http://gothamist.com/2014/06/05/living_wage_casino_workers.php#.
"Before the contract I was at $11.68 an hour, and when the raise came
in I started making $21.67. Before I was making less than $300/week and
after, it was $575. It helped a lot.
Before the raise, a lot of times I fell behind on my rent payments.
It was a dilemma: which was more important, food or bills? So I made the
bills and I'd buy whatever food I could afford afterwards. Luckily, my
aunt lives here, so any time I was hungry I could go by her place and
she could give me dinner or lunch. I'm very lucky I have family.
I'm 50 years old, and I don't have too many other options for work,
but I appreciate this job. I'm always on time. I got sick a few weeks
ago, I had a fever of 102, and I called my boss and he said "OK, we
understand." We have better health insurance, better protection for the
employees.
It's a tremendous change, getting this contract. Right now there are
so many people living in poverty each week, doing what I did,
struggling. Do you pay rent or do you eat? This country is a very rich
country, with a lot of rich people, but so many are in poverty. It's
only right that people who work hard get what they deserve. The minimum
wage has got to go up. If it goes up, it makes a huge difference! The
minimum wage has gotta go up."
Employees are people too. Without them shareholders would be holding worthless paper.
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