Why I send these out -- was Re: Here's another winner - guess the pay

["William Sherman" <bsherman77 -at- embarqmail -dot- com>]

Why do I bother?

To help you, to help me, and to help many I have no idea if they are even 
reading this.


I have to assume that like most forums and email lists and such, there are 
many lurking that we never hear from.  Often, people who lurk do so because 
in their minds, they feel not worthy or too inexperienced to offer anything 
of value.

These people are the very ones I want to reach.

I want them to know, when they feel like they really aren't worth much and 
maybe that $10 an hour offer is all they see, that this is a ridiculous wage 
and no one who is a tech writer with any experience should consider it.

I don't want them to think they are worthless, and once they have a $10 an 
hour, they will feel worthless, stuck in a hole, and will not ever see 
daylight again.

Even CareerBuilder thinks the average wage is $33 per hour, according to an 
article today.  That means there are as many making $44 per hour as making 
$22 per hour.  If someone is making $10, then someone has to be making $56. 
Or else there are 10,000 making $35 and only a handful making $20 or below.

The problem with the modern job market is everyone stresses the 
confidentiality of wages. This is not to the advantage of the worker, but 
the company.  ACME Company can hire 5 writers in at $10 per hour and then 
one at $40, all doing the same work, with the $40 guy maybe helping and 
fixing the others as long as no one knows. But as soon as those five 
discover they could be making a lot more than $10, they will be trouble.

Many take jobs never knowing they are taking well below what they could or 
should be taking. Ignorance is not bliss, it is damaging. It hurts our 
economy, it hurts the workers' self esteem, and it hurts everyone else 
because if ACME can hire 5 more guys at $10 an hour, how long do you think 
that guy at $40 will last? The first layoff and he is gone!

Then all of you will be in a market of $10 per hour.  Too many think you do 
nothing a third grader didn't learn as it is. Allow the job to be done for 
$10 per hour and you support that very belief.  At $10 per hour, you are 
nearly a minimum wage worker, worthy of little respect from most groups. 
But at $40 to $50 per hour, and you are a professional that commands more 
than a little respect.

If this sounds a bit like organizing and the unions, it is. Yes, there is 
corruption and there is often unfair protection of worthless people, but 
this was how you got to work 40 hour weeks, this is how you didn't get fired 
for being sick and actually got sick days, this is how you got vacation, 
this is how you got some security in work with seniority. If you don't stand 
up and help your fellow tech writer, eventually everyone will fall.


This may seem like it is only about one place offering a $10 per hour job, 
but it only takes one crack in the dam left ignored for the whole dam to 
eventually fail.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Laura Lemay" <lemay -at- lauralemay -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L mailinglist" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2012 2:03 PM
Subject: Re: Here's another winner - guess the pay