I ran across this article about making salaries open rather then a secret and it reminded me I haven’t posted on the church addressing the wage gap.
The article was basically about the dangers and negative outcomes of companies keeping their salaries a secret.
There are three major reasons why salaries secret are silly:
1. It frustrates employees because any unfairness (real or perceived) can’t be addressed directly.
2. They’re not secret anyway. People talk, you know.
3. It perpetuates unfair salaries which is bad for people and for the organizationMaking salaries public (inside the company of course) has some major advantages:
1. Salaries will become more fair. The system gets a chance to adjust itself.
2. It will be easier to retain the best employees because they’re more likely to feel they’re getting a fair salary.
3. The pressure is on the people with the high salaries to earn their keep. Everybody has to pull their weight – the higher the salary, the larger the weight.
I thought it was a pretty good case and figure not just companies but communities (like the church) could probably learn something from this.
As a church, we are a body of people who share some of the same beliefs. Some of these beliefs include this idea that we are “brothers and sisters,” that we should love one another, care for and meet the needs of one another. The idea of sharing all our possessions in common might be a little too radical for most, but maybe opening up our check registers and bank statements might be an honest way to start challenging ourselves and one another to live in a way we believe is Biblical.
I had a discussion the other night with a bunch of folks about stewardship, money, etc. and what the Bible says about it and what that means for our lives. I wanted the conversation to be very practical and relevant to our lives, specific to our lives even. I think some of what the conversation lacked though was the specifics. We talk about how we don’t really know how much someone might be giving, and I see the biblical justification for that (don’t make a show of your giving, etc), but I also think the reason we don’t challenge each other and a reason tithing is so stinking low in the church is that we our so secret and private with our money. Let’s be a little more open shall we?
this is interesting, ariah. i grew up in a family that only spoke of finances in a hush, hush (and only with your father) setting. it was never an open discussion and if someone even made mention he/she was given “the eye”. i never understood it. it bred a sort of pridefulness amongst us. i mean, it was like poker. we were all holding a hand of cards. we could see that. however, no one knew what the others hand looked like so the bluffing ensued and competition rose. it was absurd. i see where you are going with this…..
i don’t even mind disclosing my salary. i don’t make much and i probably never will. however, i am responsible with mine and britt’s finances and we give beyond our tithe. not because we are obligated to but because we are in search of some equality in this life and by us counting each penny we are reminded of how blessed we are to even be in the position to count pennies.
I beleave if everyone knew everyones salaries, it would make union negotiations much easier, it would be hard not to give some guy who does all the work a $2.00 raise when the manager makes 6 figures.
I read something awhile back about how Americans, in particular, are often willing to share intimate details of their lives, but the subject of money is completely taboo in polite conversation. If I recall, the premise was that people in other cultures didn’t necessarily behave this way, being more open to having frank discussions about money, etc.
Of course, money still gets talked about, just not in a frank discussion. I think money is a frequent topic of discussion for the gossip squad: “Did you see so and so’s new car? And he just bought a boat, too! He must be in debt – I’d hate to have his payments…”
Glad I didn’t have a lot of dissenting views on this one. I was tempted to just post up my salary right here, but I’m not sure that’s a good idea.
What would be an effective way to begin to make this sort of open salary thing more of a reality in a way that doesn’t run head-on into the taboo culture around salaries?
Initially I thought that one way to promote more openness would be workplace solidarity for such a movement. If every person at a company revealed their salaries to coworkers, it would seem unlikely that management could fire everybody. The thing is, the people who feel they make less might be happy to share this info, while the people who believe they make more might be more reluctant. I read some survey a few years ago that well more than 50% of Americans believe their household incomes are above the median household income. If that is true, that more than half of us believe that we are in the upper half, I suspect it would be difficult to get honest disclosure from many of us.
One time I had this side job to make a few extra bucks in grad school. My job consisted of sitting at a desk, listening to the radio, doing my homework, and occasionally taking a walk around the building to make sure that nothing was amiss. I worked at night, and the building was very quiet save for the cleaning staff. For this, I was paid $9/hour. One of the (very nosy) cleaning women, who worked harder than I did, who was supporting a family, and who had been there for years, etc, asked me one evening what I was being paid. It ended up that I was being paid more for doing less, with less seniority, etc. Part of this, undoubtedly, was gender and class, since my employer was a very traditional Indian couple. I was an up and coming grad student, while the cleaning lady was an uneducated immigrant from South America… Anyway, upon exchanging salary information, the cleaning lady got very nervous and made me promise that I wouldn’t tell our employers about our conversation.
I like your discussion but also am aware of circumstances that have proved otherwise. I am a pastor, I don’t even keep track of how much I make, though I can figure it out…I don’t care! I am a steward, I attempt to do the best with what I have. I have never taken a job knowing how much I was going to be paid. I took jobs because I can serve and that is what I am called to do. Anyone can find out what each of our staff gets for a salary but we don’t publish it. Comparing ourselves to others will often lead us down wrong patterns of thinking. Who ultimately is your source? We all have been given a measure of faith. Is it enough? Was it a good thing for the man who felt lacking in faith, to ask Jesus, “increase my faith”? If one is lacking, what do you recommend? If you see one lacking what do you do? Do you have two cloaks? Do the best with what you have…not to compare or make equal–serve others in love.