Wednesday March 13, 2013

I have excellent news to report today.

Photo Credit: Mike Licht

For the last two years, Mr. S. has been working on a contract basis. He's asked me not to share with the world what it is he does, but suffice it to say that he mostly enjoys his job. But, if you've never done it, working on a contract basis sucks. His job? To know how to do everything that everyone on his crew does so he can fill in for them on their days off, for vacations, etc. Some weeks, he'd get eight hours, although for the last year he's mostly been working six days a week. Near the end of his contract year, we'd wait anxiously to see if his contract would be renewed.

This year, his position is scheduled to be eliminated. Apparently, it's a duplicate position within the company, or at least one that can be covered under another description. That added an additional level of stress for us, as we have been told for most of the last two years that this company, like so many others, simply wasn't hiring on a permanent basis. It's cheaper to pay temporary workers, and keep indefinitely renewing their contracts, than to hire permanent employees and pay benefits, etc. And in a location and economy where people are desperate for jobs (Mr. S. was on unemployment for a long time before this job), companies can do that, because people are grateful to have money coming in.

Where we live, the primary industry is methane gas mining. I'm not sure what methane gas does, but I know that the companies who mine and produce this gas employed the majority of workers in our county, until about three or four years ago. At that time, Colorado passed a law that said to protect the migration habits of some kind of animal, all methane gas production has to shut down for three months out of the year. This was, of course, challenged in court, but during that time, there was a hiring freeze. Once the challenges had run their course, and the law was upheld, the job cuts started. In a single month, 12% of our county lost their jobs. Over the next three years, something like 30% of the remaining jobs were lost, although many of those job holders were moved out of state to work with the same company.

Mr. S., even though he didn't work directly for a methane gas mining company, was one of the initial 12%, as he was working in an industry that was dependent upon the methane gas mining companies. he worked for a few months, and picked up some work here and there, but, by and large, we lived on what I made writing, our savings, and his unemployment for longer than I care to mention.

But then he found a job. We were thankful, grateful, elated, even though we knew it was contract work. It meant rebuilding our savings. It meant many things that only those who have been unemployed for awhile can, I think, truly fathom. There were no benefits, other than the certainty, most months, of dinner on the table. There was the constant uncertainty of not knowing if the contract would be renewed and if he would continue to have his hours, but those kinds of things are easy to put aside until you have to deal with them right now.

Yesterday, Mr. S. was hired. As a permanent employee. No more contract expirations. No more wondering if he will get hours this week. Benefits, including health insurance we can probably afford. It means a pay cut, at least temporarily, but I will figure out how to live with that. I'll be opening an Etsy shop that will hopefully replace some of the income that we will be losing. I'll also be selling some stuff on Ebay, and working on some soaps and bath items that I can sell at the Farmer's Market this summer. We'll make it work. It's surely better than unemployment!