Posted by Spartacus on October 06, 2002 at 22:07:55:
In Reply to: Re: Wage Capping posted by Savory on October 03, 2002 at 05:15:35:
: : Taking the former postee's comment a lead is a lead is a lead then the argument could be posed that if I started 1 year ago and another lead started 5 years ago and we do the same job we work the same amount of hours and have the same responsibilities why should she get more just because she has been there longer isn't that what the 401k plan is for the longer you work the more they contribute and pay should be equal.
: The 5-year employee should be making more than the 1-year employee precisely for the reason you stated: Because the 5-year employee has been there longer. Longevity should be rewarded with a higher rate of pay as well as increased benefits (the 401k plan). The 5-year employee has invested more of his/her time contributing to the success of the company than the 1-year. They've put more into it and they should be getting more out of it.
Longevity of service is a valid issue worth thinking about. Loyalty to a company should be rewarded, I am in agreement with that, but it should not come through differentials in hourly pay. I still feel that there should be equality of pay for people performing the same tasks, and it does not necessarily follow that someone with longer service has in fact put more into the company than the newer people - I've seen some long serving people who have become experts at doing as little as possible.
Also, what about the skills and qualifications a new starter often brings to the company - should a highly educated, highly qualified person with a long experience in, just for example say a retail environment, start with the company at a higher rate than someone with no experience or qualifications. Tempting to say yes, but the answer still has to be no - the rate of pay must be the rate of pay for the job, the very same job that we all do, and not for the person. It is the only way to approach the issue objectively.
The more important issue which we should concern ourselves with is that for all leads, the rate of pay is pitiful and does not reflect the complexity of the job and the skills required to do it. That is one of the reasons we should join a union, so that we can get some weight behind us to negotiate a fair deal.
The second most important issue is job security. We do not have proper contracts of employment and we are, for the most part unprotected and subject to the arbitrary decisions of store managers.
For these reasons we absolutely must recognise the common cause and stand together through unionization. It is the only way to protect ourselves.
I'd be interested in any comments.