Question
Read ‘Nickel and Dimed'(attached), please write 3 separate reaction paper for each part, Each of them should be around 550 words.
part1(Pg13-32) Part2(pg33-68) Part3(pg69-105)
avoid quotes, use page numbers. keep grammar and terms as simple as possible.
Solution
The Troubled Workforce
The workforce situation in the country is complicated based on the prevailing issues surrounding various industries. Although workers are the backbone of any economy and are supposed to be held in high regard, they are exposed to suffering, exploitation, cruelty, sexual assault, discrimination and hypocrisy in the workplace. According to three case studies carried out in Florida, Maine, and Minnesota, workers suffer in silence as they are subjected to poor working conditions and low wages, which only affect their overall efficiency and the overall economy in the end.
Serving in Florida
Poverty affects people in various ways as individuals are forced to make adjustments relating to where they will work and stay, where they have to strike a balance between affordability and convenience. In Florida, Barbara chooses to pay$500 for rent, since the house closer to her work place (Ehrenreich 22). Consequently, lack of proper housing affects many workers, leading to individuals either staying in the trailers or cohabiting with boyfriends and roommates. As a result, convenience is essential for any employee, and is a key player in housing choices.
Job hunting was not easy as significant disparities existed since skilled labor was reserved for educated people while unskilled jobs, such as hotel clerks, waitressing, and telemarketing, were earmarked for the poor and uneducated people (Ehrenreich 23). Besides, the “want ads” used by job seekers were an unreliable measure of the actual jobs in the market since many hotels run such ads to build a supply of applications to replace current workers. Consequently, the discrimination in the job market and the fake “want” ads only aggravated the workers woes.
The workplace has an unfavorable environment that range from physical and mental abuse to poor remuneration. For example, waiters are paid low wages such as $ 6-7 per hour, which influences their decision to continuously seek alternative jobs. Barbara, who was a waiter at Jerry’s also engaged in housekeeping. In addition, males did up to three shifts a day while females engaged in two shifts a day to supplement their income, which affected their health (Ehrenreich 24). Moreover, those with unemployed husbands or boyfriends were forced to work overtime in several jobs. Thus, when Barbara wanted to leave, she was forced to roll fifty more sets of silverware and would work from 9 am till late. Workers were also overworked and forced to pay for their presence through backaches and perpetual thirst, which they could not treat since they did not have health insurance (Ehrenreich 29). Finally, employees were forced to work even when they fell sick; for example, Carlotta worked while she had joint pains. Indeed, the work environment facilitated exploitation of the workers through low wages, overworking, and disregard for employees’ health.
Interestingly, ethnicity was a major determinant of the kind of treatment each employee received at the companies. For instance, waiters were either whites or monolingual speakers, while many housekeepers were African-Americans or Spanish-speaking people (Ehrenreich 25). Foreigners, who worked in similar areas, experienced various challenges; for instance, George, who was paid through an agent, received lower pay than his White counterparts and had no place to sleep, unless one of his colleagues was on night duty. Discrimination could also be seen during random tests as those suspected of drug abuse were usually foreigners, such as the Haiti server. Prejudicial treatment was pronounced among individuals from the minority races, further exacerbating the poor working conditions.
The workplace also entailed several misconceptions regarding employee-customer professional relations. For instance, it was claimed that the waiters were discouraged from engaging with the customers for too long. Hence, the opportunities to closely engage with clients were reserved for young college-educated waiters who made between $ 700- $1000 a night (Ehrenreich 25). Moreover, customers were seen as an obstacle to the smooth flow of information in the workplace, which occurred when waiters seemed to concentrate more on one and neglect the others. Many Christians also equated the server job to prostitution, which was hypocritical (Ehrenreich 26). Hence, the various misconceptions demoralized the workers and affected their effectiveness.
Ironically, management contributed immensely to workers’ woes as they did not care for the workers. For example, despite George’s suffering, he was arrested for allegedly stealing from the store room (Ehrenreich 30). The management did not formally communicate their expectations effectively with the employees; therefore, workers got information through informal channels. .Additionally, several leaders monitored workers’ behavior for signs of sloth, theft, and drug abuse. Consequently, managers only focused on profit-making without considering the plight of the employees. Indeed, the selfish actions of the management had a negative effect on the employees’ performance.
Scrubbing in Maine
The fact that all workers in Maine were white and spoke English, it was expected that they would cooperate effectively with the management. Maids in Portland underwent interviews, such as the accuracy and personality tests, which conveyed valuable information to the potential employers. On the other hand, the employees were trained, grouped, and briefed on their rights by their supervisors (Ehrenreich 44). Since no job was well paying, employees were encouraged to work on more than one workplace; subsequently, Barbara got a job at the Maids’ service, and the Nursing home. Maids had a special system that helped them to operate in the owner’s house; hence, clients recognized the worker that met their needs. Particularly, they had uniforms, used the company car, and teamwork was emphasized, such that they operated efficiently even when one was absent (Ehrenreich 52). From all the indications, employees were right to believe and assume that they had good working conditions.
