It’s Time To Treat Workers With Respect

Tim Mossholder/Unsplash

Written by Alba Rosa/ Contributing Writer

We experienced havoc in our economy due to COVID. Luckily, our economy is recovering, but a worker shortage is damaging it again. How come around 8 million job openings and very few people are willing to work?

There are many reasons. For example, industries reliant on immigrant workers lost a lot of potential employees due to new immigration laws and an overall decline of immigrants coming to the States. There’s also the shift from working in person to working at home that has tampered with the job market.

But, the most important reason: workers are claiming back their power against tyrannical employers. People are quitting and protesting their jobs. 

It didn’t matter if they depended on the job or if they’re set with stimulus checks.

They’re protesting the horrible conditions they’re forced to tolerate. No more maltreatment from their superiors.

The service industry, like restaurants and bars, is a perfect example.

It’s one of the most toxic workplaces of them all. This industry is the most accessible to college students. Working part-time at a restaurant is easy enough, right? Servers and hostesses simply take care of customers while the chefs cook and clean.

As someone who worked in the restaurant business, that statement cannot be farther from the truth. 

Servers and hostesses have to deal with demanding customers for $10 an hour while receiving low tips, while chefs deal with their absurd demands. But something all staff in the restaurant have in common is the overwhelming pressure to perform demanding jobs with little pay.

One time, I worked a 13-hour shift at a restaurant. Starting at 9 a.m., I was the only hostess in the first nine hours of my shift. That morning, I didn’t eat breakfast because I feared I would throw it up only minutes later.

Hungry and dizzy, I did my job and showed patrons to their tables. I hid my pain with the classic customer service smile.

How long was my break? Only 30 minutes.

I worked for nine hours straight wearing heels. But my bosses wouldn’t let me have a decent break in between shifts, which is, surprisingly, legal. In Florida, employers aren’t required to give employees lunch breaks.

Even so, I decided that enough was enough. I turned in my two weeks notice a couple of days later. 

To those who quit their jobs due to this horrible trend, I’m here for you. 

It’s time to learn from experiences like these. If a large number of workers are quitting their jobs due to unfair treatment or bullying, we need to fix it. 

College students have so much pressure already. Studies show that working while attending classes in college does more harm than good. 

Jobs are essential for every college student. It teaches us how to manage our finances, communicate with others in stressful situations and perform basic tasks our future employers ask of us. By having jobs, we can form more connections for our future. 

But it’s not worth it if we’re always getting the short end of the stick and dreading the trip to work. 

Workers deserve better.

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

The opinions presented within this page do not represent the views of PantherNOW Editorial Board. These views are separate from editorials and reflect individual perspectives of contributing writers and/or members of the University community