Re: Working Wages

[Daniel Wise <danwise -at- MINDSPRING -dot- COM>]

>Colleagues,
>
>Bruce Byfield commented in the digest for 27-28 June that wages of $10 an
hour might be reasonable in some instances (simplistic summary statement).
I'll have to think about that for a while.  Locally, proofers are getting
that much, but I have also heard very recent stories of writers/editors
outside the software arena being offered such low rates.  A couple of years
ago I was asked if I would work a job out of town and what rate I wanted.
When I quoted $25/hour plus per diem there was a long silence on the phone.
Then the recruiter sort of timidly told me $25 was more than the client was
paying them.  I suggested they phone a couple of my STC contacts in the city
in question so see what the local market would bear.  I never heard from
them again.  Later I heard that the unemployed wife of a TW friend had taken
the job at $15.  The market was depressed following a layoff at a large
employer there.  Jobs were hard to find and mortgage payments have a nasty
habit of coming around every month.
>
>Was $15 reasonable under those circumstances?  For the woman who needed the
work, probably.  For this old bird who lives 100 miles from the jobsite,
definitely not.
>
>I agree with Bruce that we need to campaign to keep rates up.  We should be
careful, though, about broadcasting the names of low-paying employers.
There are serious legal ramifications involved in blackening a person/firm's
good name.  We have discussed this issue on the list in the past if I
remember rightly.  The archives probably are rich with information on the
subject.
>
>Dan Wise
>danwise -at- mindspring -dot- com
>
>