shouldn't have to be brought to the breaking point by the greed of a few.

Stay strong so you can kick ass when the time comes. That's what I say

[chervilant]

14. You're right...

The answers are not pretty. Having spent the last thirty years of my life advocating for survivors of relationship violence, I have been privy to descriptions of unbelievably hurtful, hateful behaviors. Throughout my tenure as an advocate, I maintained a perspective of our species as inherently good. These days, I'm not so sure.

[renate]

17. that's so horrible

They really are trying to kick you when you're down. It's just crazy that a state government can justify trying to get blood from a stone but the federal government can't get a few extra percent more taxes from the richest of the rich.

Good luck with your move and I hope wonderful things happen for you there.

[chervilant]

28. Thank you so much

for your kind words. Today is a new day, and I will continue packing and getting ready for this move. I'll be in an environment that has always succored my joie de vivre. Indeed, when I contemplate the richness and grandeur of this planet, my economic woes seem insignificant.

[barbtries]

18. i'm so sorry you have to go through this.

i don't know if this will help, but when i moved from CA to NC i qualified for UI from CA even though i had quit my job.

[chervilant]

29. Yes, it helps.

Thank you so much. The replies I'm getting remind me of those among us whose kindness and compassion stand in stark contrast to those whose greed and selfishness smack of sociopathy.

[sabrina 1]

23. I'm sorry!

If only they would demand back the money those who crashed this economy made from their corrupt practices as quickly. Why is it always the little people, the good people?

I understand your feelings, but there are good people in the world, as my friend, in a similar situation to yours just a year ago, and she was definitely ready to give up on humanity, has now found out.

[chervilant]

30. Yes, ma'am

And, I have to say that I have a deep appreciation for you and many of the members of this community who remind me that there are indeed good people on this planet.

[midnight]

25. chervilant I will be keeping you in my thoughts and hope they come to their senses and you win

your appeal.. While reading the nonsense going on in Wisconsin earlier today I stumbled onto a conservetive blog that said the middle class is fine, and they showed a Leavit to Beaver house.... And gave statistics to back up their Ayan Rand retoric, but close their eyes to the real people leaving through their ponzi schemes...

[chervilant]

31. I hope so, too.

I can ill afford to have the UI pursuing me for money I don't have.

Cognitive dissonance is so stultifying! I'm reading Susan Jacoby's "The Age of American Unreason," and I can see the clear progression from the pseudo-science of 'social darwinism' to the contemporary conservative mindset. Apparently, it's much easier for some folks to fit their 'facts' around such convoluted thinking--thin justification for their hedonism and arrogance.

[Starry Messenger]

38. chervilant, ((hugs))

I just saw your post, I'm sorry. Peace and low stress on the move. Let us know if there is anything we can do.

[chervilant]

41. Thank you so very much!

(Are you missing madfloridian as much as I am?)

Just want to let everyone know that I have listed a plethora of items on Freecycle and have had a tremendous response from my freecycling community! I love that the items I've collected and used over the last twelve years will be put to further good use, and won't have to be relegated to the land fill!

[Obama3_16]

11. this "diminishing expectations" has been going on since the 1970's

and it is sad to see so many have to settle for near minimum wage jobs. they are "employed" and are working "full time" but this is no way to live.

[Turbineguy]

15. Management exists

in the space between the customers who pay and those who do the actual work. It is therefore necessary for managers to screw the workers as well as the customers to carve out a larger niche for themselves.

[Zero Division]

16. Of course, I guessed correctly that this poster was talking about a retail job.

I'd take bets that it's actually not WalMart, either. I know the feeling all too well.

[meow2u3]

19. Rapper J-Live said it perfectly back in 2002

[tblue37]

20. In this 1%-ers' economy, high unemployment is a feature, not a bug.

The reason why the powerful folks do not want better unemployment figures is that they want this to remain a buyers’ economy where labor is concerned.

