« The unfairness of things (7): Sometymes Why | Main | "Teenage Kicks" »

The real unfairness of things

Picking up ice cream this morning for Maggie's pre-school birthday party, I ran onto a help-wanted sign at Kroger's which employed language I have seen around town before, but which finally translated today: "Help wanted, must be available all hours." Those are not the precise words, but that's the sense of it.

Near as I can tell, what that says is, "Don't apply if you have children. Or if you're a student." We're not talking about jobs which will pay enough to support a family, we're talking about the kinds of jobs spouses get (or take on as second jobs) to help support a family. And what this asserts is the employer's right to oblige staff to work any irregular hours which suit the needs of the moment, with no regard to family (or health) obligations.

I don't mean to single Kroger out here because I've seen similar language, now that I think about it, at WalMart and at the Dollar Store (neither of which I frequent commonly, but Morehead is a small town and sometimes one must).

Doubtless to some extent this comparatively new policy reflects staffing concerns handed down from management tired of adjusting to the complicated lives of single parents and such. But I suspect that it is also a corporate gimmick designed to reduce health care costs, for if only the single, childless, or retired work there, the company's benefits obligations will doubtless be reduced substantially.

This is the same kind of not terribly subtle coded language we have heard as the University of Kentucky wrestles with the decision to extend domestic partner benefits to its staff. Earlier this week the board of regents voted in favor of those benefits, but, because Kentucky passed a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a legal challenge is anticipated. Leaving off the obvious fact that partner benefits apply equally to gay and straight living arrangements (and estimates which suggest the cost to the university is negligible in the scheme of things), does anybody really doubt that opponents of domestic partner benefits seek to discourage the hiring and retention of gay faculty?

As Billy Joe Shaver said to me some years back, "I hate people who whisper."

Posted by grant on April 26, 2007 9:31 AM | Permalink