“Unskilled Labor” is a Myth Used to Justify Poverty Wages
All jobs deserve a living wage.
One of the biggest arguments I’ve seen against raising the minimum wage is that it would “unfairly” reward unskilled labor. These are jobs like food service workers, retail workers, cleaning staff, and pretty much any job that is considered “easy” and doesn’t require a degree. “These people don’t work hard and don’t do difficult jobs,” the logic goes, “ so why should we pay them more when they don’t deserve it?”
First off, the notion that somebody does not deserve a living wage is so inhumane and lacking in empathy to me that I cannot wrap my head around the idea that anyone really thinks that. I don’t care what job you’re doing, you deserve to be paid a living wage.
Second, have you ever done any of these so-called “unskilled” jobs? They’re friggin’ hard. Tell me that people working in fast food or retail have easy jobs and you’re telling me that you’ve never worked any of those jobs.
Foodservice is a nightmare no matter where in the kitchen you work — dealing with hot grease and terrible conditions isn’t anything to sneeze at. It’s no wonder that alcoholism and drug abuse run rampant through so many restaurant kitchens. Wait staff and bartenders don’t have it much easier, since they get to deal with the public, which…
