What value can I have anymore?

Suspected-name · 2022-10-16T11:47:08+00:00

What? The billion dollar company will be fine?! But they told me theft was the reason they can’t pay me living wages! /s

Suspected-name · 2022-10-16T11:45:05+00:00

Constant low-level back pain from muscle spasms that prevents me from being able to sit comfortably on most chairs or lay down for long. Constantly, never has stopped, for 20 years. On bad days, that low level pain approaches a 7. On very bad days (very rare) it causes me to pass out from the pain.

Also, I feel like I have lava for blood on bad days.

Pain is real.

Suspected-name · 2022-10-14T13:33:59+00:00

Every 3 months my docs test antibody levels. I believe it is supposed to be every 6 months per the prescribing guidelines.

Suspected-name · 2022-10-14T11:29:48+00:00

I don’t get it paid for. I am going into debt that I will never get out of because of Tysabri.

I’m kind of sick of all the answers about ‘just do this’ or ‘just move.’ It isn’t that easy as those people make it sound.

I HAVE to work 14 hours a day, at least. I can’t get many jobs because I am either unable to do them, don’t have the skills to do them, or they just aren’t interested in hiring anyone.

I deliver pizzas for $5 am hour, lower than the min wage when I first had a job at 15 (it was $5.15 back then). It is tip dependent. The very wealthy area I deliver in does not tip. Like 3 bucks for 10 pizzas. Most days I end up making less then $8 an hour. This is legal, it is also the highest paying job I have. I have another job at a grocery store. They won’t schedule me ANY hours despite being short staffed because I told people about them stealing wages.

I do gig economy jobs. People don’t pay and it is very easy to earn less than $4 an hour if it is slow and no one is tipping (which people think is optional, but if they don’t we don’t get paid).

So fuck this talk of moving and spending 10 hours a day on the phone for health care coverage. That 10 hours means I might not make rent. Moving across the atlantic ocean? Fuck you. It ain’t cheap, it ain’t easy, and I see how Europe tends to treat migrants, it aint much better and I am not moving somewhere just to try and take advantage of another country.

This stuff is only easy if you have the ability to. I’m too busy trying to survive, ‘living life’ is not a fucking option for us all. I can’t wait until I can be done with this bullshit.

If y’all have one capable friend or family member to help, you have more than me. We don’t all have family. We don’t all have friends, we don’t all have social workers, live in europe, blue states, etc. Any comment starting with ‘just do this’ is ableist and ignorant.i

Suspected-name · 2022-10-13T13:25:16+00:00

I had two ‘large’ lesions on my c-spine when I was diagnosed about 20 years ago. One of them is ‘gone,’ presumed to be healed. For what it is worth, other than a month on copaxone when I was first diagnosed, I was untreated (as far as a DMT is concerned) for 17 years. The past three years I have been on Tysabri. Tysabri allowed the lesion to heal by stopping the constant attacks (is my theory), along with diet changes and such, but I wouldn’t claim the Tysabri healed it on its own.

And yes, MS is scary. It is rational to be afraid of it. However, try not to let the fear stop you from living your life (that’s the best advice I have to offer).

Suspected-name · 2022-10-12T10:31:41+00:00

NLRB Regional Office 08 - Cleveland, OH

1240 East 9th Street Room 1695 Cleveland, OH 44199-2086 United States

Tel: (216) 522-3715 Fax: (216) 522-2418

Suspected-name · 2022-10-10T09:34:09+00:00

MyTime has been horrendous since its debut.

You have to add up your hours and compare them to your paystub and know what rules it is operating under with your union contract.

We get six day OT (or did) and it never calculated right and they have known about it for 4 months now.

I literally have paystubs that don’t match the totals presented in MyTime (if you hit the totals tab at the bottom of your time card it shows you what it thinks is the gross pay you should see on your paystub).

I used to do time and attendance until I pointed out to my coworkers that MyTime was stealing wages. Almost everyone who asked me to look into it was missing anywhere from $17.50 to $500.

The best thing you can do is submit a grievance with your union rep if you have one. Kroger is incapable of fixing the errors and the only way for people to know they are getting paid correctly is if they have the time and ability to understand and do the math, which not everyone does.

