Different Sources

You can’t build an Engine without a source. I picked a source from the menu. But not everyone has the same menu. I got a two-year work-travel visa in 1998-99 and considered my options while working as a waiter, night-porter, and teaching assistant. In the UK, the Jobcentre is part of the Department for Work and Pensions and delivers working age support-services. Helping with the menu. The National Minimum Wage is increasing to £8.72/hour in April. At the moment, that is about R170. Close to a day’s wages in South Africa at the lower end. Many things cost less in Rands, but being a Soutie (one foot in SA, on foot in the UK) punches you in the face with Global Inequality. The Gini Coefficient measures inequality. South Africa takes gold at 63% which is the same as Global Inequality (Lafuente, 2006). The worst country is the world’s self-portrait. Conveniently hidden by borders, distance, and Global Apartheid.

Power and Flexibility

My objection to Living Wage and Minimum Wage is the opposite of believing people shouldn’t have sufficient money to, at a minimum, survive. I believe in a world where we vote not just at the ballot box, but with our feet and our wallets. Real time. I believe in the Four Freedoms – Capital, Goods, Services, and Labour. My objection to Living/Minimum Wage is that it puts the burden on employers and small businesses, and makes the calculations of whether to create job opportunities favour machines. It also creates a dependency between the worker and work giver (even and particularly if there are wage subsidies). A Basic Income increases the negotiating power and flexibility of both parties. It empowers from the bottom, but leaves both the worker and the employer with power in their feet and wallets. The ability to say Yes. The ability to say No. The ability to create.

Freedom of Movement

Say No

There is a bitter irony in the tying of the means of production to labour, and the responsibility for looking after the worker to the employer. Hand-to-Mouth living binds the person’s survival to their labour. A Minimum Wage restricts the work that can be done to that which can explicitly be monetised sufficiently. If we worked towards a world where everyone had sufficient Capital to ensure survival, then everyone would have the most powerful negotiating skill there is. The ability to walk away. The ability to say the word, “No”. At that point, people will do the work they want to do. If you need a person to do the work, you will have to make the work attractive and remunerative enough to appeal to them. True freedom for workers would be if they were all Capitalists.

Labour

Creative Destruction

When you have a secure base, Creative Destruction is far more attractive. We invest a lot in our careers, our relationships, our homes and our identities as we build a life. The more we know we will be okay, the happier we are to lean into destruction. The more we trust that destruction to be an act of creation, the happier we will be to pick up the sledgehammer ourselves. That is why I don't believe protecting workers is about stopping destruction. Provide the empowerment directly. Don't protect the job. Empower the person. A Universal Basic Income beats a Minimum Wage. Ensuring we all have the ability to walk away, is the best way to ensure we can walk towards.

Fair Pay (Christie)

Sindile shared an interesting blogpost to which Christie replied. I asked if I could share her comment... 

I have read 'A day in the life of a Camp's Bay maid' before - a few years ago perhaps?

'A Day in the Life of a Camp's Bay Maid'

Obviously it's easy to get angry with the "madam" of the story but I think it's an opportunity to consider the people that we employ to work in our homes and to look after our children - and ask how we dehumanise - not only with finances - but also through working conditions 

There is much to be said about paying a living wage (R6,000- R8,000/ month for full depending on where you look for info) but also some other things to consider: 

• Having a contract which stipulates hours of work, tasks involved, leave, sick leave, etc (there are templates on DoL sites)
• Sit down and discuss the terms with your employee. Ask yourself if the terms are fair. E.g. Paid leave for 22 days, 13th cheque 
• Provide safety equipment (remember you are an employer) e.g. Gloves, clothes in which the person can clean (this is also a whole separate discussion - a uniform that is comfortable may differ from person to person)
• If you can't afford a living wage for full time employment, consider reducing hours of service - this can free the employee to find other work on their free days or hours i.e. Reduced hours for the same pay = higher rate/hour
• Have open discussions and find out about their family and needs - who lives at home with them, who looks after their children etc and try to find ways to support and empower

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Christie and I also had a chat about 'Surviving' being a parent