And you are looking at his diary.
I work as a pharmacy technician, and, basically, it is a low paying job industry. Frankly, I'm too ashamed to admit how low my pay is, but it is definitely not something that I could live on by myself. The pay differential between technicians and pharmacists is conservatively 6-10X.
My present employer is no different from most other pharmacies, except it specializes in long term care (nursing homes). Recently, the owner of the company decided to sell it to another player in the health care industry, Trilogy. As with any other company takeover, changes have started for myself and my fellow coworkers.
For starters, it was announced that the federal budget sequester has affected Trilogy, or so Trilogy says. There was a 2% cut in Medicare Part A starting April 1st, and Trilogy has had to tighten its belt. Originally, Trilogy wanted an across the board pay cut for all employees.
I already don't make a living wage, and they wanted me to take a pay cut.
But the former owner came up with an alternative. Instead of a pay cut, all pay increases are frozen for the next year. Also, and more importantly, the 401k matching will be stopped.
I've worked for several companies, but this is the first time that I've had a cut to the 401k. I've been at places where they matched, and others where they never did a matching contribution. But never have I had an employer start to match a 401k contribution then say, "Never mind."
This was all announced on Friday before the Kentucky Derby, the largest celebration in Louisville.
As for the employees reactions, I have not had the chance to talk with most. In fact, I probably won't broach this subject. From what I can tell, most of the employees are Republicans or just plain dislike Obama. One that I did talk too blamed it all on Obama and called him a motherfucker.
I feel like one of those union organizers at Walmart, only I keep my mouth shut.
Anyway, I thought maybe some on Daily Kos would want another example that sequestration does actually hurt people, and not just the poor or terminally ill.