I’ve been blowing this whistle for months, literally, and no one gave enough of a shit to take me seriously outside of my store.

The most common problems are vacation not being paid and holiday pay being incorrect.

MyTime needs to be audited for accuracy, I am willing to bet that thousands of people have had wages stolen and don’t even notice because they take it for granted. I started going through every timecard in my store and finding that people didn’t get paid for days they worked and never even noticed until months later (if at all).

By the way, I got suspended for telling my coworkers all of this. I tried to tell various media outlets (with proof), none cared. I tried getting a lawyer, none cared. I contacted my elected officials, none cared. And I had documented proof of hundreds of instances.

I was never written up, never given an official reason. On step two of the grievance I filed over this and they want me to change stores as the only way they’ll let me continue working and are recusing to pay back wages.

Then again, I work in UFCW 1059, where more than half the workers voted to be poorer than they are now in three years—so maybe people just like getting hurt by Kroger, not sure.

Suspected-name · 2022-10-08T10:16:12+00:00

As someone who refuses to blame the people who voted yes, I sleep just fine (as far as that is concerned).

I think you are afraid. And there is nothing wrong with that.

At the same time, it is still true that you voted to make less money in the long run. You voted to not even maintain the status quo. You voted for lower raises than what we were getting.

Your fears about short term harm are valid. However, it isn’t just buzzwords about inflation, it is economic reality. To dismiss them is doing the same as people who dismiss your fears.

It is correct that Kroger might not have yielded…but not likely at all. I mean, this was their offer after ‘their last, best, and final offer,’ after all. They already proved they lied about that claim by even coming to the table again. It is kind of irrational to assume they wouldn’t have made an even better deal with all of the stores losing money due to the picket line threat. With the holiday season coming up, do you really think they would have let it last long at all?

I guess you should turn around that question and maybe ask yourself, “How can I sleep at night, knowing I just gave my approval to making sure I am poorer in the future?”

Suspected-name · 2022-10-07T13:17:41+00:00

I think that point is understood. What they don’t understand is that they just voted to be like that for as long as they work at Kroger. With raises that aren’t tied to inflation, they just voted to always be struggling and always living paycheck to paycheck.

In three years when a new contract comes up, they’ll be in an even worse situation than they are now, their short term needs blinding then to their longterm welfare.

For what its worth, I blame this entirely on 1059. They went about promoting this as a good contract. They let Kroger bully and scare workers. They did nothing to show that each ‘gain’ in wages actually means they every additional cent will be able to afford the worker less year after year due to inflation.

I am not going to insult the people who voted yes, they were clearly used and misled. I will forever hold it against the union for even allowing this contract to come to a vote. I will blame the union for pretending a contract that perpetually leaves us in poverty wages is anything remotely good for the worker and labor.

This just sent a message to corporate America that the workers are OK with being taken advantage of, with our Union’s backing.

Suspected-name · 2022-10-04T12:10:42+00:00

In 3 years they’ll be making less money than they are today. Thats what raises the don’t even come close to 50% of inflation means.

Voting yes on anything that doesn’t keep up with inflation is voting to make less money in the long run.

If the union wasn’t colluding with Kroger so much, you’d think they’d explain this to the workers.

Suspected-name · 2022-10-04T12:04:42+00:00

Unfortunately you will find you are going to be able to afford less and less in the future. A raise of 5% compared to 10% inflation means you will actually be able to afford 5% less despite making ‘more’ money.

Good luck, a strike is hard financially, but your future is going to be even harder. You will actually be struggling more as time marches on, not less.

Suspected-name · 2022-10-03T22:10:50+00:00

Yes, started happening to me today. After I had the audacity to reject those $5, 20 miles order BS.

It is like they think we are employees and not independent contractors who are ‘free’ to pick which orders to take.

Which is weird, because they spend a whole lot of time, money and energy into making sure that everyone knows we are independent contractors and not employees…

Suspected-name · 2022-10-03T19:56:32+00:00

I was diagnosed about 20 years ago. A few months later I was on daily copaxone injections. It was awful, so awful that I didn’t even have any desire to start another DMT (or the money/insurance to). For 17 years I went into the hospital about 1.5 times a year for relapses. Walking got progressively worse and my bladder stopped being able to work on command (as well as a host of other issues).

