Dark History - 72: Dying for Minimum Wage or Surviving on the Bare Minimum

Episode Date: February 1, 2023

Hi friends, happy Wednesday! Welcome to the Dark History podcast. I feel like every day there is some new group of people going on strike. And I'm always like Hell Yeah! Stick it to the man. But then I started doing some research on why there are so many strikes and started reading up on minimum wage and immediately was like bring me my sign, burn it all down. Because believe me, this shit is unbelievable. In today’s episode we get into the history of minimum wage and talk about how from the very start, it’s been about so much more than money. Episode Advertisers Include: Stitch Fix & OUAI Haircare. Learn more during the podcast about special offers! 

Oh my God, hi! How are you doing today? I hope you're having a wonderful day so far. My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to my podcast, Dark History. If you're new here, this is a chance to tell a story like it is and to share the history of stuff. I don't know, maybe you just don't think about or you just don't know. You know, it's for anyone who's curious out there like myself.

So all you have to do is sit back relax and let's talk about that hot juicy history, Goss, baby. Welcome. We made it. And you know what's really annoying? I'm already annoyed. It's 2023 and I'm talking about what's annoying. When we talk to our grandparents. Sorry I wasn't expecting that.

Okay, you know what's annoying you guys? I'm sure you can relate. When we talk to our parents and grandparents, what if that's all I said? The edge. Anyways, what annoys me is that when we talk to our parents and slash or our grandparents, they always say the same thing.

Back in my day, we had a house, we worked, we walked, you know, back in their day, everything was peaches and cream. They had house, wife, husband, whatever, two cars, three kids, put their gifts through college, and then retired. Now they're gardening. And you're like, what the hell? And they were able to always do this with one salary and on one salary alone. And I mean, they're not lying.

Good for you, grandma. Like, I wish I got that shit. There was a time when one job was, was enough to support not just one person, but a whole damn family. A time when a paycheck not only covered the cost of living, but there was some leftover today. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Good luck with that. You know, anyways, it's just an idea that sounds so crazy, right? It's just so unattainable to in today's world.

And it's not just crazy. It seems impossible to do any of that with the job you have right now, any job. You can't force it, right? Thank you. Okay, preaching to the choir, praise God. So why don't we have it like our grandparents did? Why do people need like three jobs just to pay rent and just to get by and in the end still struggling?

Things are just truly out of whack and how are you supposed to live? No time for hobbies, no time for much of anything. Most people are too busy drowning in our quote unquote hustle culture to make time for just simply enjoying life. Like, I want to garden.

I can't garden because I'm thinking about that light bill was really expensive. What light did I leave on? And you know, it's just, oh my god. So I had so many questions about how and why did we get to this point? So I started digging. Over and over. I kept coming back to one simple phrase, many of us know, minimum wage. So I started wondering if minimum wage was always a thing. To us today,

it's, it's just a given, but was it always like that? And if not, when and where did it start? And why is it such a hot button issue? The more I dug into the research and the more I learned, honestly, the crazier got. Who would have thought that the origins of something like minimum wage is dripping in blood full of chaos and caused hundreds, if not thousands of people to lose their lives, not even that long ago. So, what an intro, huh? Pound it. Thank you. So, this story starts in a very unexpected location. That's right, we're going to New Zealand.

Yeah, I don't think I've ever really discussed New Zealand on this show, have I? But hey, we made it around the world's baby. But I'm glad we're here. Because one, it always looks super gorgeous based off the Google images I saw and Google images doesn't lie, right? Two, I've always heard that, like, Lord of the Rings was shot there. I think it has something to do with dragons.

There's, I don't know, I never saw it, but that's what it's known for. Dragons and rings and lords, I don't know. But do you know what I found out? New Zealand is also known for? Minimum wage, baby. Oh yeah. In the year 1890, a bunch of maritime workers went on strike and the name of being treated better. This was called the Trans-Tasmin Maritime Strike. Port workers, ship laborers, and a bunch of semen. Let's say a sackful, walked right out on the job.

I mean, they wanted better wages, and the business owners refused to negotiate. Things escalated very quickly, and no one could agree on anything. And in the end, the strike failed. Over the next four years, it only got worse. Employers started blacklisting union members, and wages dropped hard and fast. It just wasn't a great time to be a seamen. The economy started to tank and everyone honestly was bitter. So the government got involved and started sending in armed troops to get things in control. Eventually, after tons of heat had back and forth, the government finally gave in and in 1894 said,

fine, you can have a minimum wage, bar bra, but it's gonna be based on your job. Not just a flat rate, one size fits all infinity scarf. Now this was huge, and it actually gave the country, the nickname, a country without strike, which is funny, because I've never heard of that. I've only heard of Lord of the Dragons or whatever. This was a crazy idea.

