I hate this town. I hate this fucking town.
I just want to sew. I’ve been looking for local sewing jobs for fucking ages!!! Everyone in my area is looking for upholstery work. There’s a fuckton of boats in my area that people want done. But every single upholstery shop has told me “no”. Four local shops. Have a fuckton of work they want done, but they don’t want to pay me the amount!!!
A local shop finally called me back. Guy gave me 4 outdoor cushions to make and said he’d evaluate my work & pay me when it’s done.
I worked on 4 cushions, 2 different sizes, complete with piping & zippers on all of them. Took me 3 days. Approximately 6 hours per day of work, a total of 18 hours, and that’s the low estimate.
Got it done. Looks awesome.
He gave me 100$. Then he said I could compete with his current seamstress for jobs and he’d choose the cheaper of the two estimates we give.
I want to fucking cry. I have to take this job. Any job. I need the money.
I’M ONLY ASKING FOR LIKE 300$ PER WEEK IN ORDER TO SURVIVE??? Am I crazy??? Is that too much???
At least he gave me the job where I quoted 35$ each for 2 vinyl boat pieces… that’s 70$… I think I can get it done in day… wow… 10$ an hour… fucking wow…
I hate this. I fucking hate this so fucking much.
God, I want to cry…
EDIT: Start my own business?
During a looming economic crisis + ridiculous foreign tariffs + with real estate currently at an all-time high?
Don’t think I can take the risk that right now, as much as I’d like to.
I suppose I shouldn’t have expected a boomer to fairly compensate me. However, it being my first time out in the job market for a while, I had expected things things to work on a standard based on at least the current minimum wage.
I don’t think those expectations are unreasonable.
It’s not unreasonable. I wouldn’t work for this person, or I would accept work to do and then come back to them and say “I needed to prioritize better paying work, I can’t get this done on time.”
Like, do you think this person is treating you honestly in any measure? No. They are breaking the social contract. Don’t give them an inch.
Unfortunately if you aren’t an actual employee, minimum wage doesn’t apply. And if you have to bid against other workers for work, you DEFINITELY are not an employee.
Not really how that relationship is determined basically anywhere.
Piecemeal employment contracts exist, they are still employment relationships.