Tom:
Your questions point at what might be termed "lemon management": Massachusetts rates us severely disabled types for how many hours/week of personal care we rate, gives us a lump sum check every month ($7.85 X hours per month), which we pay our "helpers" (typically called personal care attendants), hired thru ads, word-of-mouth, wherever. No benefits, no Soc Sec, no worker's comp, no sick time, overtime, no nothing.
This is just about to change, w/ a nominal raise, and all sorts of w/holding. Still no benefits, but if they work OT w/o a good excuse, I pay the difference. What I and some others have been doing is paying a higher wage (the economy is so "good," we can't find "good help."), and squeezing my hours a little.
This situation, for us disabled types, has been one of relative freedom and independence, compared to the alternatives: incarceration in a nursing home, or somehow finding "free" labor from family members. For the helpers, it is somewhere on the oppression continuum, I guess, but this fact is complicated by two factors: since our bodies are living things, they demand daily attention; and, since our bodies are so devalued, and the wage so low, we can easily become beholden to the workers who will do this "dirty work." A lot of negotiating goes on, in other words. I would argue strongly, however, that, *because we have no choice but to go on "producing"*, while our helpers can move on, that our situation is quite a bit more tenuous.
And no, there is no union. The reason? Disorganized, transient, illegal workers, I guess. In CA, I think there are a few. An interesting ? would be whom would a union organize against? Us lemon managers, who produce (or manage the production of) a socially devalued item, namely our disabled bodies? Or the ultimate funder, the state. Even though we are certainly employers (I fired someone today), our true position might be more that of foreman.
I admit I would be ambivalent about a union ("Throw him off the list!"), because I feear the organizing would be at me/us disabled types.
I'm fighting for a better wage out of self-interest, so I can have talented, happy "helpers", and so can lead my life. Does this move me from lumpen nothing to petty bourgeoisie?
Perhaps I *should* be helping organize a union, or some boundary-crossing disabled-helper alliance, and, and, and.....
So, yes there is more than just numbers here. I encourage caution before you judge.
John
On Sun, 29 Nov 1998, Tom Lehman wrote:
> Dear John,
>
> What's the relationship between you and your "helpers"? Are these full-time
> 40 hour a week jobs? What does the benefits package look like? Are your
> "helpers" represented by a union? If not, why not?
>
> In other words, there is more to this than massaging numbers.
>
> Sincerely,
> Thomas Lehman
>
> John B Kelly wrote:
>
> > I received $7.85/hour in 1988/89 [not sure which] to pay my Medicaid
> > funded helpers. Could someone tell me what that wage would be today,
> > adjusted for inflation and all? Is there some easy conversion formula I
> > could be pointed to?
> > Thanx
> > John Kelly
> >
> > [We're in a fight in Massachusetts to get a higher wage, which has been
> > stuck since then.]
>
>
>