A country where strikes don't exist because workers can actually, you know, live on what they got paid. Oh, this was like a new idea, light bulb moment. So this whole minimum wage movement started to get a lot of attention around this time. Henry Lloyd was an American political activist and journalist, traveled down to New Zealand to see what all the minimum wage fuss was about. And when he got there, he talked to people,

did some journalistic investigating about how the workers were being treated, and he saw that New Zealand was on to something. People were generally happier, so he took his findings back across the Atlantic to the United States of America. Now, Henry starts spreading the word about this new concept of minimum wage happening in New Zealand.

And well, in America, well, you know, companies, they wanna cut corners. They don't wanna, yeah. And a big way they do that is by paying people as little as possible. So when guys like Henry start getting people interested in the concept of minimum wage, and a big way they do that is by paying people as little as possible. So when guys like Henry start getting people interested in the concept of minimum wage, the big American companies, they know likey, and they are gonna stop at nothing to avoid this thing called minimum wage.

So in the late 1800s, there's a big change happening in the country where it's like an us versus them mentality forming. And in America, I mean, she was feeling inspired. In the 1890s, workers in America were dealing with just a lot. I mean, there was the industrial revolution. So a lot of things were really changing. And the industrial revolution brought a lot of technology into the workplace.

Machines were essentially replacing people, and these machines itself, they weren't exactly safe. Factory jobs were more dangerous than ever before, and people were spending crazy amounts of time around those machines. Bailey, how much time? I'm glad you asked. The average American worker put in 16 hours a day for six days a week, and the salary was

honestly insulting. I mean, in 1890, the average hourly wage was literally 14 cents. That's my spinks. Very unhappy. Today, that's like getting paid $4.50 an hour. that's like getting paid $4.50 an hour. So, you can imagine that's not great. People could not afford to feed their families. And when you think about the risk involved for a lot of these factory jobs where people were literally losing like a leg or an arm, it was just a big slap in the face.

Understandably, people were at their boiling point. They just were pissed off and wanted more, especially railroad workers. Choo-choo! You get it, railroad. Back to our story. Railroad workers, if you don't really understand, because sometimes it sounds like,

what do they do? But they essentially built this country. And they were some of the people who suffered the most workplace abuse. So to understand minimum wage, we really have to start with them. During the 1890s, railroads... I can't... I have a hard time saying my ours, so railroads is going to be a little hard for me, but bear with me.

During the 1890s, railroads were all the rage. I know we don't think much of the railroads anymore because cars, planes, Uber, blah, blah, blah. But before railroads were created, people had to travel under harsh conditions for weeks or even months at a time by horse or by wagon. Yeah, organ trail vibes. Now, with the railroads connecting the country,

state-to-state, the blue, peopleop, people could travel all over the country, and companies could sell more to other parts of the country as well. There was a lot that went into building America's railroads system, and the working conditions were horrible to say the least. If you were a railroad worker, you'd have to wake up early. I know, rough, not really kidding. But like before the sun, which already not ideal.

Anyway, so you'd have to wake up at the crack of dawn. And a lot of the times these workers would stay in crowded railroad construction camps. So building a railroad at this time, they're connecting cities, but in between the cities, there's literally nothing. Just dirt, a bush over there, swirls. You know, like there's not like homes and stuff.

So while working on the rail road, the workers would have to set up camp, which was just tent city. They would live and work at the scene in these makeshift cities where there was no shower. There were no toilets and there was no fresh water or food. Personal hygiene, she was missing.

Yeah. Everybody was just, as you can imagine, stinky, tired, exhausted, not being taken care of. At the job site itself, there was no shelter, no shade from crazy weather conditions like rains, no heat waves. Plus railroads had to be built over rivers and mountains and deserts, which, you know, sometimes there would be people just hanging off the

side of a mountain or in direct heat, getting each stroke. It's just a very stressful environment. And then on top of that, workers had to then use dynamite, you know, dynamite sticks. Yeah, they would have to light those, throw them into the work site. And this would blow up parts of like a mountain. So they could make a path for the train tracks itself, which sounds safe. But come on, dynamite sticks, remember cartoons, nothing, nothing good happened when a dynamite stick was around. But that's what they used to blow. You get it. Trains. Well, one day in 1867, workers placed 20 sticks of dynamite into a cave, lit them up, and then raced out.

So they stood back and watched the dynamite go off. But they noticed that only 18 out of the 20 exploded. So there were two that were left. Math. The workers boss forced them to go back to the the the tracks in the cave and light those two dynamite sticks. Okay, they're like go back in there, light that shit. They go back in with the intention of fighting them, and guess what bitch? Explosion, kaboom bitch, kab fucking boom. Last two dynamite six, go off with the workers inside. Okay, guess what? It was raining men, blood and guts and body parts were everywhere. Yeah, that's what that song's really about.

