It's 10:40 am, Saturday October 15th.We're on the third floor of the United Church of Rogers Park. The members are holding a pancake breakfast with sausage links. For the folks who came to enjoy this special treat, the waiting time to be served was 30 plus minutes.
That didn't bother these "on-duty" vest wearing, Special Service Area janitors. According to one not so working worker, "No-one cares what we do, our bosses don't have a clue." So wait they did for the pancakes to cook. All five of them. They had to wait until 11:15am to be served. Yes, I was keeping track.
As they were leaving the church at 11:15, one Special Service Area janitor didn't want to be seen, holding his coffee up, hiding from the camera. With the breakfast food in hand he claimed to be on a lunch break. After waiting 35 minutes for the pancakes to be cooked, they took another 20 minutes eating them. And not with the church group. They left and went to eat on their own.
So let's see, they start work at 9:30 am, have lunch from 10:40 to 11:35. All told, these five workers fooled DevCorp North again. Cheating DevCorp North on services. But that's not to hard when Rene Carmago and Kimberly Bares are in charge. See, they don't care.
14 comments:
I don't know what hours these folks work, but it has become clear to me that the people hired for these janitorial duties are not the best. I do not know what they are paid or if there are a lot of community service workers among the crowd (highly likely) but a few weeks ago a few of them had nothing to do but chat up a friend of mine at the park while waiting for my wife and I. When we arrived there were Doritos bags lying around and when they left those bags were still there. I questioned people as to whether or not they were invisible and it turns out they were not.
We need to hire better employees who are driven to improve this neighborhood. If we have to go outside of our neighborhood to find people not influenced by the local culture (gangs, dealers, bad landlords), let's do it.
What a !@*&(*^ joke!
No not the human beings eating food. The bunch of you minus Tom who if you were in charge would likely manage them with the care of a dictitorial MASTER.
What the hell is wrong with eating lunch?
Sheesh..
These guys don't even work when they aren't eating lunch. The whole situation is a joke - both the poor supervision and the poor workers.
If we offered a living wage to those we ask to sweep our streets and shovel our sidewalks, maybe they wouldn't have to stand on line for a half hour for a free meal.
Again, I don't know that many of these folks are paid at all. I was in trouble once when I was in high school (17, beer, police, etc...) and I had to serve 20 hours of community service as my punishment. We did pretty much what these folks are supposed to do on weekends; pick up trash in the park, paint curbs and fire hydrants, scrape gum off sidewalks, pretty much any type of labor. We did what we were supposed to do but only because we were supervised and our work was checked. If these folks had someone directing them, they would probably not be slacking off so much. Also, if these folks were there on community service time, they are probably not the cream of the crop when it comes to work ethics. I am sending an email to DevCorp to ask if they use community service workers or if these are paid positions. I'll update you when I hav an answer.
Now that we have ducks covered maybe we can afford a little compassion for our fellow human beings.
Charlie D. has it wrong. No one would have a problem with these guys getting lunch if we saw them WORKING on a regular basis. If we saw a little work, a little hustle, and a little pride in their work this would be a non-issue. I can't count the number of times I've seen these guys sitting on their ass while they're supposed to be on the clock.
There's that logo again!
Sandi Price sent me an email in response to my question about the SSA workers and where they come from. Here is her response:
"These individuals are part of the Earnfare program through the Department of Human Services (DHS). We have a contract with DHS, and they provide the staffing."
The Earnfare program is basically a work for foodstamps program that allows participants to earn up to an additional $294 a month once they have worked off the value of the foodstamps at minimum wage. Sice these folks are not full-time employees and the hours they work are voluntary, I imagine it is very difficult to keep them organized and motivated. I know that DevCorp is looking for an additional supervisor or assistant for this program. Maybe that will help.
> ... the hours they work are voluntary ...
Yes, the hours are voluntary, if they want to eat. The program is voluntary in the same sense that eating is voluntary.
Before these men earn ANY money, they must first work off the value of any food stamps they have received. If these men have any dependents receiving food stamps, they must work off the value of their food stamps, too. Then if they work additional hours, they get paid minimum wage, up to a per month maximum. In effect, these men are working below minimum wage, let alone a living wage.
If you or I tried to pay an employee in food stamps, we would be charged with violating minimum wage laws. But our local public charity DevCorp North acquired from the State of Illinois a monopoly license to providing below minimum wage workers to businesses in Rogers Park. Even President Bill Clinton's most ardent supporters recognize his draconian "welfare-to-work" reforms as the low point of his administration, a major concession to the right. The coalition of business interests and politicians in our neighborhood have embraced the program, and figured out how to profit from it.
This is no way to sweep our streets or shovel our snow or pick up our litter or provide for our less fortunate neighbors. This program shames our community.
Earnfare
link corrected
Earnfare
Agreed Hugh,
I was ill and unable to work for nearly a year back in 2001 - 2002. I found that single men are eligible to receive very little assistance from the state. I couldn't even participate in this program because it is too labor intensive and I have a heart condition. If it hadn't been for assistance I received from the VA, friends and family I would have been on the street.
> ... the hours they work are voluntary ...
Earfare has two flavors: Earnfare and Noncustodial Parent (NCP) Earnfare. NCP Earfare is court-ordered. NCP Earnfare participants must work off the value of the food stamps they receive, the value of the food stamps their dependents receive, AND outstanding child support, before they make a dime.
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