Spotlight on Portland's working poor: 100 Hours working at Portland's most commom, lowest paying jobs
Warren Jimenez
Following Sam's 100 business visits in his first 100 days in office, Sam wanted to shine the spotlight on Portland's working poor.
He decided to work 100 hours at Portland’s most common and lowest paying jobs to learn what the city can do to create more family-wage jobs.
Sam has worked as a receptionist/office clerk, courtesy clerk, waiter, prep cook, groundskeeper, street paver, retail salesperson, teacher assistant, truck driver, Sidewalk Ambassador, hotel room cleaner, customer service representative, cashier and janitor.
“Local median family incomes are falling, costs continue to rise, and individual and family prosperity is getting more difficult for Portlanders to achieve,” said Sam. "These trends are true for many cities, but we are not working hard enough locally to change them. I wanted to bring attention to this issue by working at the most common jobs, lowest paying jobs in Portland."
Community Partners
- Worksystems Inc.
- Oregon Employment Department
- Burgerville
- Port of Portland
- Classique Floors
- Pho Hung
- Oregon Council of Hispanic Advancement
- Embassy Suites
- Fred Meyer
- Outside In
- Tri-Met
- Portland Business Alliance
- Oregon Food Bank
Media Mentions
- Men at work: Sam Adams off the radar screen, Steve Duin, Aug. 21
- Hard work, low pay: Commissioner Sam Adams tries out life as a teacher's assistant, Julie Cortez, El Hispanic News, Aug. 25
Weblogs
- BLOG: My First "Job" is to Find One
- BLOG: Why I am Working 100 Hours at Portland's Most Common Jobs
- BLOG: "...would you like salt or ketchup with your fries?"
- GUEST BLOG: The Help Wanted/Workers Skill Mismatch
- BLOG: "...the most diverse room of people in Portland..."
- BLOG: Classique Floors, A Local Store You Can Trust
- BLOG: LISTOS Alternative Learning Center
- BLOG: You walk 13 million people through a building...
- BLOG: “Can I have ten 27s and some alcohol swabs,” he says confidently as he puts his used needles into the medical waste bin and picks small bottles of bleach from the bin...
- BLOG: My Time as a Tri-Met Bus Shagger
- Are we creating enough living wage jobs? NO!
Milestones
- July 1, 2005 - Sam starts 100 hours by looking for a job as an unemployed person
- July 8, 2005 - Sam begins his first job working at Burgerville
- December 21, 2005 - Sam ends the year working at the Oregon Food Bank as a truck driver
Posted by Warren Jimenez on December 29, 2005
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Filed Under 100 Hours, 2005 Year-in-Review
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