And this wasn't just like a one time sad thing. I mean, these deadly explosions happened all of the time. And it's not like these jobs were paying, you know, workers big bucks that makes it like, well, at least you get it. Like if you gave me a couple million, yeah, okay, I'll go light some dynamite. But they're not paying that.

So these workers are just risking their lives to, for what? For what? Okay, well, great. Depressing, we know. Exploitation and horrible stuff like this was not just happening within the railroad company, itself, like the workers,

but it was happening all over the country. And then it finally all came to a head in Chicago on May 11, 1894. That's when the railroad workers decided it was time that they actually do something. So, they were about to set into motion what would become known as the greatest labor movement in history. So, guess what, bitch? Sorry, I don't know why I'm in a bitch mood. Bitch! The workers gathered together and talked about how they could get the attention of the people at the top,

not like just their manager or whatever. They need to get to the main dude. So they knew no one cared about their lives. They just had spent months working on the railroad watching their fellow workers die, these horrible deaths. They knew negotiating would get them nowhere. Because at the end of the day, they'd be reminded that they were replaceable. So they got together, brainstormed, and they thought, hey, let's send a message by hurting the only thing the people in charge cared about. They're money!

So they put their tools down, they stepped onto the tracks they built with their very own hands, and blocked the trains from moving. Now they hoped this would get the attention of like the Duden Charge Vanderbilt and all these other asshole like railroad owners and they were right. It did get their attention. One, because striking wasn't illegal at this time. So that caught their attention. And two, the big bosses didn't want any workers to think that they could get what they wanted by striking, which of course blew up in their face

like that dynamite in the cave. Because the people were about to create the Pullman strike. Now the Pullman company specifically built railroad cars, okay, and these railroad cars, they were like works of art. They were high-end, luxe luxury, first class, boozy-ass bitch, velvet sheets. I mean, seats. Think just, you know, that's what the Pullman

trained whatever their name is, built. Great. Pullman trained whatever their name is. Built. Great. Pullman was such a successful company that its president actually built a whole last town in Illinois where the factory workers could live. The town was called Pullman, Illinois. Wow. Now it kind of gets a little creepy when you think about it because like this whole thing

was meant to be a little utopia of sorts. Everything in the town was pulmon-owned, the homes, the grocery store, the library, the park. Any money the workers made basically went right back to the company when they paid their rent or like bought their food. It's very twilight zone situation, you know? But here's the thing, the workers

could barely even afford to live in this fake little prison town because they were barely paid enough to put food on the table, most likely a Pullman table. The average Pullman worker brought home 27 cents a day which today is like getting eight dollars for the whole day of work. Needless to say, the workers were dollars for the whole day of work. Needless to say, the workers were pissed. And they decided in 1893 to take matters into their own hands and strike. A quarter million people who were working out railroads across the country put their tools down, left their jobs and solidarity with Chicago to join in the Pullman Strike in total 250,000 people across America participated in the strike, meaning that 250,000 people just stood up

and walked out on their jobs. And times were really tough, so it wasn't really bold and brave things to do. And they were essentially saying, like, yeah, we're not working for you or running your railroad cars until you give us what we want. And it's not like the workers were like even asking for that much.

It was honest, they were asking for the bare minimum. They wanted a standard wage, normal working hours, and quote, quote, normal, and workplace protections. By 1894, the American Railway Union was supporting Pullman workers, which means like, they had their back. And this meant that Pullman workers, which means like they had their back. And this meant that Pullman was screwed. The strike shuts down pretty much every railroad company in the whole nation

by blocking major railroads. They stopped freight trains, passenger trains, and even trains carrying the mail. So the whole economy really took a hit. And Nielessissé, this was a big headache and convenience, new sense for the rich people and the government, so tensions escalated quickly. I love pissing off the rich. It's so fun.

It just makes me so happy. The government decided to bring in the big guns like literally the governor of Illinois sent the National Guard like drama queen vibes. So they show up, they lift their guns and they start opening fire into the crowd of strikers. Yeah, again, drama queen, really?

Did you have to go there? You couldn't like talk about it first. So the workers decided to set things on firing response. Good for you, sweetie. Things were just out of control. Chaos, absolute chaos. The president sent in troops to end the strike and then in the end, 70 people lost their lives

and a billion dollars in property damage was done to the railroad company. You know how it works? The people don't care about the 70 that lost their lives. They're like a billion dollars in property damage was done. That's more a, now let's get back to our story. A few important things came out of the Pullman Strike. First, was that the unions were finally being taken seriously and listened to. They got more legal protection, which was great news for workers all around the country, because it meant that more of them would feel safe enough to join their local unions or even start their own. It was a power to the people situation. Another positive thing that came out of this? We got a federal holiday? Oh yeah,

the government threw the workers a bone, and in a good faith gesture was like, you know what? You guys have been working hard. Take Monday off. This Monday, actually. The first Monday of every September, every year for the rest of time. And that, my friends, is where Labor Day came from. Isn't that funny? I always wondered what that was about. It's because of the strike. They're like, hey, we don't want to give you more money. What if we give you a Monday off one time a year?

