We have been acculturated to the language of equity masking a reality that simply doesn\u2019t add up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When a business is telling you they pay a living wage, 9 times out of 10 they either don’t understand the term or they are gaslighting you. This is allowed to happen because most people don\u2019t do the math, and most people over a certain age grew up in a very different ecosystem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Living wage for the East Bay is $100,000\/yr. Most people think that looks like a big number, but if you figure for living alone in a market rate apartment, current food, utility, and healthcare costs, $100k is modest at best. Living wage, then, if you factor in 50 40-hour workweeks, a living wage is $50\/hr. It\u2019s just that simple. So if you\u2019re working anywhere that\u2019s paying $20\/hr, the only way that\u2019s a living wage is if you have another job paying far above $50\/hr to make up for the deficit that is created by working a $20\/hr job. And it\u2019s clear that most small businesses would not be able to pay the equivalent of $50\/hr full time for most positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Life no longer adds up. When I was my son\u2019s age, I could work less than full time at a cafe and pay all of my rent and bills and save money and travel a few weeks a year. My son works at an equivalent job, and doesn\u2019t have enough to rent an apartment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can battle with small business owners all day. It doesn\u2019t add up. That\u2019s why everyone is trying to unionize, and getting tons of pushback. If we don\u2019t solve income inequality, places like the East Bay will just become unlivable for the average person.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About tip culture: Because I\u2019ve worked lots of restaurant and service jobs, I don\u2019t buy into the \u201ctipping as a reflection of service quality\u201d mindset, and see tipping for what it is\u2014a wage subsidy for low paid workers. Tipping-as-merit is a way to make the consumer think like a privileged person\u2014the power to bestow and withhold is intoxicating, until you recognize the reality that low paid workers often simply couldn\u2019t afford to work their jobs without tips factored in, because employers, due to margins being what they are, simply wouldn\u2019t be able to pay what a worker needs to make without that subsidy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Because it\u2019s become part of the ecosystem, it buries a portion of the cost of doing business\u2014in other words, consumers would be unwilling to pay the price that businesses would have to charge for goods and services if they reflected the actual cost of doing business. Understanding this, I automatically add 20% whenever I\u2019m at an establishment where I know the workers are making a lower-tier wage; but first, I ask an employee how the management distributes tips\u2014some businesses keep them outright, while others distribute them equitably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m writing this as a person who has never earned what has been considered a living wage for the area. Rent control, beans and rice, and making sure to never become sick or injured are all that are allowing me to stay in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Please vote! And remember that as long as capitalism doesn\u2019t have safeguards that manage the ratio between the highest and lowest earners, things can only get worse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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