Re: FWD: Unpaid?

Subject: Re: FWD: Unpaid?
From: Bruce Ashley <bashley -at- CREATEPRINT -dot- COM -dot- AU>
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 1998 12:29:28 +1000

In reply to comments made by Bruce Byfield and Andrew Plato here is my two
cents worth:

To put things into perspective, my 14 year old son is trying to get a
McDonalds job next year. It pays $9 per hour.

Also, it doesn't take education to make a good technical writer. Any mug
can type a document in a package they have learned. Only skilled, educated
(by school or life) writers with years of technical writing problem solving
can truly create documents of excellence. The benefits are speed and end
product.

A lawyer or an accountant straight out of school earns $35 to $50,000
depending on results etc.. By the time he/she becomes skilled with years of
problem solving etc. they command prices the rest of us only dream of. Are
our skills any less important than theirs? If we can create a document
twice as good, aren't we worth twice as much? If we can do it in half the
time, aren't we worth twice as much? If we can do both what are we worth?
NOT $10.00 per hour!

So...$10 per hour? For those prepared to accept that, please get out of our
profession and go work for McDonalds. As an assistant Manager you would
probably earn more than my son is aiming at.

I respect my skills and expect any employer to do the same.

-----Original Message-----
From: Bruce Byfield [SMTP:bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 1998 8:45 AM
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Subject: Re: FWD: Unpaid?

Andrew Plato <aplato -at- EASYSTREET -dot- COM> wrote:

>This is capitalism, friends [snip]....The only person screwing you is you.
If
>you accept $10.00 an hour - you just screwed yourself. Companies will get
as
>much out of people as they can for the least they can pay. This is not
some
>evil plot, it is the way a for-profit company is run.

Maybe it's because, philosophically, I'm not a capitalist at all, but
I'd
like to point out that, if too many people take $10 an hour jobs, or
justify
companies playing so little, then, "the only person screwing you" won't
be you.
Low paying jobs should concern everyone.

Nor can a bottom line company complain if it is outed.

>Lastly, if you have a lot of fussy requirements to work, then you better
get
>used to making less money.

True enough. But decent treatment isn't "fussy."

Among other things, it makes sense for a company, because it usually
means that
employees are more willing to work harder, and show more loyalty. In the
long
run, morality and business sense can be synonymous, but to combine them
takes a little more imagination than following the bottom line.

I will now lead the choir in a chorus of "Solidarity Forever," followed
by
Hymn 471, "I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill." :-)

--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Co-ordinator ,Vancouver Technical Communicators' Co-op List
Vancouver, BC, Canada
(604) 421-7189 or 687-2133
bbyfield -at- axionet,com or bruce -at- dataphile-ca -dot- com
www.outlawcommunications.com

"Unjust and spiteful criticism taught me more than a quiet acceptance
would have done, and for that, I thank those blundering judges who were
responsible for my education. The motivations behind their judgments
enlightened me and allowed me to enjoy a clear conscience. A sincere
mind turns everything to its advantage, and that which would discourage
mere vanity redoubles the fervor of real commitment."
-George Sand






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