If people are afraid that there won’t be another job available if they don’t hang on to the one they have, no matter how crappy it is, then there is a danger that workers will unite and form unions to demand fair treatment.

But as long as there are too few jobs, the multitude of workers must desperately compete with each other to get and hold on to one, so there is little risk of a push-back from maltreated employees. If decent jobs were easy to find, workers would never put up with this crap, and the bosses know it.

[Honeycombe8]

21. I don't understand. Why couldn't you afford to go to work today?

Couldn't pay for the gas in the car, or???? Or did you mean figuratively speaking?

That jerk manager with the new car...what a total jerk. Even if he could afford a new car, any idiot would know that then was not the time to buy it, and most certainly not to talk about it. He probably was in his own world and didn't consider anyone else. Obviously.

I don't know how old you are, or if this is possible, but your company sounds pretty bad, so maybe you should write out on a piece of paper your plans and goals to change employer. I hear retail is a tough business, and the sales people are not treated well. I also hear most retailers don't promote from within, since they want their management to be degreed, and most clerks don't have degrees.

With an employer like that, where the attitude towards what you do comes from the top (and it always does!), things will no doubt get better for you, but will always be tough on you, since that attitude will still be there.

In years past, it helped me to write out a goal and plan, so that I would recognize that there would be a time when things would be different, and that I could make it happen. I'd write out what I wanted, etc., etc., then jot down a plan to accomplish that. It might take me some time, years even, to get there. But I could see the end of the road of the bad situation I was in at the time.

In fact, I think I might do that myself. I've having some difficulties at work myself.

There's a saying: If you don't know where you're going, you won't get there.

Good luck. I feel for ya. Seriously. Hang in there. It WILL get better. Tomorrow is another day. Cliche, I know, but true.

[Nikia]

33. He could not afford the gas

He lives 45 miles away.
I live in a small town. I have been out of work for the past two months. So far, I have been focused on getting a career level job. I am supposed to hear back from an interview by Friday. If I do not get the job, I think that I will have to try to get a low wage job. Unfortunately, there isn't really anything in town right now. I am hesitant to get a low wage job with a significant commute though because I don't want to end up like the author.
At a previous job, running out of gas money happened to a few people. For a while, the HR person and a supervisor were able to secure an advance which they used to fill up the employee's gas tanks that was deducted from the employee's check so that those employees could get to work.

[midnight]

36. Nikia crossing my fingers for you... And thanks for discussing what HR was

doing to provide assistance for there employees... I wonder how many fixed customers the oil corporations factor into their profits when they block public transportation.....

[Honeycombe8]

37. Is it possible for you to move? There are more jobs in larger towns & cities.

I had to move years ago. It's a difficult thing to do & traumatic. But it can be a dramatic turnaround, with the opportunities, higher wages, and more public transportation. I've never regretted it, but it was very hard to do at the time.

[Nikia]

42. I live about 25 miles away from a large town/small city

Which I am willing to commute to for a decent wage. There is a larger city another 20 miles up the road, which would obviously be a larger commute. I have applied for jobs in those cities that would be career level jobs. These cities have limited jobs in my career field, quality and research and development in the food industry. I am willing to do something a little different, but it seems difficult to get jobs that don't fit exactly with one's job experience. There are low wage, mostly part time jobs in those cities at restaurants and retail stores, but I am not sure if the commute time, gas money, and car maintenance would make it worth it.
I have worked with some recruiters that have said that they would be able to get me more interviews if I am willing to move, which makes sense. It is something that we are considering, but it would be very dramatic for us at this point for several reasons that I don't want to go into. It might be something that we will have to plan to do in the near future though.
I wish that there was high speed rail so I could easily work in cities further away without moving. One of the proposed lines would have included the city 25 miles away and bigger cities including Chicago. I guess that even if there was a big political change, it wouldn't help me for the few or several years that it would take to build it. That and good public transportation in general would probably help a lot of people.

