Chapter Two
This chapter is about the daily struggles of an employee who is being paid little and can therefore not be able to fully sustain his family. Terrence Wise works at Burger King. One would be forgiven for automatically believing that he is well paid given that he works for a brand that is internationally recognized. However, following his journey of how he gets through the day, it is quite sad to discover that he, like many other low income earning Americans, cannot support his family. It has reached an extent to which he together with his fiancée have to give up a meal in order to feed their three daughters.
Interestingly, Wise looks at his family history and allows readers to discover that it is actually a generational thing. This is a revelation to most readers because few would ever consider looking at their history as having played part in their present situation in terms of poverty. Wise lets readers know that other days, all they had to eat was a loaf of bread. His story does not end there. Readers also learn that Wise’s brothers sold drugs for a living. Once again, a majority of Americans, particularly the racial minorities can relate with this situation. Wise is, however, struggling not to bring up his kids under similar circumstances but it has proven to be quite difficult.
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Additionally, he also has an American dream. He desires to officially wed Myoshia, his fiancée, but the fact that she wants a big wedding ceremony that will cost approximately $1,000 excluding invitations, and dresses for everyone, makes it even harder. Wise is a good illustration of how many underprivileged American citizens, despite them having some source of income, can still not be able to support or sustain their families.
Chapter Three
In this chapter, the Culinary Workers Union has been highlighted as among the few unions that are still flying high in terms of assisting workers. Its story then narrows down to one Francis Garcia, a housekeeper aged 39 years, and has so far benefited from the Union’s effort. Most employees across America hesitate to enroll with a workers’ union for different reasons. While some believe that they do not fully represent their concerns, others see them as a waste of time. Garcia signed up with the Culinary Workers Union and now earns $780 per week, compared to nonunion housekeepers who earn a mere $330.
Culinary Workers Union also provides health plans, thus enabling workers such as Garcia to comfortably support their families without the need for housing subsidies, Medicaid, or food stamps. The Union has been identified as being an example for other unions, particularly those in politics. Culinary Workers Union’s triumph is as a result of trust and loyalty that most members have towards it. This is quite an encouragement for other workers who may be hesitant about joining a worker’s union.
Chapter 19
Similar to Chapter Three, this chapter also talks about workers’ union. It focuses on Kaiser Permanente, a union boasting of 12 million health plan members, over 50,000 nurses, and over 200,000 workers. A pharmacy technician, Candy Maldonado, has also been identified in this particular chapter and is responsible for monitoring a number of diabetic outpatients who miss their telephone engagements with Kaiser pharmacists the previous day. Readers have been given a sneak preview of the kind of challenges that those working in pharmacies experience on a regular basis with regards to making appointments and clients following up. Following the introduction of Unit-Based Teams, UBT, Maldonado was now able to phone a number of patients the morning of their engagements or leave a voice mail if they failed to pick up. Once again, this Chapter encourages other workers to join unions given that working conditions and morale greatly improve compared to those at the nonunion hospitals.
