Topic: Obama's sweatshop workers
ThomasJB's photo
Sun 05/03/09 08:23 PM

I Was a High-Tech Sweatshop Worker for the Obama Campaign
Why did the candidate of hope and change use workers paid less than half of the minimum wage?

Dan Mage | May 1, 2009

Middletown, New York—I wake up at 3:00 AM and I'm already late for work. Fortunately I don't have far to go. Taking care not to wake my wife, I remove the laptop from the bedroom desk and move it into the main computer room on the other side of the apartment. I don't want to use my aging desktop with the big monitor; it can't handle the traffic as fast as I need it to if I want to maximize my earnings.

As an expeditor for ChaCha Search Inc., a business that specializes in answering questions sent by text message, email, and voice mail, my job is to take the queries as they come in, make them readable, categorize them, and forward them to a "guide" who finds the answer—ideally within 2-3 minutes—and relays it back to the customer. It's a free service, with revenue generated by advertisements sent via text message or attached to the answer itself.

So I boot up, log in, and start processing the queries. The faster I work the more money I make. The shift passes with a few bursts of frenetic activity breaking up long stretches where the queries come in every one or two minutes. At 6:30 AM, I calculate my earnings. I've made about $5 in three hours.

For every query I expedite, I make three cents. If traffic is heavy, and when I'm in top form, I can average four queries per minute, or $7.20 an hour—but these high volume periods are rare. I calculate my career average to be approximately $2.85 per hour. That's less than half of the federal minimum wage. ChaCha Search Inc., in other words, is a high-tech 21st century sweatshop.

Headquartered in Carmel, Indiana, ChaCha has approximately 55,000 home-working guides and expeditors under contract. The expeditors are all paid the piece rate described above; the guides receive 10 or 20 cents per query, depending on the quality of their answers and their level of expertise. It's a young, hip company whose advertisers have included AT&T, McDonald's, and the Barack Obama presidential campaign.

The Obama campaign's use of ChaCha was simple and brilliant. Messages would go out advising customers to vote early for Obama and to text back the keyword OBAMA for more information. That would direct them to pro-Obama websites such as VoteForChange.com. If the keyword failed to trigger the automatic response, an expeditor like me would route it to a guide.

Here's the question: Did Obama have personal knowledge of ChaCha's employment practices? His campaign's use of the company was certainly no secret. ChaCha proudly displays an article on its website from USA Today describing their partnership—though the article makes no mention of the compensation received by expeditors and guides.

For its part, ChaCha exemplifies the best and worst of today's Internet economy. The company was more than willing to profit from Obama's candidacy, yet if federal minimum wage laws applied to its home-working contractors, ChaCha wouldn't stay in business for long.

Does Obama's relationship with ChaCha matter? Consider his own words, first spoken during a March 2008 campaign appearance in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and later incorporated into his campaign infomercial (transcribed here by Time's Mark Halperin): "If they're able and willing to work, they should be able to find a job that pays a living wage." Obama also favors raising the minimum wage to $9.50 per hour by 2011. But despite all of that lofty talk, his campaign still employed ChaCha's high-tech sweatshop labor.

Think about it like this. Obama sold the ideas of hope and change to America's desperate working and lower-middle classes. But it was only a campaign tactic. The Democrats continue to enable and reward the same incompetence, corruption, and corporate welfare that characterized the Bush administration. A stimulus check of $2000 to every American without regard to age, income, or assets would have been less expensive (and probably more effective) than the Bush-Obama bailouts. Give money to the original owners—the taxpayers—and send those corporate losers to the back of the line.

Better yet, what about a truly free market, one that actually lets economic dinosaurs go extinct, rather than keeping them alive via the life support of statist policies and practices. Conversely, if workers stopped expecting help from the state, they might begin to protect their interests as vigorously as the elite promote their own agenda.

Of course none of that will be happening anytime soon. But when it comes to holding the president accountable to his own flowery rhetoric, the time is ripe for some change we can finally believe in.

Dan Mage is a writer living in Middletown, New York. A two-time dropout of Naropa University, he is the owner and creator of www.freneticmemetics.com.

http://reason.com/news/show/133208.html?=no

TimothyinHD's photo
Sun 05/03/09 09:08 PM
Maybe... you should get a real job... or not be on this site, and working. There is no opportunity on the internet... I fail to see how this is revelant to politics... or the new administration... commision jobs have never correlated to the minimum wage.

This is an online dating site lol...maybe you should be thankful you don't wake the wife, and type your way to a $300 paycheck...

