October 3, 2014 at 3:13 p.m.
Speaker discusses worker injustice during presentation at St. Augustine's
Speaker discusses worker injustice during presentation at St. Augustine's
By Kayla Thomason-
Guest speaker Becky Schigiel, who was a former field organizer for a local IWJ affiliate, the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice of South Central Wisconsin (ICWJ) as well as former Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice Acting Director, shared several stories about worker injustice.
Schigel talked about a restaurant franchise owner who fired all of their employees of a particular ethnicity and replaced them with caucasian workers who were paid more.
She also pointed out the low pay some restaurant employees receive. She used waitresses as an example. Servers are paid by the employer and what they make in tips should raise them to minimum wage, she said. What some customers don't realize is that the tip they give the waitress is divided amongst all the other staff as well.
"I had no idea that when I actually gave a tip to a waitress at a restaurant that tip was taken and split up amongst all the employees," said audience member Bernie Knox. "I had no idea that the dishwasher only got paid $2 and some odd cents an hour, I thought they were based on minimum wage as well."
Jane Reilly, audience member, liked that Schigiel used examples.
"I had no idea dishwashers were paid so poorly and it sounds like the industry needs to change the direction it's going," she said.
In the future, Reilly said she will ask the restaurants he patronizes how tips are worked out.
Schigiel stressed that she was not singling out the restaurant industry. She noted she has a lot of examples from that field because she has just worked with many people in that profession. She also stated that dishwashers are some of the lowest paid workers.
"I believe that there should be justice in the workplace and that people collectively should be able to stand up and say what their labor is worth," Knox said.
He disagrees with wage theft and the tactics employers sometimes use to steal money from their employees.
"I really think that people need to act, once you know something you need to go and share that knowledge [to combat the injustice in the workplace]," he said.
Schigiel also stated that the minimum wage is supposed to be set so that someone who is making that amount can afford food and shelter.
Father Dean Einerson of Saint Augustine's was pleased with the discussion.
"I liked her focus on people talking to people, people seeing each other as people," Einerson said. "I think that when we see people as our enemies, whether it's because we see them as our oppressor or demanding more than they deserve, we lose sight of their humanity."
He hopes people will think about their own place in the economic system and their relationship with others in that system.
Schigiel was pleased that people with different backgrounds attended the event and shared their feelings about the presentation.
"I thought it was a great number of people, it was a great showing and what's more important to me than number was the variety of people," she said. "There were people in here who represented a variety of faiths, there were people here who were quite secular, there were people here who did not agree with some of the things I was presenting and that's what it's all about to me is that we talk."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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