I know I should be grateful but...

[yungatart]

I noticed a job advertised in our local paper today...shop assistant at a roadside fruit and vegetable stall, stocking the bins, dealing with customers etc for 60 hours per week. Hourly rate between 18 and 20 dollars, depending on experience.

I compared that to my own job, dealing with special needs students for 26 hours per week. I am responsible for their academic education, personal cares, teaching life skills, socialisation, their safety and wellbeing and teaching acceptable behaviours.
I liaise with their parents, teachers and outside agencies.

How well I do my job can have a profound effect on them for the rest of their lives. I have a tertiary diploma in Teacher Aide studies and I undertake professional and personal development courses each year. I have ten years experience, and I am extremely effective in my role.

For this I am paid $16 per hour!! Forty weeks of the year, plus four weeks annual leave...the rest of the year I am unpaid!

Why the feck do I bother? I could earn more as a shop assistant....who cares about job satisfaction...

Today, I feel really worthless.
Pissed off? You bet!

[Number One]

J. You know where I am coming from with this so please hear me when I say - people that do what you do are a an absolute god send. I totally get how draining this type of work is and given what you have said I also believe you are not paid nearly enough for it. You are just the kind of person that special kids are lost without, you have strength, are firm and fair, you are committed and you care. You are not worthless and the work you do (though clearly undervalued by the employer) is really priceless :hug:

[yungatart]

Thanks #1.
It is the "being totally undervalued" bit that really gets to me. It is not however, the fault of my employer...it is the system that undervalues me (and others like me...nurses, caregivers etc)

It is NOT the kind of job/career you choose for the money...and my job satisfaction is huge. But job satisfaction doesn't pay my mortgage. When I see the hourly rates for "monkey jobs" it is just a slap in the face.

[Number One]

When I see the hourly rates for "monkey jobs" it is just a slap in the face.
Yeah I understand :hug: on behalf of other parents out there that have people like you in their childrens lives...

THANKYOU SO VERY VERY MUCH FOR ALL THAT YOU DO FOR OUR BABIES

:hug: :hug: :sunny: :hug: :hug: :sunny: :hug: :hug: :sunny:

[FROSTY]

YT--keep in mind the 20 an hour is for about 6 weeks -till end of season.

[yungatart]

Nah, Frosty, this is a permanent roadside stall.
We don't have winter in HB, things grow all year round!

[Stickchick]

Thanks #1.
It is the "being totally undervalued" bit that really gets to me. It is not however, the fault of my employer...it is the system that undervalues me (and others like me...nurses, caregivers etc)

It is NOT the kind of job/career you choose for the money...and my job satisfaction is huge. But job satisfaction doesn't pay my mortgage. When I see the hourly rates for "monkey jobs" it is just a slap in the face.

I hear what you are saying tart, my sister is cargiver in Wellington for the Oldies, and she was told her maximum wage would be about $13.50ph.

That's complete shit when I can sit in an office all day and do very little in the way of physical work and just look pretty for twice that!!! I'm disgusted at it. How can the system justify it? What would schools, homes, hospital etc be like without people like yourself that like the satisfaction more than the money but yet struggle on a day to day basis monetary wise. :nono:

I for one, definitely don't understand it.

[MyGSXF]

"To the World.. you are one person..

To one person.. you are the World "

I understand it is unjust what you are being paid, money comes in handy.. but it isn't everything. What matters is that YOU are making a big difference in this World J.. your students need you & they are blessed to have such a dedicated, caring person in their lives. Stand tall & hold your head high hun.. be proud of who you are & what you do. :first:

"Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around"

(Leo Buscaglia)

:hug: for you xxxx

[jrandom]

I compared that to my own job, dealing with special needs students for 26 hours per week.

Like the others said, thank you. Sincerely. Without the likes of you, society wouldn't work.

I'd happily pay more tax in an instant if it could go straight to our teachers.


Today, I feel really worthless.