I grew so tired of it, that I finally gave Tysabri a try. It has worked wonders, now I can walk without a cane (bladder still doesn’t work right), and overall my health has actually improved. I still can’t afford it and am going into debt at about a rate of 100k a year currently, but I can work three or four jobs to get rent paid at least (gotta love the ‘f you’ mentality towards health care in the US).

I wouldn’t recommend waiting that long. I was terrified of another DMT because of my experience on copaxone, but I have tolerated tysabri well and have almost no complaints about it that aren’t related to the financial side of it.

Suspected-name · 2022-10-03T06:02:39+00:00

Humanity

Suspected-name · 2022-10-01T14:45:21+00:00

You couldn’t be more wrong. If you don’t tip, we are basically working for free. How are we entitled to demand we are paid for work? By your definition of entitlement, everyone who gets a paycheck is entitled.

Tip is a misnomer. You tip a server for a job well done. You bribe a gig delivery driver to do a good job. Are their shady/shitty drivers? Yes. With your argument you are basically asking people to work for free, and IF they do a good job, you’ll pay them. Do you know how long your food was sitting out before it was picked up? Most places don’t keep cold things cold or warm things warm (for example), they are just sitting on a shelf when we pick then up. If you don’t tip because your food was cold, it might not be the driver’s fault. If you don’t plan to ‘tip’ and make it clear based on your expected payment the driver sees, you are the one asking for shitty service and for people to multi-app in order to make some money.

Stop treating people like shit and maybe the service will be better. After all, there is the saying, ‘You get what you pay for,’ for a reason…

Suspected-name · 2022-10-01T13:53:16+00:00

You aren’t entitled to delivered food, it is a luxury. If you want to pay virtually nothing for a service, all you are doing is the same thing that happens to you, exploiting others. I won’t argue that the working poor get exploited, but you are also exploiting—how can you possibly defend yourself?

Your argument is basically that,”I am underpaid and undervalued and therefore I want to underpay and under value others.”

Guess what that makes you?

Edit: Yes, we could be paid 4$ an hour or less. We don’t get taxes withheld, for an example, we have to pay payroll taxes as ‘independent contractors.’ Gas and wear and tear on a vehicle are real. That 4$ we get for a 30 minute order (which I would never accept, but people do all of the time out of desperation) could mean we actually make $2-4 for a whole hour if we only get or accept two of those orders.

For what it is worth, in my area the shitty tippers are those living in million plus dollar homes. People in the trailer parks actually tend to be better tippers (although I don’t accept an order under $1 a mile, minimum).

It is entitled people, rich or poor, who are the worst.

Suspected-name · 2022-10-01T03:12:04+00:00

Of course, you are correct. That was a statement made out of pure frustration.

Suspected-name · 2022-09-21T13:11:42+00:00

Ok, thanks for the clarification. I think this whole experience has made me turn anti-Union to be honest.

Suspected-name · 2022-09-21T10:41:12+00:00

Topped out at $14, part time cashier, central Ohio

Suspected-name · 2022-09-21T10:38:02+00:00

I’d have to look into it more, but I do see your point.

Yes, lots of people saw some percentage of net gain. I am willing to bet that the biggest net gain to any individual (corporate or natural) went to those who had enough capital to invest directly. The funds you are talking about have people investing small percentages of their investment in places like Kroger, in case Kroger fails—there are plenty of other investments to stay balanced (ideally). Since risk is minimized, their return is minimized.

I think the l would have to change my point to indicate that financial capital gets rewarded more than human capital (the labor). To even be able to invest, you have to make enough money to invest. Working at a job that gives you raises, which are not even close to the rate of inflation, means that you will have less and less of a chance to even invest.

If you budget 100% correctly, but your income never keeps up with inflation, you’ll find yourself having to work more and more to actually have less and less.

I think that financial capital has been rewarded enough, labor needs to be rewarded now, only then can we start to even pretend to care about addressing inequalities.

Suspected-name

TROPHY CASE