Rush hour traffic gave me plenty of time to read the sign boards in front of White Castle at Manchester and Barret Stations. One said “Now Hiring $11.00 Hour”
That wage probably won’t attract any new workers…
To start, there aren’t that many people in St. Louis suburbs who can work in a 24/7 restaurant who aren’t working in a 24/7 joint. I’ve noted on my very late evening walks that a couple of 24/7 fast fooders in south county now, quietly, close at midnight some weeknights. I’ve heard the lack of workers is even greater in west county. And, I still hear from pantry folks that a lack of “after hours” child care and late day public transportation makes it impossible for most of the few able bodied unemployed to take on those jobs.
Next, while $11.00 sounds like real money, most all such places limit workers to around 20 hours a week – and never over the 30 hours a week that could legally create a fulltime worker. That $220.00 a week won’t cover even a dinky $550 a month apartment and utilities.
And, well, many of these “McJob” employers treat their workers poorly. In a national survey, 40% of women in fast food reported being sexually harassed.
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In 2016, when she was 16, Brittany Hoyos started her first job, at a busy McDonald’s in Tucson. Not long after, she said, a manager began harassing her, touching her hair, texting her about her …
www.nytimes.com
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It’s common to work employees split shifts – give them four hours a day with a couple of hours of break between clock times. Plus, pile on everyday dehumanizing things such as managers who won’t even give each worker their own nametag. (I saw a “Dollie” who looked like Mizzou could dress him out as a linebacker at an outstate restaurant this year.)
Out in rural Missouri it’s worse. Where $10.00 an hour seems to be the unofficial wage floor in greater St. Louis, in most of Missouri most fast food jobs pay about the current state minimum wage of $8.60 an hour. That “20 hour” rules still applies, so, imagine struggling to survive on $172.00 a week before Social Security and state tax. (Good news: with the minimum jumping to $9.45 on January 1st that paycheck climbs to $189.00 a week!)
Wait a minute, if one job won’t pay the bills, just get two. That’s what one southeast Missouri mom decided. Getting just 15 or so hours a week at one chain restaurant, she took a position down the road at a second, getting another 16 to 20 hours a week.
Alas, her first employer promptly fired her. Missouri being at ‘at will’ state they didn’t offer a real reason – though she heard she was “disloyal” for working at a “competitor.” She tried to get unemployment because of the drop in her income, but, this being Missouri, she lost.
Now over the next few weeks the Republican propaganda machine will churn-out all sorts of justification for the harsher enforcement of the ‘must work for food stamps’ rule. They might even find some able-bodied adult thankful that the government made them take a part-time McJob.
Please remember, in the real world life often gets hard. And, in many places in Missouri and other states jobs – and/or workers – just aren’t there.
Glenn