Don't.

Money isn't everything. It really isn't, so long as you have enough to eat, clothes to wear and a roof over your head.

What would you do with twice the hourly rate? Buy a few new appliances? Upgrade your bike? Eat out more often?

When you're retired and looking back over your life, I suspect that you'll feel a far greater sense of satisfaction as a result of your current path.

Good on you.

[MSTRS]

What would you do with twice the hourly rate? Buy a few new appliances? Upgrade your bike? Eat out more often?


Yep! Its called 'standard of living' and why should some of the frills be denied because of her career choice? The pay rates in this type of job are nothing less than criminal/slave labour.

[yungatart]

What would you do with twice the hourly rate? Buy a few new appliances? Upgrade your bike? Eat out more often?



Probably not actually...but I might buy a new pair of sandals rather than repair the ones I have, and maybe a few new clothes for work...

[jrandom]

Yep! Its called 'standard of living' and why should some of the frills be denied because of her career choice? The pay rates in this type of job are nothing less than criminal/slave labour.

Well, yes, but she shouldn't feel 'worthless' because of it.

Um, I dunno, man, what's to say? If it really isn't enough money to live on happily, I guess you gotta do something else instead, or find someone who wants to pay more for the same job. Private tuition contracts, perhaps?

[Lucy]

I noticed a job advertised in our local paper today...shop assistant at a roadside fruit and vegetable stall, stocking the bins, dealing with customers etc for 60 hours per week. Hourly rate between 18 and 20 dollars, depending on experience.


Today, I feel really worthless.
Pissed off? You bet!


That's amazing. I almost don't believe it. (Not that your pay is crap - hubby was a caregiver for intellectually handicapped adults for a while for $11ph), but that the fruit stall job pays that much. Is it true? Monkey jobs around here (of which I have several) get monkey pay.

As the others have said THANK YOU for doing your job.

I don't suppose if you said you were going to quit and work at the fruit stall they would give you a pay rise???

[MSTRS]

Yes. There may be other options. But in the current economic climate, where there is yet to be mass layoffs, the last in will be first out (as a rule). So to stay there is a form of security.
Her real problem is that for someone with the level of skill and inclination to do her sort of job to be paid so little, compared to a 'monkey job. is grossly unfair. To say nothing of soul destroying when the 20yo till operator next door can afford a new car every other year (for eg) when we still drive an 11 yo Holden and can't afford to update.
Yes, we could choose to keep that car if the tables were turned. The point is, we do not have the choice,

[gatch]

Why the feck do I bother? I could earn more as a shop assistant....who cares about job satisfaction...

Today, I feel really worthless.
Pissed off? You bet!

Well I hope this isn't enough to sway your current career path, the world needs more like yourself..

For what its worth I know how you feel, I'm in a totally different industry but still don't think what I'm getting is enough, in fact I used to earn more $$ shelling mussels and filleting hoki..

Keep up the good work :niceone:

[mashman]

A big thanks from me to you for choosing to do what you love and not what you can screw your employer for... it's a rare thing in this world... even if your employer (and by default those that hold his reigns) don't value the work that goes into keeping their business a profitable enterprise...

I'm in a position to see what each of the employees salaries are at the company I work for and am absolutely stunned by the differences the word "manager" makes to $$$ and from what i've seen with no great rational for it... The people on the shop floor point out the failings in company procedure and policy, yet they wear the can for the failings of their over paid "superiors" ignorance of how the business actually works... the business models of today are for turning a quick buck... staff expendable, as long as there's a healthy profit margin... no need for quality service as a profitable business is soon sold on... i'll stop as it's more than depressing to see what "businessmen" are allowed to get away with these days...

All the best Yunga... don't let the bastards grind ya down...

[MSTRS]

... don't let the bastards grind ya down...

