You gotta pay to work...

I read a column in the Sunday Times the other day, where the columnist was horrified at the practice of a certain shopping centre, and how they were allegedly 'extorting' the car guards that worked there. Basically, the shopping centre charges the car guards a flat rate of R40 a day to work at the centre - if they don't pay this, they get booted off of the property immediately. (For those not from SA, we have a seemingly unique situation where people - generally unemployed - hang around wherever there is public parking, and 'charge' you for ensuring that your car stays safe. Some see it as extortion, while others see it as a valid way to create employment - that's a debate for another day.) The shopping centre's reasoning behind this was something along the lines of 'it keeps the guards from disappearing, and subsidises their uniforms'. While their argument and reasoning does have some merit, I feel that R40 a day is quite excessive - especially when, according to the guards, they only earn about R80 a day on average. Now, the reason for me re-telling this story is not to whine about a huge shopping centre taking advantage of seemingly underpriveleged people, but rather to enlighten you about some other occupations that require you to 'pay to work'...

The first occupation is that of a taxi-driver. In South Africa, minibus taxi's are the target of much public scorn and anger (although they do provide a very necessary service), but the general model applies around the world. Basically, the way that taxi's are operated is that the taxi owner (who will often own multiple vehicles) recruits a driver to drive his taxi. This driver is then solely responsible for bringing in income. The owner will set a certain amount of money as the required 'pay-in' for the day. The driver then has to bring in that amount of money at the end of the day, and return the taxi with a full tank of petrol. Whatever is left over is then the driver's to keep. As you can probably see, the owner is the one who really makes the money in this situation. While this is a smart entrepreneurial move on the owner's part, perhaps you can now understand why the taxi drivers drive like absolute idiots much of the time - they have to get between their pickups and drop-offs as quickly as (in)humanly possible, in order to maximise their daily takings. In SA, the 'pay-in' is generally set quite high - think R400-500 a day or more. When you consider that most individual trips only bring in a few Rand at a time, and the driver still has to pay for petrol as well, you can see why they are always in such a rush. In essence, the driver has to pay to work, and only when he's bringing in more than his 'pay-in', will he actually make any money.

The other occupation that comes to mind straight away is that of a stripper. In many, if not most, strip clubs, the dancers have to pay a set fee to work at that particular club. This fee can be a daily, weekly, or monthly one, but it has to be paid before the stripper can even set foot onto the stage or the floor. The general model is then that the stripper gets to keep what she (or he) makes from private lap- and pole-dances. This is why, for those of you that have been into a strip club, you get the feeling that the dancers are quite pushy for you to have a private dance - they are essentially in a sales role, and don't make anything if they don't sell any dances. The club owners would then have an income stream from the dancers, and also make margins on food/drinks and merchandising.

Now, before you make up your mind that all these people are being exploited, just remember that many of them make very good money doing what they do. Hence there will always be car-guards, taxi drivers and strippers!