They always say, “Take what you get until you get better.”
It’s advice that many young people hear when entering the workforce. We’re told to be grateful for the opportunity, gain experience, work hard, and eventually something better will come along.
But at what point do we stop asking workers to simply endure and start asking whether they’re actually being treated fairly?
I’ve gone through primary school, secondary school, and college. I earned an Associate Degree, obtained additional certificates, gained work experience, and continued investing in myself in preparation for a better future.
Yet despite all of that, I’ve found myself working for what I believe is below the applicable minimum wage.
It makes me ask one simple question:
Is this what I went to school for?
Is this what years of studying, gaining qualifications, building experience, and preparing for the working world were meant to lead to?
Young people are constantly told that education is the path to a better future. We’re encouraged to qualify ourselves, gain experience, and work hard. But what happens when you do everything you were told and still struggle to receive fair compensation for your work?
Some people reading this may have well-paying jobs and may not immediately relate. You may agree with me, or you may not. But I ask you to put yourself in my shoes for just a moment.
Imagine trying to survive on less than EC$900 a month while paying for electricity, water, food, transportation, and every other basic necessity.
How far would that money really take you?
It’s easy to tell someone to “take what you get until you get better” when you’re not the one trying to stretch that income across an entire month.
People also say, “Take what you get until you get what you want.”
But by the time I finally get what I want, I may already be exhausted from accepting what I never wanted in the first place.
That’s the part we don’t talk about enough.
This isn’t about believing that any job is beneath me. It’s about recognizing that my time, education, skills, experience, and labour have value.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines has established minimum-wage regulations covering different categories of workers. The Department of Labour publishes the
applicable minimum-wage information by sector and provides guidance to both workers and employers.
So the conversation shouldn’t simply be, “Should workers be grateful to have a job?” The conversation should also be:
Are workers receiving the wages they are legally entitled to receive?
If a worker believes they are being paid below the applicable minimum wage, that concern deserves to be taken seriously.
I’m not writing this to attack a particular establishment. I’ve deliberately chosen not to name the workplace because my intention is bigger than one business.
I want to raise awareness.
There are people working every day who have bills to pay, families to support, goals to accomplish, and futures they’re trying to build. Behind every paycheck is a person.
Behind every hour worked is someone’s time, energy, and effort.
We cannot continue telling people simply to “take what you get until you get better” without asking what that person is sacrificing in the process.
Because work should provide more than something to put on a résumé. Work should provide dignity.
Work should provide fair compensation.
And honest work should give people an opportunity to live—not merely survive.
Maybe it is time we stop glorifying the ability to endure unfair circumstances and start having more conversations about fairness, workers’ rights, and accountability.
Because asking for fair treatment does not make a worker ungrateful. It makes them aware of their worth.