Huh? And every year, now they just sell mattresses and stuff. So I think it did great for us. I'm not sure. But look, it was just an attempt to restore the piece. You know, it's so funny, isn't it? It's like you could restore the peace by just, I don't know, giving us money to buy bread and shelter,

not a Monday off, what the hell. Anyways, thirdly and most importantly, was that the eyes of the country were now on workers. They were like, hey, if they can do it, maybe we can do it too, right? And inspiring other people to demand more. So people were going to pay attention to these strikes going forward. Now you may remember in last season, if you've been watching our history, hey, we talked about the tragedy of the triangle shirtwaste fire, which is still considered one of the deadliest workplace disasters in American history. Another huge event that highlighted

what was so wrong about factory workplace condition. By highlighting the need for labor laws, this helped set the stage for a strike that would finally put minimum wage into the national spotlight. So a year after the fire at the Triangle Shirt Waste Factory, all this toxic workplace fish finally comes to a head like the big fat pimple it was.

Where you ask? In Lawrence, Massachusetts. I can't say Massachusetts. I say shit. Massachusetts. Sits, Massachusetts. Shit. Lawrence was known as an immigrant city

because it was such a diverse town, and many of the people who lived there worked at the Everett Mill factory. Now, the people who worked here were mostly immigrants from Ireland, Poland, Italy, Armenia, Syria, and just really all over the place. And just like we saw with railroad construction, these people were totally taken advantage of and treated like second-class citizens because of their immigrant status. They had their wages lowered over and over again during the economic depression, but then in 1912 they decided, you know what, enough is enough. God damn it,

the workers began to talk, and they made alliances outside of the factory. Now most of the workers lived in tenements, which were essentially super cramped apartment buildings where there was no air circulation, usually no plumbing, a little to no plumbing. People lived literally on top of one another, like in hammocks, or bunks, and this was not great for a ton of reasons. But the upside, or trying to find something positive here, let's say, was that you knew everybody, and you need everyone to talk. There's this really close sense of community. Together, the Everett workers created a network and a rock solid plan to strike. On January 11th, 1912, they

staged a walk out. A walk out is when like everyone shows up to work and then suddenly during the day at like whatever time they all agree on beforehand, they stand up, turn off their machines and they walk out. Oh, feels good, really giving it to the man in charge. So they do that and they walk all the way out of the factory without a single word to your supervisor or whoever's in charge. Ideally, a walk out includes as many of the workers as possible, so as to send a message to the people in charge, and it does work. It was such

it was such big news and Lawrence community that it inspired workers at many other places to do the exact same thing. And I love it. Some of the workers were so mad by this point that they ended up slashing up like the machinery on their way out. So no one else could come in and do the job either. They have to buy all new machines and everything. Because sometimes companies like to be shady and like bring in a non-union worker or bring in someone else who will do the job. So they slashed up, they ruined the machine so no one else could do that.

Boom, bitch, I love it. So some of the workers who participated in the walkout were you know they just walked out and then there's other people who are a little bit more angry and we're getting a little bit more aggressive. Some of them grouped up and would overpower the security gates throwing bricks at the factory windows ruining the machinery slicing up finished products like fabric so it couldn't be sold for a profit. Just doing anything they could to hurt these factories the way they had been hurting the workers. It was chaos, but it's beautiful. It's art

Art by the end of the next day more than 10,000 workers were out of work and striking and oh and 10,000 workers were out of work and striking. And oh, mind you on top of this, it's dead winter and Massachusetts. Yeah, Massachusetts, I'm reneaming it. So dead winter, I've never been there. I wanna go really bad, but I hear it's not great in winter, like it snows and it's really colds. Mm-hmm, that's what I hear.

So mind you, not the best time to be outside for hours, marching around, chanting for better wages, but you know what? It didn't matter just to the workers, because that's how much they wanted change, and they deserved it. Love it. It wasn't just men striking either.

Women, I know, women got involved, wow. I know we left the house. I thought that's all we did, stay home, make sandwiches, but no, we can participate in these strikes too. And they did. So women got involved. They gave rally speeches, they marched, and they're like, yeah, I'm gonna make a sign too.