I like the Latin...Nil Illegitimus Carborundum...
It's hard to watch someone you love do such an important job, a job they love, which wears them out physically, mentally and emotionally - yet are paid a pittance. It's often been said by various members on here that "I wouldn't get out of bed for that". Self-centred and short-sighted? Maybe, but I can understand the sentiment.

[ducatilover]

i was going to work for IHC down in masterton, yeah the pay isnt wonderful but i find an immense satisfaction working with the kids. which is why we currently look after two children for CYFS and have been for just over two years.
stacking fruit will not make you a person that people respect and you dont get to help less fortunate individuals who have had horrible set backs in life. seeing somebody that has had such an unjust disability thrown at them is too me one of the best things i could ever do

keep up the great work!

[alanzs]

"Capitalism has pulled a clever trick...It encourages people to define themselves through what they consume. Work is just a means to an end. It no longer defines character or offers personal fulfilment. It simply allows us to improve our status as consumers"

Peter Wilby, New Statesman

Live your life to the fullest! Drink from the cup that life offers! Don't allow yourself to be defined by others...

[MSTRS]

Live your life to the fullest! Drink from the cup that life offers! Don't allow yourself to be defined by others...

But others do define a great deal of one's life and ability to partake of it.
"Money doesn't buy happiness. But it sure buys a better class of unhappiness"
...or....
"There is no sin in being poor, but damn, it can be inconvenient"

[The Pastor]

yeah its pretty bad when you earn so little.

I earn a little $16.50 i think, but im just starting out. When you've been working for a long time and have a specialized skill set and earn crap I can see the pain.

Its hard enough for me, and ive only been working 4 to 5 years.

Maybe you should look at starting your own bussiness? sounds like you have the experience to pull it off, if you are of that type.

[yungatart]

The point is not how little I earn, nor how much I could earn as a fruit and vege stall assistant...the point is the total lack of relativity between the two.

Surely the job demanding higher skill level and tertiary education should pay more than monkey work that involves little more than being pleasant.

[MSTRS]

The point is not how little I earn, nor how much I could earn as a fruit and vege stall assistant...the point is the total lack of relativity between the two.

Surely the job demanding higher skill level and tertiary education should pay more than monkey work that involves little more than being pleasant.

I wonder what this sort of position pays at a totally private school (funded by parents and run as a 'profit-making' business)?
Schools, just like hospitals etc, being taxpayer funded money pits, are always struggling for funds. Or appear to, anyway.
Unfortunately, TAs are at the bottom of the hierachy and the high pay scales at the upper end ensure there is FA left once the trickledown is complete.

[jrandom]

Surely the job demanding higher skill level and tertiary education should pay more than monkey work that involves little more than being pleasant.

Y'reckon?

One directly generates profit.

The other is a social service that only exists as a paid job due to the goodness of the taxpayer's heart.

Not hard to see good old Adam Smith working his magic.

[Mully]

Surely the job demanding higher skill level and tertiary education should pay more than monkey work that involves little more than being pleasant.

Mmm, in a perfect world, it probably should. Unfortunately, we live in a far from perfect world.

In a perfect world, I should be earning millions, which 50 cent should be on welfare. But here we are.

[Disco Dan]

I noticed a job advertised in our local paper today...shop assistant at a roadside fruit and vegetable stall, stocking the bins, dealing with customers etc for 60 hours per week. Hourly rate between 18 and 20 dollars, depending on experience.

I compared that to my own job, dealing with special needs students for 26 hours per week. I am responsible for their academic education, personal cares, teaching life skills, socialisation, their safety and wellbeing and teaching acceptable behaviours.
I liaise with their parents, teachers and outside agencies.

How well I do my job can have a profound effect on them for the rest of their lives. I have a tertiary diploma in Teacher Aide studies and I undertake professional and personal development courses each year. I have ten years experience, and I am extremely effective in my role.

For this I am paid $16 per hour!! Forty weeks of the year, plus four weeks annual leave...the rest of the year I am unpaid!

