Kinja reply list

Read More
kitteneyeHelen Holmes
10/07/15 2:05pm
Er, to me, this is a matter of basic math. I have lived in NYC for 8 years and the NY metro area for my entire life. I have gotten my nails done in many different places, and when you start doing the addition at most of them, the price for your manicure starts to not add up to anything near what would be a livable wage.

And that is hardly an isolated incident - not even REMOTELY close. If you are working on my nails for 40 minutes and I am paying you less than $10, that is, no “task force” investigation necessary, a problem. And that’s not getting into the health risks. These people can protest all they want, something is clearly not adding up.
Reply
- Read More
  AllisonKJkitteneye
  10/07/15 2:24pm
  If you are working on my nails for 40 minutes and I am paying you less than $10
  
  What the hell? Is that how cheap manicures are in NYC? The Vietnamese salon near my parents’ place in a smallish town charges $25 as a base, plus extra for things like gel or designs. (Money well-spent, as they are awesome.) How are these shops making enough to pay NYC rent?
  Reply
- Read More
  kitteneyeAllisonKJ
  10/07/15 2:48pm
  There are obviously exceptions, but for your basic manicure, you can easily find one for $10 or less. The closest nice salon near me in Park Slope, which is an area of Brooklyn where residents can absolutely pay full price for a manicure, charges $13, I think. Gels seem to start at $30 here.
  
  I think that they make enough for rent by fitting chairs into basically every square foot of space, upselling a ton, and probably taking a very large percentage of each service fee.
  Reply
Read More
Hamster17Helen Holmes
10/07/15 1:36pm
As an Asian immigrant, who’s family (and extended) owns nails salon or work in the nail salon industry, that piece was laughable and wasn’t very accurate, but whatever sells articles and get clicks.
Reply
- Read More
  PacemHamster17
  10/07/15 1:58pm
  Question: do you mean the NYT article is laughable and inaccurate, or do you mean that Helen Holmes’s article is laughable and inaccurate? Thanks.
  Reply
- Read More
  FrederickDouglassHamster17
  10/07/15 2:00pm
  What was inaccurate about it?
  Reply
Read More
ErsoHelen Holmes
10/07/15 1:39pm
It’s hard for me to feel sorry for people who are protesting their right to treat workers like indentured servants, and offensive that they are invoking the “women business owners” bit.

And one side note: a lot of companies and organizations I work with ARE paying their interns these days, because unless they are working for school credit, they have to. I know that it’s something that our auditors scrutinized more closely, and recommended we do in our last regular audit. So whether the IRS or DOL clarified that, got firmer about it, or just decided to enforce it in some cases, the analogy doesn’t hold water as much as it would even a few years ago.
Reply
- Read More
  dalilaErso
  10/07/15 1:46pm
  The argument about whether their newspaper ads are advertising wages or the typical price of a service is interesting, and I wonder which answer is correct (if not both).
  
  Everything else sounded to me like rationalization for treating workers poorly.
  Reply
- Read More
  Red Detachmentdalila
  10/07/15 1:52pm
  A while back, when the NYRB published the rebuttal. Nir tweeted out some images of ads from here research, and they did indeed say what she claimed. I don’t know why people keep brining this up. The Times certainly have people on staff who can read Chinese, and if this was something Nir couldn’t verify, her career would really be on the line.
  
  ETA here is the tweet:
  
  Reply
Read More
littlefallsmetsHelen Holmes
10/07/15 1:39pm
Nothing more American than exploited workers protesting in defense of their abusive employers because the desperation of our economy has mind-fucked them into Stockholm Syndrome. Welcome, immigrants, you have assimilated in the most important way.
Reply
- Read More
  dalilalittlefallsmets
  10/07/15 1:47pm
  Amen.
  Reply
- Read More
  Andrew Daisukelittlefallsmets
  10/07/15 1:54pm
  +1 This was my takeaway also.
  Reply
Read More
John BoehnerHelen Holmes
10/07/15 2:06pm
I feel so conflicted about this. All of my coworkers are undocumented (mostly Chinese, some Central American). They can tell you horror stories about where they came from, or the perils of traveling with coyotes. Even though they’re happy to make money for their families to send back home, I’m still like... No one should work 80 hours a week and make 20,000 a year. The owner/manager of where I work is also their landlord. They’ve had fucking bedbugs for months and she refuses to do anything about it, and this is literally what the biggest bedroom in their home looks like:

They’ll all tell you that they’re desperate to work and grateful for the opportunity, and they’re also really great friends... But Jesus Christ just because they’re grateful doesn’t mean they aren’t exploited.

