As well as experiencing discrimination socially, American blue-collar workers experience discrimination economically. A prevailing wage is an appropriate and generally accepted amount of money that reflects the wages of a certain area (Mahalia). Prevailing wages are meant to be paid to blue-collar workers by contractors in order to “enhance the welfare” of the workers by providing to them wages that are not too low to sustain the worker and his or her family, reports the Economic Policy Institute, a group of experts in economics and sociology working to find the effects of prevailing wages (Mahalia). Many contractors nationwide refuse to provide prevailing wages to blue-collar workers because of the belief that prevailing wages elevate operational …show more content…
An extensive survey was given to blue-collar workers in 1946, then again decades later in 1986, by researchers working to discover motivational factors in the workplace (Kovach 58-61). These surveys determined that blue-collar workers across demographics of age and gender, on average, place “full appreciation of work done,” as well as “good wages,” in their upper 5 factors of motivation in the workplace (Kovach 58-61). These motivational factors on which blue-collar workers place high value are not provided to them when social discrimination, such as the current mocking of their values, and economic discrimination, such as the absence of prevailing wages, are present in society. The lack of motivation caused by this lack of key motivational factors negatively impacts the workers’ functionality, detracting from their economic output, as explained by Adam Smith and Richard Nixon when they stated that motivation is a central factor for productivity and economic success, as, if workers do not see incentives or advantages to work, the workers will abandon it (Smith 101-120; Peters and Woolley). Aside from motivational setbacks, the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health recently performed an experiment that discovered that discrimination based on the socioeconomic statuses of the …show more content…
Alfred Lubrano wrote the book Limbo: Blue-Collar Roots, White-Collar Dreams and was raised by a blue-collar worker (Ward 38). Lubrano interviewed many “straddlers,” who are white-collar individuals, or those who work in offices or management and hold high socioeconomic statuses, who grew up in a blue-collar environment (Ward 37-40). These now white-collar individuals, such as lawyers, grew up learning the blue-collar principles of hard work that are not as emphasized in other social classes, and achieved economic success in their jobs due to their backgrounds (Ward 37-40). Lubrano concludes, as a result of conducting these interviews in order to discover how blue-collar work enhances the economic success of other professions, that blue-collar workers inspire a tradition of hard work that is unmatched by any other kind of work ethic in America, and can be utilized in non-blue-collar occupations (Ward 37-40). This robust, persistent work ethic is what lifted the United States from being “a poor nation” to being an “industrious, purposeful” one over the course of two centuries, proclaims former United States President Richard Nixon, who was raised in a blue-collar family (Peters and Woolley). The tradition of hard work that Lubrano and Nixon speak so highly of drives the American economy through inspiring productivity and economic success in many careers
...lley, W. H., Jennings, K. M., Wolters, R. S., & Mathis, R. L. (2012). Employment & Labor Relations. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
The phenomena of Migrant Workers would not be possible if the migrants were able to get jobs elsewhere, but as many come from Third-World Countries with little economic possibilities, this is not possible. What has resulted is an inexhaustible supply of cheap labor to the United States. This willingness on the part of the workers to work for wages otherwise unacceptable in the United States is problematic. Employers in this position are not under any pressure to reveal truthful, or even any information about wage rates, and many workers do not ask how much they will be paid. As a result, workers often do not know how much they will paid until they are thousands of miles away from their homes, and frequently not until they are paid at the end of a week. This is the story for the Mexican blueberry pickers in Maine, and the growing number of apple pickers who are Jamaican.
The reality of wage differences between men and women is that above all changes women continue to earn less than men. Countless arguments have promoted that wage inequality has changed and that everyone finally receives an equal amount of pay. “For women of color, the gap is largest of all: In 2006, black and Hispanic women earned 86 and 87 cents on the white man’s dollar, respectively,” (Mcswane 2). If a woman is lucky enough she will get an equal pay compared to a man doing the same job. But it is challenging for a woman of a minority background to achieve this. Not only are women paid less because of their sex, but also because of their race. There seems to be a mentality that because someone is a woman and a minority that they cannot do the same job as men or that women do not have the same education as the men, so employers do not have to pay them the same. “When the numbers are broken down by district, they 're pretty hard to ignore. Women in Texas are being utterly screwed financially, according to the data compiled by AAWU, with women earning anywhere from 66 percent of what men do in some districts, to the top end of things, which is about 89 percent,” (Leicht 4). The proof cannot be ignored. It i...
Sklar, H., Laryssa, M., & Wefald, S. (2001). Raise the floor: Wages and policies that work for all
He claims to relate his mother’s quick and effective decisions, customer interactions, memorisation and problem solving, and his uncle, Joe’s, learning, planning and management skills to that of a white-collar worker. “Preposterous”, some might argue. “You cannot possibly compare waiters and conductors with boffins.” However, the dichotomy between the blue-collars and white-collars are subtle. Regardless of Rose’s claim that blue-collar workers are more efficient and carry a broader skill set, there exists no comparison between the two categories. Granted, the social biases about one’s occupation are irrational; however, blue-collars cannot substitute white-collar workers merely because of their “diverse intelligence”. Given Rose’s experiences, he has colluded blue-collar intelligence with white-collar intelligence. Id Est, he believes that social discrimination against blue-collar workers is fallacious from his observations; thus, their skills are the analogous to white-collar workers. In sum, blue-collar workers are intelligent and important in their respective and applicable fields, and white-collars in theirs’; drawing comparisons between them are like comparing apples and
In this essay, I will be discussing whether or not there is a problem with worker motivation in capitalist economies. However, before I relay my answer, I must define both motivation and capitalism within the context of this essay. In the book, Motivation and Work Behavior, the authors share their thoughts on motivation. They conclude, “When we discuss motivation, we are primarily concerned with (1) what energizes human behavior, (2) what directs or channels such behavior, and (3) how this behavior is maintained or sustained” (Porter et al. 2003, p. 1). Put more simply, motivation is what encourages human beings to focus and stay on task in any certain situation, in my opinion. In the context of the workplace, one considers motivation to of the utmost importance, since in most cases, time equals money in terms of production. Therefore, there are certain factors that are necessary in order to maintain the motivation of the workers. Some factors might include decent salaries, benefits, or even a thriving corporate culture. Many theorists attempt to explain motivation in relation to a p...