Why the feck do I bother? I could earn more as a shop assistant....who cares about job satisfaction...

Today, I feel really worthless.
Pissed off? You bet!

I understand, I did the same job as you in a special needs school for about 3 years. Loved the job. I used to work 1:1 with a very challenging boy and I was responsible for his entire education for that year. Within 3 months his behavior was down to a level where he could rejoin the main class and he continued to improve while I was there.

It is shocking how low the pay is. Getting spat at, kicked/punched, sworn at by these children does get you down.

But when I saw one of my ex students a few weeks ago - now 15 and was doing REALLY well it made the pay seem immaterial.

Keep it up, it is "good work" rather than pen pushing which really only makes other people richer! YOU, give people LIFE and JOY and HAPPINESS.

[Sully60]

But when I saw one of my ex students a few weeks ago - now 15 and was doing REALLY well it made the pay seem immaterial.




And what is it worth to that student and everybody in their life that the person will be an active, contributing member of society? It's immeasurable.

Personally I think what you guys do is worth way more to everybody than some orchard owner making enough coin to buy a new Cayenne every second year.

Yungatart we have already seen the benefits of the help you've given us, you may not be valued highly enough by the system that you work in but I can tell you we think you're Gold, dipped in platinum and enlayed with diamonds!
If only you could take that to the bank!

[James Deuce]

I better not show this thread to our ESW. You're getting paid rather well in comparison.

[yungatart]

I better not show this thread to our ESW. You're getting paid rather well in comparison.

It's the ten years experience, Jim. Each year on my anniversary date, I get a pay increase. That, and I have my T/A Cert..

[James Deuce]

Ours is the same, plus she has 2 Autistic kids of her own, and a "previous life" that isn't acknowledged by her current pay.

[retro asian]

mo money... mo problems

[yungatart]

As do I.
2 autistic kids of her own, ad doing this for a job...the woman is an absolute saint!
It just somehow seems wrong to me, what price a life, eh?

[Usarka]

I think the question should be asked of your MP. What would they advise......?

more money by becoming a fruit stand employee or your currant (sic) valuable job for society

[Disco Dan]

It's the ten years experience, Jim. Each year on my anniversary date, I get a pay increase. That, and I have my T/A Cert..

Actually, you could do better at a private school. PM me if you want details, but lets just say your rate was 'start' rate.

[GurlRacer]

You know what Tart? For a change, I'm going to try my own luck at offering you a little peice of advice.

I know it sucks coz you don't get paid over the holiday season like teachers do.
I know it sucks coz you can't afford some nice clothes or a new car.
I know it sucks coz you work your little guts out and it seems like your pay doesn't reflect that.

BUT

At the end of the day, who is really winning here? Us of all people know how short and precious life really is. :) Just think, would you rather be remembered in the light that the members here talk about you? That you're a saint, a huge help to society and so on. Or would you rather just be, "the lady who worked hard and had all the pleasantries in life?"

Your pay may not reflect the work you put in to each and every day on the job, but it sure as hell makes you appreciate what you do have. Things like, a family. A job that offers satisfaction. And to people like myself... you offer inspiration. :) Inspiration to make a difference in the world. :)

You Go Girl :D

[Oakie]

$18 to $20 for a shop assistant in a road-side stall sounds like a bit of an exageration by the advertiser ... expecially in today's economic climate with heaps of people looking for jobs. Why would you pay someone that much to do a fairly unskilled task? Certainly the ones I know down here are on minimm wage. (No disrespect meant to any shop assistants.)

The other side is that your own wages are probably entirely due to government funding levels. I work in HR in an intellectual disabilty organisation http://hohepa.com/ and the funding we get only allows us to pay up to $17 an hour. We'd love to be able to pay more but even as a non-profit, there just isn't the funding to allow it.

I am in awe of the people who do the hands on work in this industry ... more so when you see the money they take home. (Oh, I also do the payroll so I really do see what they take home.)