There have been some strange ideas floating around on antiwork recently. I’ve seen folks talking about $20-$30 jobs being just ‘okay,’ jobs being super plentiful everywhere (hence making it so easy to just ‘quit’) and that there aren’t dire consequences from quitting or being fired.
THIS IS NOT THE REALITY FOR LOW INCOME/NON DEGREE HOLDERS, OR ANYONE FROM A RELATIVELY BACKWARDS ASS STATE.
I will work a shitty job, because I have no other options. Even as someone who’s working towards financial stability (I’m a student, working my way through college) it does not and will not change what I and many others will have to put up with if we want to live happily one day.
Let’s start with pay. We all know $15 isn’t enough without help at this point and that’s absolutely true. But did you know that most ‘unskilled’ work is still valued far far less than $15 in a lot of places?
Consider this: currently, 30 states in the USA have minimum wages of $7.25 an hour. This includes states that have specific wages for certain areas based on income, as well as states that have ‘plans’ to increase it gradually but have not yet done so.
You might say ‘well who’s taking a job for $7.25??’ The answer is, not most. This is why you see entry level wages set at a few $ above the minimum in states like NC, at $8-$10. These are your fast food crews, lifeguards, grocery store clerks etc. the jobs everyone assumes are done by kids (which is a whole other dumbass issue I don’t have time for rn).
The next rung up are what are considered ‘fair wages’ by boomers that think the majority adults serving them in these spaces actually deserve, and range from $11-$15 an hour. These are your lower office admins, Cold callers, customer service workers, bus drivers, janitors, again basically anything that isn’t a skilled trade/degree requirement job.
Then you have the trades, as the next rung up, and even THAT is awful. They range from $15-$30 on average, which even just from browsing this sub I can see is fairly poor.
Now consider NC is an at-will and right to work state. A quote from Farrin Law: “North Carolina's right to work law (NC G.S 95-78) greatly limits the power of labor unions in the state by making certain arrangements illegal.” NC Justice also adds: “Private‐sector employment in North Carolina is ‘at will.’ This means that an employer is free to fire an employee for any reason or no reason at all.”
This is what happened to me. I was $400 short to pay for tuition last year after I worked at Catapult Fundraising for 3 months with stellar reviews from my team and supervisors, before being fired for ‘asking too many questions’ on the day I was supposed to receive the pay bump and bonus advertised on the application. This job had healthcare packaged in, and was work from home (I didn’t own a car at the time). Neither At Will or Right to Work are fair to an employee bc of how this country runs, there’s no accountability on the company’s side.
I want you to imagine what would have happened, if I didn’t have parents willing to help me out.
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My school would not have been paid for, I’m already on financial aid and I would have had to skip that semester (hurting my chances at transferring and derailing academic rhythm).
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I would have had to find another job, ANY other job, and much quicker than the 2 months it actually took me. Because I had help, I was able to wait until I found another job that didn’t destroy my mental health or body, which are a majority of the $7.25-$15 jobs available. Refusing to go back to retail was a privileged decision.
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Again, because of the ACA I won’t have to worry about healthcare until 26 when I move off my parent’s- and what a stroke of luck it again is that I have parents that are able to afford healthcare at all. If this were not the case, I would have lost a way to buy inhalers cheaply (they’re like $200-$300 non insured) and epi pens for my food allergies, which are common and could kill me easily (peanuts and soy). Thank god I don’t have any larger health conditions, bc I’d of been screwed.
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Another thing that fucks you is your resume. Now there’s a 90 day resume gap that I did have to explain and am going to have to explain for the next few years, even though I wasn’t fired for any bad work on my part (for context, they went with ‘questions’ because in order to actually receive the training they promised I had to repeatedly ask my supervisor to show/explain to me the numerous things in the system they’d never gone over and I refused to have it eventually affect my employment and have it used as a reason to fire me….lol, rip.)
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Last but not least, the emotional and mental toll of being fired for no fucking reason.
TL;DR: I’m so tired of hearing folks say ‘we’ll just quit’ because it is assuredly not that easy, and being fired isn’t a field day either people! No matter HOW BAD the job is. If you needed that job, and it’s taken from you, things can easily collapse. A lot of people aren’t paid enough for the true COL in their state or location, and job hunts do still take time.
And for Christ’s sake please recognize that thousands of people make a lot less than $15 in this country and recognize that every dollar extra makes a huge difference until we can get where we really need to be with pay.
Just be mindful people.