This is my speech that won 5th in the state of California in Original Advocacy in 2006! I was 8th in the state the year before for an anti Wal-Mart speech, which is also posted. I feel that this speech is important for anyone under the age of 25, especially if you are not going to college (and the hardships of paying for college if you are).
Hello, my name is David, and I have some great information for you. Are you 16 years or older? Are you willing to put in long hours for little pay? Are you willing to be demeaned and undervalued? If so, have I got a job for you! We have a lot to offer here at McJacks Taco King Jr, including injuries on the job, sex discrimination, low wages, and best of all, low morale. We offer no benefits, no job protection, unpredictable work schedules, no training and no unions. In fact, if we even hear the word union, you can kiss your job good bye. And if you grieve your unlawful termination to the National Labor Relations Board, then we will fire you for some other reason. And don’t bother asking for a higher starting salary or set hours, because if you do, we will accidentally lose your application. But hey, who needs to sweat all that small stuff when you can be part of the fast-growing service economy!
Welcome to today’s Mcjob economy! How fast is the service industry growing? Well, Blockbuster, Starbucks, and Subway are opening at a rate of one a day. In fact, 7 out of 10 of the jobs that the United States government expects to grow the most are in the service sector (Eyes on the Fries). Currently the service industry accounts for 70% of all economic activity in the country as reported by the Census Bureau (Census Bureau). Why is this a problem? Well that translates into 2 million Americans who are working to makes ends meet. And ends don’t meet that well when you are working at or below the federal minimum wage of 5.15 an hour (Department of Labor Statistics).
The federal minimum wage has remained at 5.15 an hour since 1997. If the minimum wage had kept up with inflation, the current minimum wage should be eight dollars and 52 cents an hour. If the minimum wage kept up with gross national productivity, the current minimum wage would be over 16 and a half dollars an hour (Eyes on the Fries).
Now most critics against raising the minimum wage argue that raising it would be pointless because about half of the minimum wage earners are teens. They argue that most teenagers would just spend the money on frivolous things like CDs, jewelry and movie tickets. However, Jasmine Davis, a young teen who has worked two Burger King jobs, seems to contradict that notion. Jasmine has been working since the age of 14, and has spent the majority of her money on necessities like clothing, food, medical care, rent and utilities. Not only does she use her money to support herself, but her three younger sisters as well. Jasmine’s story is documented by filmmakers Casey Peek and Jeremy Blasi in their documentary “Eyes on the Fries.” Jasmine Davis is not an exception (Eyes on the Fries). In fact, according the Department of Labor, roughly 750,000 young people between 20 and 25 work at jobs paying minimum wage or less (Department of Labor Statistics).
Many people have tried to advance beyond the service industry through higher education. Today nearly ¾ of all teens seek some sort of education beyond high school. However, paying for college has become a daunting prospect. Back in the 70s, a month of minimum wage work could pay for a year of tuition at a UC. Today, it takes 6 months of minimum wage work to pay for just one semester. Juan Tyzone is enrolled UC Berkeley. He cannot take a full academic load because he must work to cover his living expenses. He has worked two jobs in retail and as a janitor at a gym. Despite his efforts to finish his degree, he cannot balance work with school. He cannot make enough money to support himself and pay for his books. To make things worse, his job makes him ineligible for financial aid, and he has yet to graduate. It’s been eight years (Eyes on the Fries).
And just try to fit in your classes around your work hours. Employers do not have much sympathy for the fact that your anthro class meets Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at three. Unlike the typical nine to five job, many mcjob assignments change weekly, making life unpredictable. One week a person may be working 30 hours, and the next week 13. With such undependable hours, a person may or may not know if they can pay their rent the next week, or even afford their next meal. These haphazard hours also make it hard to schedule anything else in like study sessions or extracurricular activities (Eyes on the Fries).
Life in the service industry would be bad enough if you only got low wages and had to juggle an ever-changing work schedule. If fact, you’re lucky if you get paid at all. The service industry has been known for having their employees work off the clock. Taco Bell, for example, had to pay millions of settlement dollars to its employees in California, Oregon, and Washington for having them clean tables and bathrooms after they punched out. Wal-Mart, the largest corporate employer, is currently being sued in 28 states for the same problem (Eyes on the Fries).
And Wal-Mart doesn’t limit itself to this type of labor law violation. In December of last year, a California jury awarded over 100,000 Wal-Mart workers 172 million dollars because Wal-Mart had illegally denied them the breaks they were entitled to (MSNBC). Of course, Wal-Mart is not alone when it comes to illegal labor practices. As the most profitable retail giant in the world, it sets the standards and practices for the industry. As Wal-Mart Goes, so goes the global economy (Los Angeles Times).
Things were not always this bad for workers. Back in the 60s, General Motors was the country’s largest employer, providing over 350,000 jobs (Roger and Me). And these were not minimum wage jobs. Today The average GM assembly line worker is paid over 31 dollars an hour with a pension plan and health insurance (Langfitt). Unfortunately things went south, literally. In the late 1970s GM started outsourcing jobs to Mexico (Roger and Me). And in the past several weeks announcements by both GM and Ford will have Americans wondering if its Deja vu all over again as upwards of 60,000 Americans clock out of their plants for the last time and line up for interviews at their local big box store or drive thru (Langfitt).
While jobs at General Motors offered benefits and a career, the new service industry does not. Seven out of ten of new jobs in America are mcjobs, and with fewer good jobs on the horizon, more Americans will slip into poverty
(Eyes on the Fries). The only escape from this mcjob economy may be college; however, with the current labor practices of today’s companies, it will be nearly impossible for the average American to afford college. Because US corporations have outsourced more than 3 million manufacturing jobs since 2000, mcjobs have become the only job in town (Muzi News). Therefore I advocate that Congress pass legislation that would make the bad jobs good again by enacting a three section bill that will do the following: Section 1, increase the federal minimum wage to 8.50 an hour. By raising it to 8.50 an hour, more students will be able to pay for college or help support themselves and/or their families. San Francisco voted to raise the minimum wage to 8.50 an hour, keeping in line with inflation, and so should the rest of the United States (Eyes on the Fries).
Section 2, require businesses to release the hours employees work every three weeks instead of every week. By doing this, people will have more control over their lives.
Section 3, create a task force that will conduct random inspections of businesses. The task force would be required to check every business at least once every 90 days in order to make sure they are in compliance with the labor laws. In 1990, the Department of Labor did something similar to this over a three day period in March. Over these three days, they caught more than 42,000 violations in over 1,900 venues, more than half of the places they inspected (Yracheta).
Since our inception, millions have come to this country in hopes of living the American Dream. But as the years go by, we are watching the gap between the rich and poor increase, and the middle class shrink. The American Dream is becoming the American nightmare. If we do not secure the future of our country, then I suppose that my senior quote might as well be, “uhh, do you want fries with that?”
