On September 1, 2009, Steven Greenhouse posted a article called "Low-Wage Workers Are Often Cheated, Study Says". This article depicts how low wage works are often not paid for their overtime hours and often not even paid minimum wage. Also Greenhouse points out that 68 percent of the workers have come in contain with at least one pay-related violation in the past week. This comes to question what really is the minimum wage? These workers try to fight against their boss’ or owners but Greenhouse says that one in five were illegally fired or suspended. These low wageworkers are not being paid enough as it is, and if their bosses aren’t even paying them in full how are these workers supposed to live. It is next to impossible to live off the minimum wage, which is eight dollars in Chicago, but if you are receiving below that it would be impossible to live. To be able to pay for an apartment and put food on the table without even getting the full eight dollars is not livable. It is today’s concept of self-interest that hurts these low wageworkers, something that Karl Marx feels strongly against.
Karl Marx argues against self-interest. He believes that it doesn’t lead to independence from feudalism and reinstates a different kind of slavery. Which in the end doesn’t lead to stability. Greenhouse points this out with the low wageworkers saying that these workers not being paid is awful for the economy. He states, “When unscrupulous employers break the law, they’re robbing families of money to put food on the table, they’re robbing communities of spending power and they’re robbing governments of vital tax revenues.” Marx would heavily disagree with what is going on with low wageworkers. He believes that people should be paid through productivity instead of time. Marx would say these people are being robbed of money, which in essence leaves them not being able to live.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/02/us/02wage.html
I feel as if Marx would have a severe problem with these companies who are not even paying their workers minimum wage. And then when these workers speak up they just fire them? Don't these companies understand how hard it is to live on minimum wage, let alone not even receiving their full pay at all? I think the companies need to be put in the workers shoes for a few days and realize the struggles these people go through.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with both you and Natalie. This is just the worst case for people these days. I have a minimum wage job and the times that I work full time, the checks I recieve barely carry me into the next pay period, & I dont even have kids & whatnot. After I pay my portion of the cell phone bill and buy groceries or something. I can only imagine the lives of those who have to pay rent, support children, feed their families, pay car payments...its really tragic. What will it take for companies to treat these hard working deserving people fairly? To pay them for their labor and not the time?
ReplyDeleteThis article truly highlights the struggle of minimum wage jobs. Clearly a company that has 68% of their employees' pays wrong within one week should definitely be looked at by a government official. By no means does minimum wage provide someone to live decently on. No one wants to live paycheck to paycheck. And for those who were fired trying to fight for their rights, they should take the company to court. A company needs to abide by their contract of properly paying for hourly or overtime. They also need to abide by other aspects like vacation days or breaks between shifts. Marx would see this article as an example of exactly what he's talking about.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you. For Max, labor power is a commodity sold to capital in order to live. The worker and the owner exchange values from each other. Working is the necessary means of existence. How can these companies invade the workers’ right to survive? Eight dollars is the minimum line to live. If they receive even lower, how can they afford to their basic lives? Companies merely concentrate on their self-interest and rob the money of labor. What evils they are!
ReplyDeleteI Agree with you. Marx believes people are being cheated out of their money for not appropriating proper wages. I feel that a profit driven society has started to crumble because of it. The American dream is much more expensive than the American pay check. People were being under paid and things were over priced. Take the housing market, so many people that could not make the payments because they were too high and wage too low. Marx would say that that is the problem with capitalism. With the mindset of make profit you are not a self sustaining economy you are one which profits are vastly gapped. People need to be paid an appropriate wage and set prices at an equal level.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that being paid minimum wage or being paid below minimum wage is not enough to live on and sustain one's family because I work part time and getting paid minium wage is not enough to live on and I do not even have a family. Marx discusses what a minimum wage is and he says its the cost of living and reproduction and one to sustain their labor power which this article is discussing. Marx would disagree these people because people are not having enough to start a family or sustain their lives. He would say people need to find a way to treat these people fairly and pay them an apporiate wage for their labor.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%. Like Marx said minimum wage is the cost of living and the people who work for this company aren't able to live and help their families to survive. I think the government has to fix problems like this. They have to check on companies so they know that companies like theses aren't cheating their workers out of money.
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