And it was like, sigma titty. And like, this was a pivotal strike in American history because by this point, the workers realized that they wouldn't be content with the bare minimum any longer. They didn't just want to survive. They wanted to live life, work to, wait, live to work. No, work to live. Yeah. Why am I going to so work to live, not live to work. No, work to live. Yeah. Why am I in so work to live, not live to work? Isn't that what life is, bitch? Shit. Look, the people, they just wanted to be able to go to the store and buy milk, bread, and, you know, just the bare necessities. I so badly want to sing the song, but I'm not going to. And then on top of that, like, hey, wouldn't it be nice

if I had some money left over for like a bouquet of flowers one day? A little treat. I mean, they're human beings, not machines. So the worker starts making signs and be dazzling those signs and getting creative with the signage, which I love. I love a craft. Some of the signs said, we want bread and roses too. Love it. And at this point, people started calling it

the bread and roses strike. Cute! Love a theme, right? So this quickly became front page news. And soon all of America was talking about bread and roses. People collected donations for the striking workers, and even farmers showed up in Lawrence with food donations. And it was so beautiful to see because people were taking care of one another. But the factory workers were angry. And they weren't going to just take this any longer. They weren't

going to back down. So you know what they did? They hired new people who were willing to break this strike to work for them and keep the company running. So these workers are sometimes called strike breakers, but I think a lot of people know them as scabs. Yeah, scabs. Who likes a scab? Nobody. So these scabs would cross the picket lines

and do whatever else the company wanted them to. Sometimes this meant even picking fights with the strikers. I wonder how much they got paid for picking a fight. And the price is right, though. The corporations helped that this would incite violence, which would ultimately discredit their cause and give the whole strike a bad look. And in this case, it actually worked.

Now, mind you, this isn't something that was just happening in the olden times. It happens to any two when people strike. Companies will bring in these scabs as their call to either replace or take their jobs and sometimes just create violence to kind of discredit the whole thing. Like it's fucking wild.

The police end up getting involved. I mean, tensions were running high. And pretty soon, fights were breaking out everywhere. Just everywhere. A young woman ends up getting shot and killed, like in the street. And then the next day, an 18-year-old striker was stabbed and freaking murdered. Families were scared for their children's lives. And a lot of them tried to actually send their children out

of town by using the train. They're like, they put their kids on the train and be like, I'll come get you when this shit's over. Be good. This gave the strikers even more publicity, which the Lawrence police hated. The police began trying to stop mothers from putting their kids on these trains. And if they resisted, whew, bitch, they would be beaten with clubs like right in front of their kids.

But guess what? The press also saw this. The mothers trying to put their kids on the trains. And they blew it up. They were putting pictures of these mothers being beaten by the cops on the front page of their newspapers, and you bet your ass, this is gonna get people's attention. What about the children?

The story finally makes it to the desk of the American president at the time. His name was William Howard Taft. I know, I don't know who he is either. Taft, what do you do? Taft tells Congress to start investigating the strike on March 2nd of 1912. And what they end up discovering was horrifying.

A third of the mill workers had died with an decade of taking their jobs because the work was so brutal. So if you didn't die from pneumonia or tuberculosis from inhaling all those factory fumes, you were mostly, it was a pick your poison game. Do you want TB, pneumonia, or do you wanna lose a leg or an arm in an accident

with the machine, which one you want? And we'll pay you $4 for that, you know, it's a lot. It's like, which figure poison? A 14-year-old that worked at one mill told the court about like an accident where a mill machine had torn her scalp completely off. Scalped. She lived, but can you imagine? Yeah, she lived. Praise God. She was hospitalized for many months after words, but her hair got stuck in just so scary. On March 14th, this is nine weeks into the strike. The strike officially ends when the mill owner agreed to the workers demands. Okay, what are they getting? Well, let me tell you, 15% wage increase,

and they would be getting overtime, which any of us that have worked hourly job, no, that's a that's a big win. And by the end of the month, 270,000 new England factory workers also got similar raises. And other businesses started to give their workers the same benefits and raises. Now this sets a major precedent for what business could and could not get away with paying their workers. Because of the bread and roses strike, Massachusetts, guarantee minimum wage in 1912. That's so nice. Good for you, Massachusetts. You're killing witches and minimum wage.

I really like that for you. Here, it's cold over there. Anyways, so after this, guess what? Other states start copying. And we love that because they're seeing what's going down there. Like, I don't want that shit to happen to us. So let's just do it now. It's not perfect, right? Because the problems with the state-by-state laws was that they were almost like never enforced. And in states like Massachusetts, the only punishment for not paying your workers the minimum wage was bad publicity.

The responsibility once again was all on the workers to bring the issue up and fight for fair living conditions. I know, it's so silly to say, but it's so much work to get the bare minimum, right? It's progress, but it's hard to know exactly how many workers were actually benefiting these, from these laws. So it's safe to say it wasn't everyone.

But I mean, hey, things are, we're getting some movement, some traction and things are kinda looking up. The eyes of the American people were on these factory workers, and everyone just like wanted big business to do better. So all around wages are to go up. Condition is starting proving and I know it sounds sounds too good to be true because of course lurking right in the corner somewhere is that damn bitch the great depression. She's always there somewhere. She lingers in. You miss me? It's me.