The maids’ experiences at their workplace was marred with extreme cases of overworking, which made their stay intolerable. The employees were expected to multi-task; particularly, Barbara was expected to put dishes in the dishwasher, and at the same time clean tables. Moreover, they were prone to sexual harassment and betrayal; for instance, Leon followed female co-workers to the closet and there was no trust among the maids. The maid’s first paycheck could also be withheld until she left or quit in order to prevent a spending spree and failure to report to work. Although, maids were supposed to leave at 3.30 pm, they worked overtime, up to 5 p.m., without pay. In case the maids fell sick, they were supposed to keep working and not leave; for example, Barbara’s skin was affected and she had icy pink bumps and she still continued with work (Ehrenreich40). The low wages exacerbated the situation as the employees were unable to seek medical assistance. Moreover, most maids used the hand-knees approach as a selling point for the cleaning services. Notably, the unfair working conditions and treatment of employees were demeaning and dehumanizing for the maids.
The homeowners treated maids as inferior and second class citizens. Specifically, they left tape recorders to spy on the employees and set traps by leaving mounds of dirt under the Persian rugs to ascertain whether they were present. Moreover, the employers could arrange to be home so that they could supervise the cleaning as they assumed that the maids were stupid and could not work without supervision (Ehrenreich 48). Some homeowners failed to leave their house keys, a situation which made the maids to search everywhere for them. In addition, maids were to be self-restraint and were not supposed to reply defiantly regardless of the situation. Consequently, homeowners contributed heavily to maltreatment of the maids.
Selling in Minnesota
In search of a new experience, waitress, nursing, or cleaning jobs were ditched in favor of retail or factory jobs. The jobs passed through three stages that included, application, interview, and the drug test. Consequently, Barbara had job interviews at three places, Menards for the plumbing job, Wal-Mart for the retail job, and Mountain air for helping people with asthma. At Menards, the interview was a short personality test, during which she was offered the job at $10 for 10 hours, but dropped the offer after the terms were changed. At Mountain Air, the interview involved a group of applicants who sat on the folding chairs listening to lectures. Moreover, Mountain air was looking for self-disciplined, money motivated people with a positive attitude. Consequently, she was not successful since she had not lived in Minnesota for one year, which was one of the requirements of employment (Ehrenreich 79). In all the interviews, the abilities of the potential employees were not tested or investigated, but rather, the employers’ goal was to find potential employees who would not oppose the management.
The living conditions in Minnesota were inhibited by various social issues, such as housing. Housing in Minnesota was expensive due to the affordable housing crisis, which occurred whenever people competed for the limited affordable houses (Ehrenreich 78). All apartments were unavailable and required 12-month leases. As a result, Barbara decided to stay at a friend’s place, while looking for a house, but moved to Twin Lakes Motel amid dilapidated conditions. Overall, it was difficult to be productive while living in such conditions.
At Wal-Mart, Barbara’s job was to create demand for ladies ware, meet customers’ needs, and practice aggressive hospitality. However, the customers were pre-occupied with shopping and barely noticed whether the salesperson was friendly. Barbara’s job was returning rejected clothes from the fitting areas to the display section. Besides, her workload was measured in carts, which required less human interaction. When a task was slow, zoning was applied, where two salespeople would work together to sort the clothes. After the second week, she was notified through the notice board that her shift had been rescheduled (Ehrenreich 89). In addition, after the post-Memorial Day weekend ended, there was increased traffic from lady shoppers. From the above, it is evident that nothing is static in the workplace and change is inevitable and unpredictable.
Despite working overtime, Barbara was never compensated, and her wages remained low. As a result, the paid insurance premiums led to a cover that was not reliable; for instance, poor workers could be identified easily from their yellow teeth (Ehrenreich 101).Just like the waitresses in Florida, workers were either forced to work on more than one job or look for husbands for sustenance. Consequently, these unbearable working conditions, forced employees to make personal adjustments to better their situations. Ultimately, unions were formed to address the workers complaints. Indeed, low wages and unfavorable working conditions are bound to influence change for the better in most workplaces.
Conclusion
As is evident from the analysis, the economy depends on workers, who in most cases, are considered inferior citizens as their living and working conditions are appalling. Notably, their troubles range from homelessness, low wages, sexual assault, and exploitation. Certain labor laws have played a critical role in the unfair treatment of workers as they are sometimes used to discriminate employees. As a result, employees are forced to live by the reproduction of labor principle, which emphasizes the importance of two or more jobs to survive. The workforce situations in Florida, Maine, and Minnesota only prove that workers are suffering silently in their respective work places. Therefore, all stakeholders in the economy should take urgent measures to counter the numerous challenges in various occupations. In my opinion, as long as workers are dissatisfied, their effectiveness and efficiency will be affected, hence affecting the stability of an economy.
Works cited
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed. Henry Holt and Company LLC Publishers, 2002.
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