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I am a Chinese so my family usually have some Chinese contractor do the moving. A couple years ago my family and I bought a home (finally!) and we hired a contr
by yeukhon 9y ago
I am a Chinese so my family usually have some Chinese contractor do the moving. A couple years ago my family and I bought a home (finally!) and we hired a contractor to come in, after my family and I had packed up everything (since my dad is a jack-of-all-trade kind of a smart man).
The contractor paid two Hispanic workers to do most of the heavy-lifting work, but we also helped anyway so we get the move done ASAP. The hardest thing to move was the heavy massage chair so we let them moved the chair. They are strong...
I don't know how much we paid the contractor in total, but I know it didn't go above 1000. We tipped the contractor and also tipped the workers separately ($150 each). We are very generous when we work with nice and hardworking people. They deserve the bonus, especially knowing the contractor wouldn't pay them a lot. So tipping to us have to be personal, and shouldn't be part of a system.
I mention this story because the hiring process may seem bizarre to the non-Chinese immigrants. Contractors (construction or moving) usually hire workers off the street. There is a place the contractors will find workers waiting to get a job. So yes, these workers are literally picked that morning like 7AM and the guy came around 11AM since the contractor had another job early that morning. The contractor might find another pair the next day.
The truth is, every community has its own way to find people to do work for them. In the Chinese immigrant community, we almost never hire an expensive professional contractor. We (at least the people I know) believe Americans charge us way more for the same, if not, less quality work. We "joke" about how schools can save so much money if they'd pay a licensed Chinese contractor.
My dad also doesn't use Uber because (1) he doesn't speak very good English, and (2) he can call a driver for $25 going to JFK with just one call (plus maybe $10, $20 tip). We can go anywhere in the tri-state area in range of $20-$75 in a comfortable SUV. The Chinese community (Korean and Spanish community also have this) also have a shuttle bus that goes from Queens<->Chinatown, Flushing<->Chinatown, Brookyln 8 ave<->Chinatown for $2-$3 dollar. You call the call center, tell the operator which shuttle stop to pick up from.
"If it ain't broken, don't change." For the same service quality, why go for something more expensive?
- rtpg 9y agoYou've mentioned it yourself: Many of the people in these systems are likely underpaid. Systemic exploitation is the name of the game for a lot of the base infrastructure in our society. I'm for communities helping each other, but in your moving example you think those workers have health insurance? Why do you have to sneak the tips? I bet the bus drivers make a good amount of money though.
- sidegrid 9y agoWhy in the US do you have to rely on the employer to provide health insurance? So weird.
- thatswrong0 9y agoA couple of pieces of legislation in the 1940s and 1950s had the effect of encouraging companies to offer health benefits in lieu of others forms of compensation. Seems to have just snowballed from there.
- SkippyGuy 9y agoThat doesn't make it right.
- toomuchtodo 9y agoWe're working on getting it fixed. Pardon our dust.
- burnte 9y agoNo one said it did, the question was why was it this way. This person explained.
- gumby 9y agoIt is absurd; its roots lie in world war II wage controls and then once the interests were entrenched, it stuck. Plus a change in the rules on health care profits in, IIRC, the 1980s.
- ac29 9y agoAbout half of the US gets government-sponsored healthcare (via Medicaid, Medicare, or one of the state-run programs). The other half don't, and getting it via your employer is generally a win-win (they are providing a benefit that costs them nothing [0], and you get to pay for healthcare via pre-tax income). You certainly don't have to rely on your employer for healthcare, you can buy any legal health insurance you like with your own money. [0] Yes, it is extremely common for employers to pay for healthcare in full or in part (and the ACA complicates this a little), but there is no reason employers have to pay anything in order for employees to realize the tax benefit.
- icebraining 9y agoMy dad also doesn't use Uber because (1) he doesn't speak very good English That's curious, one of the advantages of Uber for me is that I don't have to speak the local language, since I can preselect the destination on the app. Coincidentally, TAL had a story on a car service from Chinatown on a recent episode: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/622/transcript#act2 https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/622/...
- underwoodley 9y agoYour answer says something about why tips-included doesn't work. For generous people like your family, you feel happy giving good workers a big tip. It's not just part of the moving cost, but a small good deed. Participating in this is something extra you get for your money. You wouldn't get the same feeling from an included tip, which you can't be sure goes straight to the worker. Presumably if the movers were lazy or rude you would also be glad that you could choose to tip less. For cheapskates who stiff on the tip regardless of the quality of the service, tips-included just means a higher cost for them.
- Double_a_92 9y agoSo black labor and exploitation? ._.