Part-Time Work: Freedom or Frustration?

The 15-day Teamster strike against United Parcel Service raised issues about the increasing number of part-time workers, who often earn lower wages and receive fewer benefits than their full-time counterparts. ANNA MARIE STOLLEY spoke with part-time workers about their concerns. CELIA LEFF

79, receptionist, Culver City Senior Center

I needed a job to supplement my retirement income. I work two days a week and then one weekend a month.

If I couldn’t supplement my income, it would be hand-to-mouth. I have some investments and a very small Social Security payment.

I don’t get pension or health benefits at my job. I don’t get vacation time. If I don’t work, I don’t get paid.

Well, it would be helpful to get sick leave and the rest, but I don’t. They do have a union, but part-time workers are not part of it.

When I took the job, it was with the understanding that I wasn’t going to get benefits. If I didn’t like it, I could have not taken the job. But it’s pleasant work, and I’m getting paid for it. I needed a job, and that’s the bottom line.

I work in an office that’s quite busy. We have over 3,000 members here, all wanting information. Some days are a zoo here, and I’m tired by the end. Working part-time is not as tiring as full-time would be.

As for the UPS workers, when they took their jobs, they knew the conditions. If they did not like them, they shouldn’t have taken the job.

JESSICA KING

26, customer service representative, Long Beach

I am a single mother of two boys. This is my only job; I make $5.30 an hour. I work 28 to 35 hours a week. That’s how my schedule was set up when I came into the company. I am barely making it.

You don’t get health insurance until you’re here 18 months. I’m about six months away from benefits, but hopefully I won’t be here by then.

I do get sick pay. After a year, I get vacation pay. I don’t have a pension. I just finished pharmacy school and am waiting for my license. I’m hopeful I’ll get a job in that area.

I’ve heard that a lot of companies keep people as part-time employees just so they won’t have to pay benefits. If that were true, I’d be upset. And think about it: Management, the people making that decision, they’re all getting their benefits.

CHARLIE LUPO

47, massage therapist, West L.A.

I work about 10 hours a week for a spa in Santa Monica. I’m an independent contractor, which means I get paid per client. I’m single.

As a disabled person--I’m legally blind--I’m happy to have any job. Having a handicap makes everything you do in life, getting to work, operating in a sighted environment, more difficult. Working part-time allows me to get things done. I don’t have workers’ compensation. I do not have health insurance, paid vacation, sick leave. I don’t get a bonus, although I do get to go to a company picnic every year.

I don’t have a retirement fund, so it’s up to me to decide how much money I put away for old age. I’m not putting anything away now, so I guess I’ll have to work until the day I die.

I have a lot of extra time to do other things I want to do with my life: exercise, self-improvement, school. Freedom and flexibility should not be underrated.

I wouldn’t mind if the owner of the spa decided to make us all employees with benefits. That would make for a more secure environment, but since that won’t happen in this line of work, and since I earn a high hourly rate, I’m not squawking.

CHRISTOPHER JOHNSTON

25, sales clerk, Culver City

I work 15 to 25 hours a week for $6 an hour. I would work full-time if I could, but they haven’t offered me that.

Do I like my job? Well, I get a paycheck. My mother helps me out to make ends meet.

I don’t get health coverage, paid vacation or a pension. If I did, I wouldn’t have to worry about a lot of things.

Right now, if I get sick, I take care of myself somehow. If I got into a car crash or something, I’d have to somehow pay the bill myself.

Companies don’t seem to want to pay their employees benefits. It’s frustrating when you know they could be paying you more but it’s not in their way of thinking.

Before I worked here, I was a painter and going to school. I want to go back to school and get my degree in physical education. When I get my next job, hopefully as an athletic coach, it’ll have benefits.