>PS. I do not buy Kelley's argument that service employment relations
>spoil social solidarity either.
boss/employee relations do, which is ehrenreich's argument (not mine) and why she says "hire your domestics from a service" so you don't end up being a boss, but a consumer.
i just amply illustrated why it's wrong to assume what folks have been assuming and, AFAICT, you, Wojtek, propagated the misconception that there was a huge differential in pay between independents and employees of services. there probably isn't. look at the BLS data, then compare what people say they hire maids for, then factor in the issues i raised and it works out to be really even. even in the case ehrenreich mentions: Maine's Merry Maids, the $25/hr to the service was for _four_ maids, not for one maid.
also, another reason why she might be advocating hiring a service, though she never says it, is this: do you think unionizing would have a better chance among independent contractors or among maids who worked for a service?
apologies to doug,
kelley