Hello,

My name is Auburn Glaze. I work in the area of logistics for a MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR company called New York Air Brake. My fellow co-workers (new hires and current employees alike) and I, feel that we should be getting paid a better hourly wage, especially those of us who know how to do multiple jobs and operate different equipment. That kind of work is very demanding and the environment surrounding it can be quite dangerous.

We all risk our lives once we step outside of our house every day, yeah, but like those in other potentially dangerous jobs/careers, we increase those chances once we step into our place of work as well. Which is almost every day. So that being said, for a HIGH-risk job such as ours, we get LOW pay.

The starting pay is only $14/hr. and that needs to change. Compared to other companies in the surrounding industrial park, that seems like a slap in the face, especially with the amount of work that they get out of us. Right now we are currently working 10-hour days and voluntary Saturdays until further notice.

The plant manager wants us to get "Hyped Up" and stay positive about the job and being there, but what she fails to realize is that it's easier said than done because she isn't the one doing all the physical labor, we are. In my opinion, if we are going to go in there and work for someone else's dream and risk bodily harm in the process, then we should at least get paid a fair hourly wage to do so.

And to extend on that, I can also almost guarantee that people would have a much more positive attitude and willingness to give 110% to the job if they were to get a pay increase. Not to mention they would be able to keep more employees and have less of a turnover rate.

But as I mentioned earlier, they are a MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR company and growing. They can afford to give their employees an increase in pay. No doubt that a pay increase would drastically change the lives of many people. Our plant manager has the power to make this change happen for sure. Whether that change happens or not though, I would take pride and comfort in knowing that I at least tried to help out my fellow co-workers.