* * Adam Ryan works for worker rights

“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country,” Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Working class Americans need a raise.

For a few days a couple of weeks ago, Christiansburg native and resident Adam Ryan was internationally famous. Adam’s story became the narrative lead in an article from The Guardian, a 200 year old British daily newspaper, seen here and worldwide on the internet, quoting him about his experience at the Target store where he works about conditions there for workers.

“I have to live with my family because I can’t afford rent on my own. I don’t have health insurance. I’ve had a rotting tooth in my mouth for years that I haven’t been able to receive treatment. I’ve applied for Medicaid in Virginia and every time I’m told I make too much money, and Target has told me I don’t qualify for their benefits because I don’t get enough hours,” Ryan, age 31, was quoted in the article.

So I tracked him down and spoke with him about his interview with The Guardian and his thoughts on the relationship between workers and management in 21^st Century retailing.

He told me, “I make $13 an hour. It’s the hourly minimum at Target, which is scheduled to increase by $15 by the end of the year.” But he and his co-workers have noticed that Target is cutting their hours, often dropping them below what qualifies for company health benefits.

“I got into labor organizing some years ago, prior to working for Target. There is the belief that direct action of the workers is the best means of getting issues addressed in the workplace. A lot of hostility people have towards unions is because of the backroom deals.

“I grew up in a conservative, right-wing household. I deviated from my family’s politics. The ‘Occupy’ movement resonated with me. I started becoming more attuned to the issues of working people and racism. It was a process (to become an activist). We were led to believe an American utopian version of history, where communism is dead, the USSR has collapsed, and America is the beacon of freedom and democracy in the world. Then 9/11 happened and we started wars in the Middle East against enemies that didn’t threaten us. Iraq. Afghanistan. The justifications that weren’t real. It caused me to lose faith and trust in our institutions. Just like Vietnam; it was all based on lies.

“I got a job here in Christiansburg with Target. I knew I’d start organizing (co-workers). I’ve been with them for about three years. Target gives us a survey each year ostensibly to measure employee satisfaction. Our voices can be heard. But workers don’t trust the survey. It is an anonymous survey, but they ask questions that can identify you. So people are less candid. They feel pressured to give positive answers.

“We did our own survey, hoping to find the raw truth. We asked about cost of living, transportation, housing, and healthcare. We found these are bad jobs that people can’t even live on.”

I said, “It feels like a race to the bottom, where Amazon, the 800 pound gorilla in the room, sets increasingly lower standards of worker protection and compensation, then other competitors like Target attempt to match them.

“I did a fun calculation the other week,” I continued. “I took the per-capital income of the state of West Virginia, which incidentally is around $25,000, and multiplied it by the population of the state. Then I compared it with Jeff Bezos’ income, the founder of Amazon. Bezos makes half-again more than the entire income of that American state for a year. One man! We are not a poor nation. It’s just that in the fight between workers and owners, workers are getting creamed.”

“Right,” he agreed, “and they’re suffering. It’s obscene to me that one man can hoard that kind of wealth. People who can’t afford to live on their wage depend on charity or government assistance programs. So taxpayers are subsidizing huge corporations that refuse to pay workers a living wage.”

I said, “As a former employer and taxpayer, it seems to me that anybody who is willing to get up every morning, Monday through Friday, and work a 40 hour week, should not be dependent upon government assistance to afford the basics of life: food, clothing, transportation, shelter, and health care.” 

“Yes,” he agreed. “And right now, that’s just not happening. Target won’t allow people to work enough hours to get benefits. Then they won’t set a fixed schedule, meaning folks can’t get a second job, because what employer will hire them without knowing when they can work? How can you arrange care for your children? Seventy-seven percent of our economy is these poorly paid service jobs.

“We’re just trying to achieve a stable schedule. A full work week. Benefits. Dignity. Workers want our contributions to be adequately compensated so we can live independent lives.”