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“Now go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book, that it may be for the time to come a witness forever and ever.” Isaiah 30:8
NATIONAL DISGRACE IN GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK: abysmal wages at the edge of the abyss A true account about the working life of a waitress in the Grand Canyon, this documentary is set to be published in fall 2005 in an anthology about low-wage jobs, Nickel and Dimed in the Southwest. Designed to echo Barbara Ehrenreich’s highly acclaimed saga of the working poor, the book captures real stories as told by real workers as part of the Bread and Roses project co-hosted by the Southwest Center for Economic Integrity to highlight these lives of quiet desperation. Unseen America gives cameras, lessons, and then exhibits the artistic works of scores of people whose contributions to society often go unseen. The program puts particular emphasis on immigrant groups, especially those who have been subject to bias and bias crimes (such as day laborers, migrant workers, restaurant workers, and others). The mission of the center is to build economic strength by reinforcing fairness, understanding and community action by promoting corporate and industry accountability, cultivating community-based enterprises and fostering greater understanding of economic policies and practices. For more information, go to www.economicintegrity.org.
The next column title in the award-winning Tales from the Trenches series, this story traces the working conditions of all kinds of nurses, from the emergency room to hospice care. If you or someone you know works in this field and would like to comment on working conditions in the health care industry, please e-mail scribe@writeratwork.org. Complete confidentiality is assured to any contributors who choose to remain anonymous.
Ever wonder what it’s like to work the mini-mart counter at 4 a.m.? Hear the drama and hum-drum from the voices of these minimum-wagers who deal with everything from winos to whackos in the wee hours.
Watch for upcoming stories about some of the hottest issues in working America. Future Tales from the Trenches columns will also highlight the daily working lives of teachers, hotel housekeepers, cab drivers and more.
The sole meaning of life is to serve humanity. Tolstoy A collection of real-life vignettes laced with laughter and simple truths gleaned from cocktail napkins and conversations during the author’s tour of duty in the service sector. From the sweaty, greasy, cussing back of the house to the whirl and clatter of the restaurant floor, the swinging door serves as the portal between profound wisdom and sheer insanity, bestowing all of the street-smarts that can only be attained a far cry from the ivory tower. Shortly after studying Homeric Greek at Oxford University, the author began her own “Iliad and Odyssey” into the reality of survival in New York City. As a fledgling journalist, she juggled her low-paying writing vocation with an avocation as a waitress to make ends meet. Documenting her experiences in true journalistic fashion, she took prodigious notes of the good, the bad and the ugly spanning more than two decades. The purpose of the book is to celebrate the joy of service and the wisdom derived from simple tasks while restoring dignity and respect to an occupation widely misunderstood and often unappreciated in an elitist society that constantly crunches down on the working class. Excerpt: “It is a noble privilege to serve others – yes, privilege. Slinging hash isn’t about picking up plates and putting them down. It’s about the pure energy with which we do so and the sheer joy of human interaction. It’s about serving with pride and dignity and even killing the stiffs and deadbeats with utter outrageous kindness.” (Copyright 2003 Catherine J. Rourke)
Most men would feel insulted if it were proposed to employ them in throwing stones over a wall, and then throwing them back merely that they might earn their wages. But many are no more worthily employed now. Henry David Thoreau Designed as the 21 st century version of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle (1905), this work represents the author’s first attempt at crafting Dickensian fiction. The corporate hive serves as the slaughterhouse where workers innocently stumble into metaphorical sausage vats of Enronitis: downsizing, pink slips, lost pensions, diminishing health benefits and other deadly vices of the corporate culture. Resembling more fact than fiction, the work embodies the current disintegration of workers’ rights and, like Sinclair’s book, its purpose is to provoke public indignation over workplace atrocities, inspire the reform of archaic labor laws and promote the value of organized labor. Unlike Sinclair’s work, it offers an epilogue of proposed solutions as a ray of hope in creating a harmonious workplace that profits employee and employer alike. Excerpt: “Somewhere it’s Monday morning in America. Somewhere workers are rowing furiously in circles, like galley slaves, shackled to their oars 50 merciless weeks a year, and getting nowhere all too slowly…” (Copyright 1999 Catherine J. Rourke) • • • • • • • • • • Empower yourself at work! Sign up here for a free e-newsletter |
