View Full Version : Grocery Store Workers Go On Hunger Strike Over Stagnant Wages
pphilfran
6/1/2011, 10:26 AM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/28/grocery-store-workers-hunger-minneapolis-minnesota-cub-foods_n_868195.html
I will post a few key points...
All night long, Jose Garcia performs his job while surrounded by food -- a painful bit of irony, he says.
The 52-year-old Mexican immigrant works the overnight shift cleaning floors inside a Cub Foods store in Minneapolis, Minn., a job he's mostly appreciated for the nine years he's held it down. But lately, waxing aisle after aisle filled with groceries has simply reminded him of how little he has.
Despite his long tenure with the same cleaning company, Garcia says he earns a wage of $9 an hour -- more or less the same rate he was making when he started cleaning floors back in 2002. Taking inflation into account, his salary has effectively gone down since he started working on the cleaning crew.
Despite the stagnant pay, he says his workload has managed to increase. Whereas three workers used to clean the floors of a store, Garcia says two workers are now expected to complete the same task. He says he often has to work through breaks to get the job done. Although he has no children, Garcia says he has a mother and a wheelchair-bound sister to look after back in Mexico, where he tries to send $300 or $400 each month. He declined to say whether he's documented to work here.
texaspokieokie
6/1/2011, 10:41 AM
he should go home & join a cartel.
at least he's got a job.
Jammin'
6/1/2011, 10:43 AM
A lot of people have that story. He should shut up.
Doesn't less workers mean more hours and more money for him?
NormanPride
6/1/2011, 10:51 AM
Welcome to the rest of the country, Jose. We all do more work for the same amount of pay.
texaspokieokie
6/1/2011, 10:52 AM
he's been here 9 yrs & still has to have a translator ??
article said that there are several layers of sub-contractors @ some places, so that the actual workers don't get paid at all. now, i don't believe that.
how'd this guy get so far north ???
NormanPride
6/1/2011, 10:55 AM
And I thought migrant workers never complained? ;)
texaspokieokie
6/1/2011, 11:00 AM
And I thought migrant workers never complained? ;)
no one ever listens.
they're on a hunger strike; that'll do a lot of good. he's lucky (in Minn.) to have an inside job.
he shud bring all his family to US, all kinds of benefits. if he'd learn to speak english, he'd find out as one of our prized illegals, he would make more if he quit work. (don't tell him)
:P
sappstuf
6/1/2011, 11:03 AM
I bet he has a couple of breakfast tacos in his bag in the locker...
olevetonahill
6/1/2011, 11:07 AM
Quit sending 300 to 400 a month to Mexico and he could afford to eat.:rolleyes:
texaspokieokie
6/1/2011, 11:08 AM
Quit sending 300 to 400 a month to Mexico and he could afford to eat.:rolleyes:
yeah, **** him.
SoonerStormchaser
6/1/2011, 11:25 AM
This **** is JOURNALISM?
rekamrettuB
6/1/2011, 11:46 AM
He declined to say whether he's documented to work here.
He probably pulled a Sammy Sosa and was having trouble communicating with his translator.
SoonerLVZ
6/1/2011, 11:58 AM
If he doesn't like what he is getting paid he should say "Excuse me, Mr. Boss, but I have been doing my job for 9 years, and I'm still getting paid only $9 an hour. I felt I have done a great job, I'm loyal, and I deserve to be getting paid $11 to clean the floor, instead of $9." If he boss says screw off, then he needs to go do what the rest us of do, and that is LOOK FOR ANOTHER ****ING JOB instead of going on a hunger strike.
He declined to say whether he's documented to work here.
Why doesn't some on call INS, I mean hell some bastard on this board called Fish and Game over a damn gator, why not over an illegal?
Sooner_Tuf
6/1/2011, 12:12 PM
More food for the rest of us. Try to see the positive in things.
well, if he's an illegal, there's not much bargaining with his job, and not much chance for him to move up the ranks, i'm guessing
i worked with a floor crew once when i was like 14. it sucked. i think i made like $30 working overnight at some Safeway in Kansas. i can't imagine keeping that job for 9 years as an adult
STEALING IS WRONG.
That said, rather than a hunger strike, perhaps a non-hunger strike would get the message across faster. Eat everything you want off the shelves during your shift. If they don't like it, they can either pay you enough to buy the food or fire you.
;)
soonercruiser
6/1/2011, 01:31 PM
If he doesn't like what he is getting paid he should say "Excuse me, Mr. Boss, but I have been doing my job for 9 years, and I'm still getting paid only $9 an hour. I felt I have done a great job, I'm loyal, and I deserve to be getting paid $11 to clean the floor, instead of $9." If he boss says screw off, then he needs to go do what the rest us of do, and that is LOOK FOR ANOTHER ****ING JOB instead of going on a hunger strike.
Why doesn't some on call INS, I mean hell some bastard on this board called Fish and Game over a damn gator, why not over an illegal?
BINGO!
TheHumanAlphabet
6/1/2011, 01:36 PM
this is why we need to stop illegal aliens and bust people who hire illegals. This is slave labor and these people are being misused.
Jammin'
6/1/2011, 01:53 PM
this is why we need to stop illegal aliens and bust people who hire illegals. This is slave labor and these people are being misused.
Exactly, paying someone $9/hr in a state where the min wage is $7.25/hr is exactly the same as "slave labor". You've definitely thought your stance through on this.
TheHumanAlphabet
6/1/2011, 04:28 PM
Jammin'
He may be getting more than min wage, but what is his recourse as an illegal. He can't find other jobs like he could if he was a legal resident. Don't get me wrong, I hate illegals and wish our damn government would enforce the laws on the books, not hope for a new constituency.
Hiring someone not entitled to work in this country may not be "slave" labor as if they were forced into it against their will, but it leaves room for abuses by employers that should not be tolerated.
texaspokieokie
6/1/2011, 04:40 PM
if this is too tough, he should hop his *** on i-35 & go all the way down to his home.
if this is too tough, he should hop his *** on i-35 & go all the way down to his home.
Or be sent to Ersland's pharmacy.
soonercruiser
6/1/2011, 10:06 PM
this is why we need to stop illegal aliens and bust people who hire illegals. This is slave labor and these people are being misused.
"Poor guy needs Hummer"!
...deserves Hummer?
...has the Constitutional right to have a Hummer?
:rolleyes:
TheHumanAlphabet
6/2/2011, 01:03 AM
"Poor guy needs Hummer"!
...deserves Hummer?
...has the Constitutional right to have a Hummer?
:rolleyes:
I don't understand what you mean. I never said illegals were entitled to anything, but not being here illegally and working.
Exactly, paying someone $9/hr in a state where the min wage is $7.25/hr is exactly the same as "slave labor". You've definitely thought your stance through on this.
Ha.
SanJoaquinSooner
6/2/2011, 01:58 AM
My conjectures:
1. Jose is I-9 verified.
2. Jose is a better worker than the person on welfare he has supposedly displaced....even if they paid the welfare person $11/hour.
3. The contractor has hired off the welfare rolls in the past and got burned every time.
OutlandTrophy
6/2/2011, 08:28 AM
4. Jose really makes $29/hr, not $9.
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