A janitor sweeps a hallway floor at Smith Road Elementary School in North Syracuse in a file photo. Maintenance work was one of the most common professions among participants in a new survey of low-wage workers in Syracuse. (Suzanne Dunn | The Post-Standard)
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on April 28, 2014 at 6:30 AM, updated April 28, 2014 at 7:49 AM
Email the author | Follow on Twitter
on April 28, 2014 at 6:30 AM, updated April 28, 2014 at 7:49 AM
Syracuse, N.Y. — Low-wage workers in the Syracuse area struggle with conditions that can cause health problems and make it hard to climb the economic ladder, according to a new survey.
The Low-Wage Workers' Health Project will release results of the survey at a press conference this morning. It's based on interviews with 275 low-wage workers in Syracuse.
The survey is part of a long-term effort to develop better ways to reach low-wage workers and meet their job-related health needs, said Dr. Michael Lax, medical director of the Occupational Health Clinical Center at SUNY Upstate Medical University, which led the survey.
"I think there's a lot of workers that are working in places and in jobs that are quite risky, but have been beyond our outreach efforts," he said. "It's a group of workers that deserve more attention."
Low-wage jobs carry a host of health and economic challenges that leave workers with few paths to a middle class life, according to the survey. They regularly deal with employers who fail to pay them properly and routinely face job-related injury and illness.
The average pay rate of workers who participated in the survey was $9.65 an hour. New York's minimum wage recently rose to $8 an hour.
Some of the survey's highlights:
Work hours often vary. About 40 percent of the workers surveyed reported a non-traditional schedule, including night shifts and varied hours. Jobs were often short-term, with 36 percent of the workers having held their jobs less than a year and another 32 percent in their current jobs for one or two years.
The workers were often trying to juggle public transportation, rotating schedules and fear of layoffs, said Jeanette Zoeckler, project manager at the occupational health center and the report's main author.
"They have a difficult time participating in society in the way we think of it normally," she said.
Pay practices are a concern. Most of the workers said overtime hours aren't offered to them. Among the rest, two-thirds said they receive time-and-a-half. Others either receive their usual pay rate or a combination of their usual rate and some token perk.
Sixteen percent of the workers said they don't get paid for overtime at all or get paid through another arrangement, such as cash payments. Such payments imply the employers don't pay required taxes, taking future Social Security benefits away from workers, according to the survey.
Workplace injuries and unsafe conditions are common. Nearly 40 percent of the workers in the survey reported pain at work or as the result of work in the previous month. Muscle, joint and back pain were frequent complaints. Seventy percent of the workers reported at least one hazardous condition on the job, including thick dusts, strong vapors and repetitive motions.
The survey's authors plan to convene small groups of workers in the future to delve into the issues raised more deeply.
"This is a first step," Zoeckler said. "I think it's important to begin to listen to the people who actually do this work."
The project is a collaboration based at the occupational health center. The Workforce Development Institute, a statewide nonprofit, funded the survey with a $6,000 grant.
The Low-Wage Workers' Health Project will release results of the survey at a press conference this morning. It's based on interviews with 275 low-wage workers in Syracuse.
The survey is part of a long-term effort to develop better ways to reach low-wage workers and meet their job-related health needs, said Dr. Michael Lax, medical director of the Occupational Health Clinical Center at SUNY Upstate Medical University, which led the survey.
"I think there's a lot of workers that are working in places and in jobs that are quite risky, but have been beyond our outreach efforts," he said. "It's a group of workers that deserve more attention."
Low-wage jobs carry a host of health and economic challenges that leave workers with few paths to a middle class life, according to the survey. They regularly deal with employers who fail to pay them properly and routinely face job-related injury and illness.
The average pay rate of workers who participated in the survey was $9.65 an hour. New York's minimum wage recently rose to $8 an hour.
Some of the survey's highlights:
Work hours often vary. About 40 percent of the workers surveyed reported a non-traditional schedule, including night shifts and varied hours. Jobs were often short-term, with 36 percent of the workers having held their jobs less than a year and another 32 percent in their current jobs for one or two years.
The workers were often trying to juggle public transportation, rotating schedules and fear of layoffs, said Jeanette Zoeckler, project manager at the occupational health center and the report's main author.
"They have a difficult time participating in society in the way we think of it normally," she said.
Pay practices are a concern. Most of the workers said overtime hours aren't offered to them. Among the rest, two-thirds said they receive time-and-a-half. Others either receive their usual pay rate or a combination of their usual rate and some token perk.
Sixteen percent of the workers said they don't get paid for overtime at all or get paid through another arrangement, such as cash payments. Such payments imply the employers don't pay required taxes, taking future Social Security benefits away from workers, according to the survey.
Workplace injuries and unsafe conditions are common. Nearly 40 percent of the workers in the survey reported pain at work or as the result of work in the previous month. Muscle, joint and back pain were frequent complaints. Seventy percent of the workers reported at least one hazardous condition on the job, including thick dusts, strong vapors and repetitive motions.
The survey's authors plan to convene small groups of workers in the future to delve into the issues raised more deeply.
"This is a first step," Zoeckler said. "I think it's important to begin to listen to the people who actually do this work."
The project is a collaboration based at the occupational health center. The Workforce Development Institute, a statewide nonprofit, funded the survey with a $6,000 grant.