Letter from Marianne Dugan
Economy – August 2004 – Colorado Central Magazine
Editors:
I have long thought that our approach to wages is all wrong, an opinion greatly stimulated by the enormous recompense given to CEOs, and the notion that they somehow deserve their obscene pay.
Wages should be based primarily on work satisfaction, with the highest pay for the most boring jobs. The unions started us in this direction once upon a time with good wages on the assembly line, surely one of the most mind-numbing jobs — while no one can claim that the job of CEO is dull!
Some adjustments for danger pay would be required. I’ve read some statistics that indicate postal workers are not only low on job satisfaction, but are at higher on-the-job risk than police officers; not something the average mail-person bargained for, I’ll bet.
Planting a garden should stay low-pay, but lawn-mowing pay should go up. Your other readers can come up with their own low- and high-paying lists. Hal Walter, of course, will get no raise; he’s getting too much fun out of life.
I maintain my utopia makes a darn sight more sense than the present system, buy of course it’s never going to happen.
Marianne Dugan
Tuscon, Ariz.
