A Right To Work

Articles

Risa Roberts

A Right To Work
June 16, 2003

I come from a long line of Democrats, Liberals, Leftists and Union men. All the way back to Czarist Russia, the men in my family were involved with the betterment of the poor, the worker, and the simple man. I know some of my relatives in the past century had put their lives on the line to help form unions and face off eye to eye with the goons of the bosses. I was born up north. It was a matter of course that as an employee you had rights as a human being. I am not overly fond of unions, associations are more to my liking, but I am deeply committed to being treated as a human being with dignity as well as treating others in the same manner. I am also not erribly fond of bosses or the general state of labor relations, either. So, for me, I really have a hard time in the former slave holding state of Florida. I don't quite grasp the concept of "A Right to Work State."

I really should look up the history. Judging from how it plays out, I can at least relate my experience. As I see it, a right to work is really a euphemism for wage slavery. The only right I see is that you get paid for your services, products or labor. There does not seem to be any other. I thought my imagination and oversenitivity were running away with me until a redneck friend of my buddy's basically summed up the situation: if the boss get up on the wrong side of the bed, and you are the first one in his path, he can fire you without so much as a howdy do! There doesn't have to be any warning, there doesn't have to be any second chance to improve and there doesn't have to be any separation pay. Some of my former language students from Switzerland were interested in this subject and learning this was shocking. The fact that so many companies don't even hire you more than three quarter time so as to avoid paying for any benefits was equally upsetting to these students. Barbaric, in fact, was the way our system was viewed by these Swiss; to them it was unheard of and unimaginable that you can be dismissed so easily, or even work under such circumstances. To top it all off, Florida is also the state of minimum wages.

I am a professional, licensed massage therapist. Two experiences will help illustrate my assertions. I agreed to work at this one clinic as an employee for a regular weekly wage, whether I had a client or not. The owner wanted to keep the shop open longer hours and could not fill these spots with independent contractors because there was not enough business. She decided to expand her service to include out-calls. For those of you who do not know what that is, it just means that the therapist goes to your home. Out-calls can be tricky because people do not always want therapeutic massage alone, and screening the customer is critical. After all, you do not want to send someone out into a potentially dangerous situation. The receptionist who was handling this new service did not seem to have a clue. I refused to do the out-calls. The other therapists were independent contractors and could not be told what to do, only asked if they wanted to participate. Being that I was an employee, I could be told what to do and expected to do it. I refused because I have done this kind of work before, ran a service before and did not feel confident going out with their approach. The boss was so upset that I refused that she fired me. Her attitude basically was that she could do anything she wanted. They thought it was funny that I would apply for unemployment; it would mean an increase in their payroll taxes. And to think that I would win was really amusing. I presented my case to the unemployment counselor and was granted unemployment. I guess at least this one boss realized that, no, you can't just do anything you want because you are he boss.

The next example is more offensive because it reduced me to the status of a migrant orange picker. I was working weekends at a very exclusive spa. I'm a vegetarian and finding places that support this kind of life style is difficult. This spa was a relocation and upgrade of its old self. The new facilities are stunning. The offerings are stunning in price, too. It's the first time in Florida that people were paying the full price, meaning what I would be asking and getting and did get in NYC eight years ago. That made me feel good. What didn't was how we, those of us not on salary,were compensated. I had agreed to an 18% compensation, with gratuity included in that. That's already ridiculously low, but to get started at the spa I accepted. Somehow, though, there were complimentary massages offered where, unbeknownst to me and the client, the gratuity was not included. so the cut was even lower and the unsuspecting clent didn't leave a tip. Within a month's time, my new manager was fired. The original manager who had hired me had been fired or quit after I was there only a month. Two receptionists quit. Another receptionist was fired without warning and was told if he didn't leave the premise immediately, the police would be called. Three massage therapists and two comotologists left. The situation was appalling.

The new manager was a therapist who had been voted most hospitable. She had been getting increasingly fatter till she looked like she ate at least two whole cows a week. Not what I would consider a representative of a healthy life style. She asked everyone to make suggestions how to improve our services. I was a bit affected by all the firings that I actually spoke my mind. I suggested that we should be compensated better, especially if we had been there more than three months. I also suggested that management should show their sincerity in some way to prove open communication and seriousness in accepting suggestions. I was feeling rather exploited at that moment and voiced these opinions in what was probably not the best fashion. In any event, within two weeks I was taken off the schedule. The other therapists were so terrified: they wanted to please these people and made such important suggestions as bringing in illuminated clocks for the rooms. In this way, they looked like they were participating in supporting our new manager and yet were not saying enough of substance to offend the powers. Most of them were Spanish. I suppose they have had more experience with petty dictators and know how to accept them.

Of course, I had been speaking my mind to the other therapists and staff. The reason I was given for my separation was that I had disturbed the staff too much. That is the first time I heard such a reason to be fired. I had been doing my job very well for the clients, always on time and never missing appointments. This is just unbelievable to me. But then again, this is the South. The major motto is obedience. The other is to kiss your boss's bottom, smile and always say "Yes, m'am!"

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About the author: Risa Roberts' poems have recently been published in a table top edition of the International Library of Poety called "Letters from the Soul", as well as received Judge's recognition in an anthology by FamousPoets.com. She graduated Douglass College, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ in 1970. She worked and traveled in the Far East and the Middle East. For the past eight years, South Florida has been her home. Risa is a Licensed Massage Therapist as well as active in the art community of Broward County.

Email Risa: risa008@yahoo.com

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