My little 99% gripe of the day - low wage jobs that make you pay to park!

[K8-EEE]

So my brilliant 20 y/o daughter who graduated 5th in her University class, and one year early - is facing a grim job market and resigning herself to signing on to the retail plantation while she figures out how to pay for grad school, which astoundingly is $39,000 a year for the program she wants, and that's a public university, yikes!

I am surprised that her $10 an hour job at a high-end mall by Beverly Hills does not pay parking for the employees! They would get a $5 a day rate in a huge parking structure where the roof is empty almost every day - half hour wages just to park there. And naturally her hours are such that she would miss the last bus home.

Not like the biggest deal but it just seems so trifling -- b/c in the course of an average work day the employees hand out validations to 1%-ers all day, even if they are just stopping in to use the bathroom. I don't blame them for wanting to be generous with parking validations with the customers but jeez would it kill them to validate the staff? I've worked at a lot of low-level office jobs and they always gave us worker bees parking passes, now I see that it's "the new normal" for secretaries and mail room people to pay $100 a month to park, and in places where there is no alternative parking. But you can bet the executives have the parking put into their contracts.

Just more drip, drip, drip for the working class.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

1. To work, you need a car, parking, clothing, babysitter, and a whole load of other things

How does one pay for all that?

I think what's going to happen, if the 1% continues to steal, and the govt. to represent only the 1%, is that families will eventually look like the families of immigrants at the turn of the century: everyone living and huddling together in one dwelling, everyone working wherever they can, doing odd jobs where they may, and pooling all the little resources together.

[K8-EEE]

2. That's true I see so many ads where you "must have a blackberry, a vehicle, a laptop"

or some other costly things that you are required to use without compensation...I remember the days of company cars and company phones, they still have them but only for the elite who could afford to pay for them.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

3. Exactly. By the time one gets through, one is working for free. nt

[JoeyT]

6. I think that's the goal.

It's mind boggling how people that wouldn't blow their noses with a denomination below a hundred would think the rest of us would be happy to work ourselves sick for nothing. Before long we'll see places trying to pay employees in scrip again.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

7. They'd love to have slavery. nt

[K8-EEE]

8. In China and other "business friendly" countries they pretty much have it nt

[Sarah Ibarruri]

9. Exactly right nt

[locahungaria]

4. Disgusting, ain't it! n/t

[TBF]

5. When I was working I was in middle manager or staff positions in large cities -

I was lucky if I could even pay to get parking anywhere near work. Spots were given out free to owners and executives (principals in the business) and reserved for clients, but the working class pays for any spots that are left over (if you can afford the rates). Many would take other forms of transportation (busses, subway) - but as you stated sometimes you work too late for the last bus etc...

I'm glad folks are finally talking about these things. Workers are also paying for professional clothing and child care - and trying to do so on salaries that are so much less than the executives.

[Trillo]

10. Those parking costs should be deductible, they're essentially an expense.

One set of laws for corporations who may deduct their expenses, another for people who may not deduct their expenses.