I also feel compelled to add that all of the Chinese employees responded to ads promising them fair wages/ 2 hour breaks in between a 12 hour shift, and only 5 days a week. When they got here and were forced into their hellhouse, it was a different story. The one Chinese employee who read the ad in Queens had a family he could go back to AND greencard, so he fucking booked it. The photo picture was his bedroom. He got it because he was the only employee with a greencard.
Reply
- Read More
  Formica DinetteJohn Boehner
  10/07/15 4:30pm
  In addition to everything else you wrote, you made a great point about the advertisements vs. the reality. Even if the ads promised good pay, reasonable hours and a safe working environment, that doesn’t mean the employers delivered any of it.
  Reply
- Read More
  NailtechburnJohn Boehner
  10/07/15 7:18pm
  As an immigrano I was grateful for my job in nails. Doesn’t mean that people get to abuse others and not pay them and threaten them with calling INS. I’m glad that people are thinking about their manicures, some people have kindly inquired If we do get paid and if we feel okay. So I am glad the topic is out there.
  Reply
Read More
BrightEyesHelen Holmes
10/07/15 1:59pm
Um, yeah. If their businesses were really on the up and up, they’d have payroll records. Hope the IRS comes knocking.
Reply
- Read More
  Ms.ChanandlerBongBrightEyes
  10/07/15 2:48pm
  Ohhhhhhhh, the IRS gets so pissed if you don’t file your payroll. They will CUT you.
  Reply
- Read More
  BrightEyesMs.ChanandlerBong
  10/07/15 2:51pm
  Yup.
  Reply
Read More
stacyinbeanHelen Holmes
10/07/15 2:09pm
“[The Times] pulled from June 2014 and they said that the advertisement said a starting wage of $40, but actually this was listing the price of manicures.”

No one pays $40 for a regular manicure. I go to a place where all workers make at least minimum wage, have health insurance and profit sharing and keep all their tips and even there a regular manicure is not $40.

Not to mention, why would you put the price of your services in an employment ad where you are likely paying per character?
Reply
- Read More
  idonttrollstacyinbean
  10/07/15 2:45pm
  Places at UES have prices of $40 and more for regular manicures.
  Reply
- Read More
  stacyinbeanidonttroll
  10/07/15 3:08pm
  Regular Asian salon type places? Or the fancier ones? Even the frou-frou place I go is $25 for just a regular manicure, $45 for gel and $69 for mani/pedi.
  Reply
Read More
HappyHighwaymanHelen Holmes
10/07/15 1:43pm
The City’s investigation would seem to back up the article. These protesters can pound sand.
Reply
Read More
GinAndTonic Got Stuck in the BarneyHelen Holmes
10/07/15 1:44pm
No, you don’t. $40 a day isn’t pay.
Reply
- Read More
  Scarlett O'HereticGinAndTonic Got Stuck in the Barney
  10/07/15 1:48pm
  $40 was the price of a manicure, not a day’s wages, according to this article.
  Reply
- Read More
  noeScarlett O'Heretic
  10/07/15 3:58pm
  No, according to the nail salon owner quoted in this article.
  Reply
Read More
pdxwhyHelen Holmes
10/07/15 1:59pm
Furthermore, no one was challenging the veracity of the task force’s findings outright: as their protest’s placement made clear, they seemed to take primary issue with the Timespiece itself.

As the daughter of an immigrant family I have to say this: tough cookies. Protesting the truth does not then render the truth into a lie.

An all American past time is absolute exploitation o f brothers and sisters from back home. This is what was happening with these day spa and nail salon businesses. The owners have every right to protest, but they should look into leveling up and paying people a good wage- and charging for it.
Reply
- Read More
  Formica Dinettepdxwhy
  10/07/15 4:34pm
  I agree. And most people *will* pay higher prices for nail services. Just look at the rest of the country.
  Reply