Is a fair work week enough

Yesterday, there was a hearing held by Councilperson Helen Gym at City Hall. The room was packed and she was joined by three other council members including Blondell Reynolds. The opening remarks spoke to the new proposed fair work week bill and how it could help Philadelphians make ends meet and provide a more stable economic life for families. And then we heard testimonies.

The first was from a young man who is a member of One PA, an organization that “unites low income and working class activists with the support of a broad coalition” of community organizations working towards economic justice. He is employed with Pet Smart and is responsible for seven people in his household. He constantly struggles with having enough hours and making sure he can get to work on time, often having to walk 2 miles when public transportation is unavailable. This story was echoed by others on the panel. And the council asked questions. Then the president of one of the locals that represents some retail workers stated a statistic about Wal Mart, a multi billion dollar company. They hired 1.7 million employees and nearly 700,000 left within the same year. This means the focus is not on the hiring and development of workers, it views workers as expendable and replaceable. That is a common mindset for corporations and that is the problem.

A fair work week is a start. Last week council voted on the Good Cause bill to provide real protection for renters. Both strike a wound into the greed and overall lack of humanity that creates the fear many of us have when it comes to money, housing and basic survival.  And when it comes to Philadelphia, the poorest city out of the top ten cities, it is imperative to the survival of nearly half of our residents that this hydra be slated completely. I find that laws can always be changed or loopholed to make them worth nothing more than the paper they are written upon. When is enough enough?

How much money does one need to be ok, happy or content? A half a million, a million, a billion?! How much? Labor unions fought the good fight to eradicate poverty and provide fair working environments regardless of gender and sometimes race. I say sometimes because we know shops that have non existent or very few members of color. Yet, each year more and more of those jobs that people fought and died for get reduced  or replaced. Or even worst sent overseas to terrible working conditions that usually employs mostly women and keeps the poor in poverty.

Even if these multi billion dollar companies gave a small percentage more they would save money on the constant replacement of new people and provide better work environments for everyone. But, instead they hoard everything for the owners, and create a cutthroat working environment for those fighting over the leftover scraps. They are the ones who bust their behinds for a few dollars an hour and see no bonuses from sales for their hard work. They are the ones who are constantly working in pain because they can never schedule doctor or dental visits. And their insurance copays are at times difficult to pay on their small salaries. And they are usually fired or leave.

Families are bringing home less than $500 per week before taxes. And many are still dependent on public assistance while working 40 or more hours per week. I forgot to also add that overtime is optional at many of these chains. Additionally, many bring home less than $25, 000 a year for a family of four or more. And housing costs continue to rise making it impossible to not get evicted or behind in bills.

SO now what? Yes we need new laws to protect workers. But we also need a much improved moral compass because statistically there is enough money, food, and housing for all of us. The problem is we often don’t give a rats ass about each other or even worse we believe that everyone should work really hard and everything will be okay. Well you know what? Many of us...Most of us...are working very hard to remain underwater. Throw in a slice of racism and a dash of white supremacy and we have a manufactured problem that the majority may not want to actually solve. And there lies the problem.