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Working Together
A Workplace Scene: He gets to the office early, hoping to catch an employee late for work. After a while, he's pleased to see that the opportunity he'd been looking forward to will come to pass. The office door opens. At first, he makes busy at his own desk, pretending not to notice as the anxious employee, who knows there will be consequences, enters quietly. Giving the employee a chance to try to settle in without being noticed, the employer waits until the propitious moment, then pounces. He calls the employee into his office. He reprimands him, letting him know that such behavior cannot be tolerated. The employee is deferential, apologetic, afraid for his job. He has a family, medical bills; he's the sole provider. He's praying under his breath that this being called on the carpet will not go past the reprimand, and maybe the docking of some pro-rated pay. "Sorry, sir," he says. "It won't happen again." But the employee's promise isn't sufficient. "There have to be consequences," the employer says. The other's silent prayer grows more earnest. ... The consequences? ... In our scenario, the consequences are happy ones. Instead of losing his job, our employee gets a raise ... better working conditions ... improved medical benefits. It seems an unlikely outcome. And, of course, it is. As you've probably already realized, our account is the fictional encounter between Scrooge and Bob Cratchett ... one of the final scenes from Dickens' Christmas classic. ... Fortunately, there are few employers who are as miserly and mean-spirited as Scrooge, before his conversion experience, had been. Unfortunately, there are innumerable employees who, while they may not have to suffer the working conditions which Scrooge had enforced, nonetheless, make less money than it takes to stay ahead of the cost of living, who work without medical benefits, and without enough pay to purchase their own. The last time we checked household income around the State, several years ago, we were astonished to see the results. We will be checking again as part of this series, but what we found then was disconcerting:
There's something grossly wrong with such a scenario. Something ... or someone ... has got to give. But it's a problem without any easy solution. ... Employee's who work full-time, but who cannot keep up with the cost of living, have to make more. The idea that it can be possible to work full-time, to fulfill your end of the economic equation of initiative and responsibility yet still be unable to 'keep up', is something which, in the long run, will undermine the better part of any work ethic. On the other hand, there are many smaller businesses which simply can't afford a substantial and uniform hike in the minimum wage, at least not without some sort of tax credits to offset the difference. ... But for all that, something has got to change. ... In the next several issues of DownStreet, we will be examining the idea of a livable wage -- its promises and its potential impacts. In the meanwhile, if you haven't already, we invite you to look at last month's Work: Unemployment ... the 4% Solution, which, without our realizing it, actually provided a background to this series. Meanwhile, we want to wish all of you ...
Lou Colasanti, Editor. . ******* ******* If you would like to submit something for our Working Together section, don't hesitate to let us know. Simply e-mail us at work@downstreetmagazine.com. The e-mail should contain your name, address, and a phone number where we can reach you. You may also send a copy of your proposed article. The text can either be included in the body of the e-mail, or you can send it as an attachment in just about any word processing format. If your piece is accepted, we will pay a small honorarium for your interest & your time. [See Freelancers Wanted for more details.] ******* ******* If you would like to advertise in this section, or throughout the magazine, please visit our Advertising Info Pages ... or call, write, or e-mail ads@downstreetmagazine.com. ******* *******
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