GD. And guess what? When a great depression came rolling in, America came to a screeching halt. And not just for workers. It affected everybody. Well, except for the wealthy. They were like, hey, we're good. Now, I know what you're thinking. Awesome. I can't wait to hear about more death and more sadness and less money. Well, the great depression was actually the turning point in the minimum wage movement.

I mean, everyone felt the effects of the great depression, not just the everyday worker. The great depression lasted a decade, and during that time, almost 13 million people were out of work. The people who were, quote, unquote, lucky enough to work had their paychecks cut almost in half. So they were barely making it, I mean, if at all. I hate to gloss over the Great Depression, but we should do a future episode on that. So I'm sorry, I'm not going into more detail about that. You know, we're talking about minimum wage though,

you get it. But kind of a good thing to come out of the Great Depression, which is kind of a, okay, Bailey, there was a better understanding that without a living wage, people just cannot survive. And America can't be America, can't be number one, if everyone's dead, right? So rule number one, America needs people. So finally, one man with power decided to do something about all that injustice happening. And no, it wasn't that taft president because he was making Lafay Taffy or whatever. That man was President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Isn't Roosevelt where they have the aliens?

Say they, Roswell Roosevelt? Conspiracy? Okay, so look, we've talked a little bit about FDR and his hypocritical ass during our Henrietta Lacks episode. So, you know, this man was no angel, but we always have to give credit where credit is due. And with FDR, he really did stand up for the working man. He once gave a speech where he said, quote, no business, which depends on paying less than living wages to its workers, has any right to continue in this country.

Right? I know, I know. This was huge. Politicians did not take stands like this. I mean, the freaking Supreme Court was known for taking the side of businesses in a ton of major lawsuits, rarely if ever was it in favor of the workers. So this meant a lot to have someone in power. I mean, the president of the United States to stand up for the working class was just unbelievable. So FDR introduced a lot of progressive laws and programs called the New Deal, and many of those programs involved the government actually helping people, which was different, which was nice. FDR said like enough was enough. He signed into law for the first time ever in America, a federal minimum wage.

Federal. Great. What was it? 25 cents per hour. A whole quarter. Eh, I mean, a quarter was a lot, wasn't it? No, I don't think it was. It's a quarter.

So now that a nationwide minimum wage is set, everything was great, right? No, well, this is dark history. It became pretty clear, right, a way that after minimum wage was passed, that the way it worked was, it was an ideal. It kind of sucked. First, employers started to pick and choose

like what was considered a quote-unquote billable hour or an hour worked. So let's say someone works for eight hours. A boss could say like, hey, I only saw you working for three of those hours. And then that's what you would get paid. So that's kind of lousy, right? I'm thinking about like, when I worked at the thrift store,

I worked at the thrift store one time. And like, you know, it was one of those jobs that I didn't really want to work. So I would just hide it like in the back corner in the clothing area and pretend to organize, but I would just be sitting there like going through all the different garments and no one ever noticed. At least I don't think they did, but I would have made zero dollars for sure because I was just hiding until I was off. I know, I know, I'm not very motivating for you, but that's my truth and I said it. Thank you. And the first minimum wage actually did not cover a

lot of people. Surprisingly, it only applied to women and children. That was because the country essentially recognized that women and children were being like exploited the most. And honestly, they didn't have the same abilities as men did to negotiate their contracts. Both because male bosses would bully the women a lot of the time and people felt that, you know, they couldn't expect ladies with their small brains to negotiate for themselves. So we got to help them out. States said that they did this to negotiate for themselves. So we got to help them out. State said that they did this to protect their morals. I know, I don't really understand what that means either. I don't know. But guess what? Today, women actually make up the majority of essential workers that

are paid less than $15 an hour. In fact, essential workers are disproportionately women and people of color. So while minimum wage might sound like a great idea, it doesn't affect people equally. There are many problems with minimum wage, but I think the biggest problem is it's title, because it's kind of a lie. Because the definition of minimum wage is, quote, the lowest wage permitted that employers can legally pay their employees." It has nothing to do with cost of living or inflation or any of the other things that makes people feel

like they're drowning. And I think a lot of people assume that minimum wage is there to just help people survive. It protects us so we can survive. America is the only developed country in the world that does not raise their minimum wage regularly. Yeah, so I was actually curious about like, hmm, what the numbers were.

I feel like with how much things are worth now, you know, inflation is insane. But we should be getting paid a lot more, right? According to one study, between 1997 and 2007, minimum wage was $5.15. By 2009, it jumped to a whopping $7.25. And guess what, after that, it never went up again. We're still at $7.25. And guess what, after that, it never went up again. We're still at $7.25. For most of America, minimum wage is still at $7.25.

