New York fast food worker: 'I think I deserve to eat lunch'

[kpete]

Making $7.75 an Hour, and Figuring There’s Little to Lose by Speaking Out

Naquasia Legrand, a 22-year-old from Canarsie, Brooklyn, works at two KFCs. She washes dishes at one for $7.75 and mops floors at the other for $8. She says she must work four or five hours each week off the clock.

She needed to buy a MetroCard last week so she skipped lunch. She shakes her head. “I think I deserve to eat lunch.”


http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/02/nyregion/making-7-75-an-hour-and-figuring-theres-little-to-lose-by-speaking-out.html?_r=0

CEOs Make 273 Times the Average Worker

http://billmoyers.com/2013/07/05/ceos-make-273-times-the-average-worker/

[Ilsa]

1. How are her employers getting away

with making her work off the clock so much?

Damn. People need a living wage.

[Posteritatis]

4. It's pretty much routine in a lot of places

Nobody making those kinds of wages is going to be able to afford to challenge their employer over it, especially in industries where they'd just get an on-the-spot firing and a "whatcha gonna do about it?" for doing so.

I was able to walk from my previous job when they said they were requiring a 10-20 hour off-the-clock commitment all of a sudden, but I'm also well aware that I'm extraordinarily lucky to have been able to do so. A lot of people are far too marginal to be able to do more than take what's dished out to them.

[TheDebbieDee]

5. In the fall of 2005, I was working a 50-hour/week temp job........

I was paid overtime for all my time worked over 40 hours, but I was afraid that they'd let me go if I asked for time off (I would have used the time to go to interviews for better paying jobs with benefits).

I think a lot of people don't understand how risky it can be to pursue another or better job while you're still dependent on a crappy job - it's a scary thing to risk losing the crappy job

My head nearly explodes when I hear someone take the attitude that people who don't make enough money should just get better paying jobs!

[Mojorabbit]

6. When I worked as a nurse

back in the day, it was rare that I got to go to the cafeteria for dinner. I was lucky to have ten min or less to eat. I did get overtime though if I worked over eight hours.

[Ilsa]

11. That has been true for me as well.

The hospital had a rule that we had to take a meal break, because 30 minutes was being assumed on our time card. But half the time, we were lucky to get a couple of five minute bathroom breaks and ten minutes for a meal over a 12.5 hour period.

[hifiguy]

8. Labor law enforcement, like antitrust enforcement

was virtually killed by Reagan and buried for good by the little chimp. They ain't ever coming back at the federal level. Bad for business, you know. Now let's get to work on repealing the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment for a REAL business-friendly climate!!

[Posteritatis]

9. It's a bit better on my side of the border, but not by too much

One of the big problems - both in the US and here, I think - is that a lot of people have just internalized the rather incorrect version of how things are when it comes to employment. There very much are laws governing the workplace, both in my life and in that of the employee in the OP, but far too many people don't know about them at all, or accept it because they grew up taking for granted sketchy employment practices. When they do know about the protections they have, they usually don't know much about them, and also assume that there'll be retaliation without recourse if they say anything. (Sometimes that's true, but it often isn't.)

I've seen people push back when they actually know some of the rights they have, mostly with obviously over the line stuff like wage theft or egregious safety violations, but they have to know those rights are there first. I made a point of reading the Labour Standards Code for the province - which is well beyond what I think people should have to do, since there's much more concise explanations out there - and I've still gotten blindsided at my current job by things I assumed were okay only to find out later were not.

I've done that, have a good education, and enough financial security that I can take the risk (or "risk&quot of calling out management if they do something wrong. Even then it can be daunting, and I'll miss things I had the right to speak on. What chance does someone have when earning less than eight bucks an hour in a part time job for a large franchise that's definitely more abusive of their rights? It's not okay; work needs to be done to get the employers to better know the rules, yes, but it's at least as important that the employees know their boss is usually quite regulated as well.

[Ilsa]

12. This is what I was afraid of hearing,

that this is now commonplace.

We are a nation of slaves.

[siligut]

2. I wonder if she will have her jobs next week

Ms. Simon, still dressed in the black KFC shirt with “The Original Original” logo, shakes her head when asked if she’s worried about annoying her employer. “I have no lies to tell,” she says. “This is just my life.”

She is an honest person who doesn't realize how dishonest other people are.

[MotherPetrie]

3. K&R

[hifiguy]

7. You have the rights that the 1% is willing to give you.

Namely the right to sit the fuck down, shut the fuck up and grovel your appreciation for the crumbs that fall off their plates AFTER you pay for said crumbs. Back to work, asshole.

[Uncle Joe]

10. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, kpete.

[Liberal_in_LA]

13. k&r

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. Meanwhile, the CEO of Oracle is being paid the equalivent of the average U.S. salary of $45,790

every single hour.

Lunch?


Hours long and anywhere in the World for him, I'm thinking.

[wakemewhenitsover]

16. Yes, but he's better than those earning less. He deserves it!

[Solly Mack]

15. K&R