Gale Cengage Learning. ‘The Wage Gap is the Result of Discrimination” (Mashaun D. Simon) Are Women Paid Fairly? Ed. Jennifer Dorman, Detroit Green Haven Press, 2013. At issue.
We, as a society, feel the need to draw imaginary lines to separate ourselves whether it’s the line between color of our skin, our religion differences, our political beliefs, or the status of our class. As much as I wish there wasn’t a defining line between high class and the educated vs. low class and uneducated, there is. In Mike Rose’s narrative essay “Blue-Collar Brilliance,” he describes his mother’s lack of education and her hard labor work which is the quote on quote the blue collar working class.
Blue Collar workers today are looked down upon by most of society. People think that if you have a blue collar job you aren’t smart and not successful. But in my opinion, blue collar workers are the backbone of our society, and deserve the same amount of respect as white collar workers. “Blue Collar Brilliance by Mike Rose” explains how blue collar workers are very smart and use a lot of brainpower to get their jobs done. Both his Uncle and mother were blue collar workers and that’s where he got his inspiration to stand up for blue collar workers around the world. He gives us examples of how his own family members were blue collar workers and how they were smart and how they excelled at their jobs. He uses his own experiences to show us that blue collar workers are in fact smart, able to adapt to many different situations, and deserve respect.
In the article, “Blue-Collar Brilliance” by Mike Rose, he begins with an anecdote of his mother working her blue-collar job at a diner as a waitress. Rose vividly describes her common day that is packed with a constant array of tedious tasks she has to accomplish to make her living. The authors goal appears to be making the reader appreciate the hard work of blue-collar workers because society places a stereotype on them as being less intelligent than someone with more schooling or even a white-collar job: “Our cultural iconography promotes the muscled arm, sleeve rolled tight against biceps, but no brightness behind the eye, no inmate that links hand and brain” (282). I agree with Rose’s conclusion that if we continue to place a stigma on
In relation to workplace discrimination, wages rank among the issues that affect working Asian-Americans. According to ChangHwan Kim and Author Sakamoto, Asian Americans earn 8% lower wages compared to their White counterparts. Furthermore, they also found out that education did not significantly improve the wage earning situation for Asian Americans. Asian American males with college degrees still earn a lower wage compared to a White male with a similar level of education. Although the 8% difference may not seem to be much, it is a clear indication that racial discrimination for Asian Americans still exists through wage rates (Charles and Guryan 509).
Mike Rose’s article “Blue-Collar Brilliance” talks about people judging other people’s intelligence based on their jobs. Mike Rose explains in his article that people with blue collar jobs are just as intelligent as people with white collar jobs because they both use critical thinking and multi task while they are working. The standard of their jobs might be different because of their different ways of learning. People who are considered professionals or white collared individuals learn by studying or reading reports where blue collared individuals learn by performing a task. They learn faster ways to perform the task after they have done it multiple times. I believe that Rose’s thinking is very effective as it tells us that we should not judge
Nowadays, most women remain unaware that their employers underpay them. Women cannot argue for higher wages if they do not know they earn less than their male equivalents. Each employee sharing their salary will allow women to detect if they are earning less than their male colleagues with little difficulty. This will give women the tools needed to argue for a higher pay rate, and will help lower the wage gap. If a female worker goes to her boss with statistical evidence that she earns less than her male associates, the chances that her boss will award her a higher salary significantly increase. The law will make it almost impossible for companies to pay their male workers more than their female workers (Glynn para. 7). Furthermore, a law requiring employees to share their salaries will bring to light other forms of wage discrimination. The wage gap not only represents gender discrimination in the workplace, it also reflects the ongoing issue of racial discrimination. While white women do typically earn less than white men, they out earn the majority of female colored workers in America. The average African American female makes only 64 cents for the white man’s dollar. Additionally, Hispanic women receive only 54 cents to their white male coworker’s dollar (Hegewisch para. 9). If women of color become aware of how little they earn compared to
The more educated and diverse a society is, the better society’s job market is served. This social economic separation of class is both good and bad for society. Many workers at the lower levels of employment are both pleased and displeased with many aspects of work. Though this fact also holds true with most any job at any level, pay scale often compensates for endurance of a particular job type. The security of a person’s job is also an issue that in today’s economic times forces one to be prepared for change.
As human beings, people instinctively envy others who have more success, wealth, intelligence, power, and relationships. Those people are seen working in white collar jobs more often than they blue collar jobs. For some reason people have gotten it into their heads that working in a white collar job is more respectable. No type of job is more or less important than another. Both the white and blue collar workers were and still are fundamentally important to society, and yet white collar men and women are lifted up and thought of as indispensable while their blue collar counterparts are mere afterthoughts.