Even though everything around us is going up and up and up, $7.25 is literally less than what a footlong sub at subway costs. So, do you guys remember when footlongs were $5? That makes sense if I'm making $7. You know, like the whole $5 footlong special was in like, it's prime during 2009. Also known as the last time they raised minimum wage. Do you guys know nowadays those foot longs cost nine dollars and 25 cents? Yeah, I'm hungry, but math. If minimum wage grew at the

same rate as the foot long, I don't know. People don't come for me for answers, but maybe we'd be able to pay our damn bills, or at least feed ourselves. But maybe it's better this way though, because I read that at Subway, I don't know, like don't assume me or anything Subway, it's like I just heard that their food is filled with chemicals and starches and stuff, so maybe we don't want that.

They're doing us a favor, actually, too expensive. I don't need that shit. So we should demand rebranding of the phrase minimum wage, because it's not the minimum of anything. Like, when I was researching all this, it's like, who do I have to call? Who's in charge of this? Who's in charge of minimum wage?

And like, can I call them? Write them a letter? Most developed countries have these people called economic officials who check and are in charge of their minimum wage. So I'm at home trying to find the number for the person in charge and I was, you know, going to have my whole pitch. Hey, my name is Bailey Sarian. I talk about murder and stuff. Like, can you call me back? 5, 5, 5, 2, 4, 2, 4. Thank you. But I looked, looked, first of all, government funding for their websites. We need to put more into that because it's like going back to 1998. Government websites are always a hot mess. Let's not get started on that.

But I did have to know that. But I went looking, looking, looking, and I realized that here in America, we do not have anyone in charge of minimum wage. That doesn't exist. No one is in charge of tracking minimum wage in this country. Do you understand? Do you see where maybe there's a problem here? So you're like, okay, well, then who is in charge? Well, the people who are in charge of making sure we have a livable wage, the politicians.

And we know what happens when politicians are in charge of minimum wage because it's happening right now. They spend years and years and years arguing back and forth and doing nothing about it. I mean, the proof is in the number. The minimum wage has not been changed since 2009. In 2009, Miley Cyrus came out with that song,

party in the USA. She was lying. What party? There is no party. We can't afford a party, Miley. But that was a really great song. It really did get me jazzed up. Now, most of you at home are like,

Bailey, shut up. Minimum wage is higher than $7.25. And you're correct, Barbara. I love you. You're perfect. It goes state by state. So each state and industry can decide what their minimum wage is going to be. I mean, I know some companies that pay $15 for their minimum wage, but just because they pay you more,

it doesn't necessarily mean it's enough, but it also doesn't mean it's like a blanket thing across the board. It just, it depends on where you're working and what state you're living in. And even then, it's not enough to live off of, you know? Oh my God, I already can imagine what the comment section is gonna be like

from all the boomers and stuff. We're like, if you just stop buying Starbucks every day, you can have a savings and buy a... I understand, but that's not the problem here. I think people as human beings, like just deserve to have a roof over their head, have somewhere to shower, somewhere to sleep, and somewhere to eat. I don't think that's unfair to, um, okay, let me get off my high horse spailing. Vote for me for president. Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, a 48 year old worker for Amazon, of course, our recent grant reported for work at a warehouse in New York.

Now, he had been working there for a little while as a warehouse stalker. Now, according to reports, that morning, he hadn't been feeling too well. And I guess for the past week, he hadn't been feeling that well at all. Now, he reported to Amazon's healthcare team on staff. Apparently they have someone on staff to help him out. And he was telling them like, hey, I'm having a headache and chest pains.

So the team took his blood pressure. Told him he was fine, gave them a few bottles of water, and told him, just go back to work. You're fine. Unfortunately, the worker was not fine. He had a heart attack and passed out on the floor of the warehouse. There wasn't anyone else around. So he laid there for 20 minutes

until security cameras noticed his lifeless body on the ground. A group of people rushed over and watched a CPR was performed on him, but he was unresponsive. They pronounced him dead right then and there. Instead of being able to take a minute and process the fact that their coworker just died, the warehouse staff was reportedly told

to get back to work immediately. Oh my God, can I tell you a story? I know, I have lots of stories today. But one time I was working at Sephora and I was doing this lady's makeup and all of a sudden her eyes started to roll into the back of her head. Now mind you, I'm doing her makeup so I'm in her face. And I was like, oh my god, are you okay? Like, should I get you water?

Are you okay? She, oh my god, projectile vomited on me. And again, I'm in her face doing makeup and all this vomit. And then she passed out. And I was like, it was a whole thing. And guess what? Afterwards, you're like, just get the vomit off your shirt and continue on. I was like, no, bitch, I smell like vomit. You're not paying me enough to walk around in someone else's vomit, and they were not paying me enough to walk around someone else's vomit.

