We women have all had the uncomfortable experience of manicurists/pedicurists conversing with each other in foreign languages. So annoying! So when I read the recent New York Times article about these women's experience, I felt compelled to share. Following are excerpts from that article; nothing more for me to say.
"...$100...the fee the salon owner charges each new employee for her job."
"She would work for no wages, subsisting on meager tips, until her boss decided she was skillful enough to merit a wage...[t]hirty dollars a day."
"Workers endure all manner of humiliation, including having their tips docked as punishment for minor transgressions, constant video monitoring by owners, even physical abuse."
"...starting wage of $10 a day."
"...$1.50 an hour during a 66-hour workweek..."
"Workers of Korean descent routinely earn twice as much as their peers..."
Chinese workers occupy the next rung in the hierarchy; Hispanics and other non-Asians are at the bottom."
"...routinely work up to 12 hours a day, six or even seven days a week."
"...Hispanic colleagues were made to sit in silence during their entire 12-hour shifts, while the Korean manicurists were free to chat,"
",,,had to eat lunch every day standing in a kitchenette with the shop's other non-Korean workers, while her Korean counterparts ate at their desks."
(The High Price of Pretty Nails, New York Times, May 10, 2015)
What more can I say?
The nail salons reviewed for this article were all in New York -- and all parts of New York. The Upper West Side, the Village, the Upper East Side, and the boroughs. What is unfortunate is that, as a result of this exposure, NYC or NYS will begin regulating nail salons ... salons will close ... many, many jobs will be lost by women with few or no options ... and the cost of manicures will jump up like crazy.
Life in these here United States. Sigh.
Life in these here United States. Sigh.