[limpyhobbler]

22. k+r nt

[Scruffy1]

24. It's time for a change.

When we have to beg for a job that doesn't even pay enough for the necessities of food, shelter, transportation, and medical care while the management and executive class takes all the money one should be wondering about the basic tenets of our system. It's just not capitalistic exploitation. Even in non-profits all the money gravitates to a bloated management class. Where I work they are useless time servers whose only qualifications is being good at not making waves and keeping the "club" protected. They are never held accountable and as the number of workers has gone down their numbers have actually gone up.
I believe that John Kenneth Galbraith was right about the management class essentially not serving the stakeholders, but their own selfish interests. With the traditional unions pretty much gone or worthless it is time for the workers to organize themselves to achieve justice on the job.

[truedelphi]

26. However with the political process so hopelessly broken,

Last edited Thu Feb 9, 2012, 06:10 PM - Edit history (1)

How will any changes come about?

The thing that keeps me going is having a laugh or two. And Jon Stewart was excellent on Wednesday Feb 8th's show. he got this guy Massey from the Yale School of Law to come in and explain to him how the system is not broken. Stewart's starting premise is that once the first group of paper billionaire's scored their wealth, they used the excess moolah to see to it that anyone outside their elite geoup had it that much harder. And of course, Massey said that you could arrive at Stewart's conclusion only by looking at our economy superficially, but then in discussing the matter more fully, he totally proved Stewart's premise.

Oh then Colbert pointed out that 47% of the 67 millions of dollars that the Republican candidates for the Republican Presidential race have raised so far came from only 22 people. And that that means that the Occupy crowd is totally wrong - it is not about the upper one percent; it is about the upper 17 over one millionth percent!

On edit: The Yale Professor's name is pronounced "Massey" but spelled like the Department store, Macey

[Doctor_J]

35. One of two things will happen

1. We turn into Haiti
2. Lots of rope gets put to use

[IamK]

27. reading this post makes my life seem better... thanks!! n/t

[Doctor_J]

32. But we should all cheer because the UE claims went down again

The cancer that is conservatism has now invaded the entire country, including formerly sane liberals & dems.

Best of luck

[Beacool]

34. Exactly!!

Also forgetting that 5.5M people dropped out of the work force and are not being counted. Oopsie........

[HeiressofBickworth]

39. I suppose it was inevitable

Capitalism seems to be based on the goal of an ever-increasing profit -- not a steady profit, but a larger profit each fiscal year, at least 10% or more. It means that in 10 years, they expect profit to be 100% over 10 years ago and expecting yet another increase in profit in the next fiscal year. Instead of spreading the ever-increasing profit among the laborers, management and owners just keep increasing THEIR shares. The largest increase in salary I've ever had was 4%. I remember many years ago, management said they could not afford to give us our USUAL holiday bonus. At the same time, my boss asked me to bring him his envelope containing his QUARTERLY bonus. WTF??????

This is a business model that can't be sustained over a long period of time. I sure don't have any answers on how to fix it. What keeps the lid on open revolt is that workers are trapped -- if they revolt, they lose their jobs and their families lose their homes and food. So, workers are being trained to gratefully accept the meager wages so as not to risk losing their jobs. And then, after eating their employer's shit for years, their jobs are outsourced or replaced with H1B workers. I have no idea where this will end, but end it must.

I'm retired now and no longer in the game, but my kids are in it. I worry about them all the time as they are among the millions who are 2 pay checks away from disaster.

[Lizzybean]

40. Same Boat

My husband does the work of at least 3 men, is salaried but works 55-60+ hours so isn't eligible for OT and has been on a "raise freeze" for 3 years. The best part is that he works for a large company who has weathered the economic downturn very well. In fact, the CEO loves to get in front of the cameras at Fox News and brag. Yet, we've seen our cost of living sky rocket and and our health insurance become so expensive and ridiculous, we cannot even afford it. If he utters one word of complaint, he knows he will be canned and that there are 100 people out there ready and willing to take his job. Probably for less pay. Everyday I wonder why there hasn't been a citizen revolt.