I think that girl was okay. An ambulance came and everything was a whole thing. I hope you're a good girl. At least you went down in my memory book. Anyways, so these workers had to go back and work immediately. I mean, yeah, they could have quit. But look, at the end of the day,

everyone has bills to pay. Some have families to take care of. Like, realistically, these companies know that they're trapped and they're not gonna just quit. Anyways, guess what? It ended up happening again many times actually. Amazon is a big problem. In July of 2022, another Amazon employee died in a warehouse

in the middle of prime day. Oh, yeah, prime day, when I, oh, finally, the federal government was like, okay, one time, sure. Two times, I don't know. So they ended up launching a federal investigation into what the hell was happening over at Amazon. And honestly, it's about goddamn timing guys. This whole situation is still being looked into as we speak. What's there to look into? Just look at the footage. Okay, I see,

not great. We're done, you know. Why is it so difficult? But, you know, it's not just Amazon, because we've got to talk about Starbucks. Starbucks has been in the news recently, right? Because employees at their stores are starting to demand better wages, and they want more sale for their schedules. And they're using the power of unions to get it. Now, to do that, individual stores can vote on whether or not they want to join a union. And the movement was gaining a lot of popularity, but executives at Starbucks, they don't like this. So Starbucks headquarters shut down the first location to unionize in Seattle. So they were successful. The employers were able to join

a union to demand for better wages and to be just a better work environment. They get that. They win. Yay! Guess what? Starbucks headquarters comes in, shuts down the store. They're like, oh, sorry about that. So, um, yeah. The company Starbucks said that they close the store because of safety concerns. But workers say this excuse is peer-on-cut, bull shit. You know, the workers and everybody else, you at home, are probably saying like, this is just the company heading back at them

for organizing and demanding a little bit more. I got you guys Starbucks, you guys are filthy rich. Get a grip, you bozos. Burn it down! Employees are getting loud and saying not only is this retaliation, but now they're playing games with the workers' lives. Remember those things earlier I mentioned, scabs? Looks like executives are cutting out the middlemen and becoming scabs themselves, which feels a lot like sabotage to me and it's giving Pullman strike vibes.

So, okay, what does this mean? If we learned anything from the Pullman strike, if we keep at it, support the workers, like us too, like if you see someone striking, if you support and stand by them, we and they can get what they want. And then guess what? Guess what?

That means you can demand more at your job. You can follow their lead. At the end of the day, our bosses want us to work, right? And if we don't, they look bad. They lose money. And that will bring them to the negotiating table. Grat them by the balls. And then guess what, if they're like,

we're not gonna meet your guys as demands. Guess what, bitch? The company is gonna grind to a halt because everyone's gonna strike, no one's showing up, and they're gonna have bigger problems. Whether it's a union, striking, or just outright demanding better wages and

treatment, I think the thing we realized is that crazy low wages and horrible working conditions are not a thing of the past. So what do we do now? You know, number one, I know, let me get on my soapbox here. We need a better definition of minimum wage. Here's when I just pull out of my ass right now. Minimum wage is, uh, would be the minimum amount someone can be paid in order to cover cost of living. Uh-huh, idea. Two, we need someone in charge of minimum wage,, I don't know, the other successful countries in the world. Actually, oh, idea, maybe not one person. I mean, come on, you can't trust one dude.

So, I don't know, why don't we hire like a couple? Or why don't we get one for every state? Hmm, hmm, hmm, I don't know, America. You know, like, come on. Number three, when all else fails, we fucking rage. Oh, I'm ready. I got my picket. My picket says, fuck you. I just have it ready.

Yeah, a good fuck you always makes me happy. But I'm ready and I will support you. If you are striking, I will be there with you, bitch. We want more and in me, fuck you. Demand more, set in me, fuck you! Demand more. Set it all on fire. Shake up the etchy sketch, and just start over. America.

Land of the free. We rage at dawn. Well, everyone, thank you for learning with me today. Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions and demand more and be curious and all that why because you deserve it. Now, I'd love to hear your guys' reactions to today's story, so make sure to use the hashtag darkhistory over on social media so I can follow along and let me know where we're meeting to strike. Thank you. Join me over on my YouTube where you can

watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs, and also while you're there, maybe check out one of my murder mystery and makeup videos. I hope you have a great rest of your day. You make good choices. And I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye! Dark History is an audio boom original. This podcast is executive produced by Bailey Sarian, Junior McNeely from Three Arts, Kevin Grush, and Claire Turner from Made in Network. Writers, Katie Burris, Alison Filoboz, Joey Skaluso, and me, Bailey Sarian. Shot and edited by Tafad Swah, Nimmerundway, and Hannahocker. Research provided by Zander Elmore and the Dark History Researcher team,

a special thank you to our expert, Orrin Levin Waldman. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. I'm angry, demand more, bitch. Okay, bye. Thank you.