Everyone wants to blame someone else for their circumstances, sad.

yellowrose10's photo
Sun 05/03/09 09:10 PM

Maybe... you should get a real job... or not be on this site, and working. There is no opportunity on the internet... I fail to see how this is revelant to politics... or the new administration... commision jobs have never correlated to the minimum wage.

This is an online dating site lol...maybe you should be thankful you don't wake the wife, and type your way to a $300 paycheck...

Everyone wants to blame someone else for their circumstances, sad.


you realize that isn't thomas writing the article right????laugh

ThomasJB's photo
Sun 05/03/09 09:29 PM

Maybe... you should get a real job... or not be on this site, and working. There is no opportunity on the internet... I fail to see how this is revelant to politics... or the new administration... commision jobs have never correlated to the minimum wage.

This is an online dating site lol...maybe you should be thankful you don't wake the wife, and type your way to a $300 paycheck...

Everyone wants to blame someone else for their circumstances, sad.


I just posted it. I didn't write it, but I must say this says a lot about you.

TimothyinHD's photo
Mon 05/04/09 05:31 AM
Says a lot about me? Deduct what you'd like, if someone decides to try to make a living sitting at home in front of a computer, than they will acount for their decisions and the consequences that follow.
I would love to play PS3, write, golf etc. For a living... but instead work in retail management and go to college full time, we are all acountable for our own resumes, our own accomplishments, without excuses. Maybe the author should look in the mirror, understand that his job is either all he's capable of, or another more qualified person is in the job he assumes he ought to be in. This is america, could be working a couple hours at mcdonalds instead of typing out, editing, and determining what medias to distribute his sob story.

ThomasJB's photo
Mon 05/04/09 08:48 AM

Says a lot about me? Deduct what you'd like, if someone decides to try to make a living sitting at home in front of a computer, than they will acount for their decisions and the consequences that follow.
I would love to play PS3, write, golf etc. For a living... but instead work in retail management and go to college full time, we are all acountable for our own resumes, our own accomplishments, without excuses. Maybe the author should look in the mirror, understand that his job is either all he's capable of, or another more qualified person is in the job he assumes he ought to be in. This is america, could be working a couple hours at mcdonalds instead of typing out, editing, and determining what medias to distribute his sob story.


So you are saying that everybody that works from home is a lazy slob who doesn't deserve to make at least minimum wage? What about all the people who telecommute? I think your statements are rather short sighted.

catwoman96's photo
Mon 05/04/09 10:44 AM
blah work to pay taxes.

what an american thing to do.

ima work to support my family and another by doing so.


my daughter needs freaking braces. and 3 baby teeth pulled prior to
betcha the other family gets their childrens braces for free.

me...nope. work. worry. pray. worry. work. sign a damn loan. pray. work.

blah blah blah

take the 'sob' stories out with garbabge. and give me my money BACk and quit ripping me off.

catwoman96's photo
Mon 05/04/09 10:49 AM
and no i dont work from home wither. i busted my ass for years. and it paid off I got a wonderful job now.

what good is it?? the mopre i make...the more they take.

good luck to you timothyinHD

TimothyinHD's photo
Mon 05/04/09 11:29 AM
Whether we'd all like to admit it or not...there are consequences to every decision we make, opportunity cost. Commision based jobs are often a watse of your time... I sold, well tried to sell ADT when I got out of the Navy, for one day and saw first hand when it earned me $0 for 10 hours of work...would have been better off at mcdonalds for $7.35 an hour. I am on salary right now, which has it's consequences and opportunities. That article would be like me complaining about overtime...

I haven't heard of a lot of great ways to make money from your couch...and I don't understand the market for text based answers either, have google on my phone, internet at home... in order for the company to remain profitable they would have to pay something like .3 a text...not $7.35 an hour, so if they made them pay hourly, they wouldn't exist and he'd be out of a job as a result..

Every person has their apex, work wise, socially, fame, money, love, and laughter... maybe he's reached his, and should get a part time job at mcdonalds....

yellowrose10's photo
Mon 05/04/09 11:30 AM
I work from home and do just fine ty...plus I take care of my sister and her house....so I assure you I am NOT lazy

AGoodGuy1026's photo
Mon 05/04/09 11:44 AM

I fail to see how this is revelant to politics... or the new administration... commision jobs have never correlated to the


frustrated rofl waving

catwoman96's photo
Mon 05/04/09 12:19 PM

I work from home and do just fine ty...plus I take care of my sister and her house....so I assure you I am NOT lazy


Im sure for many who are taking care of their familes at home...then home based work can be a blessing and any amount of income made from it wonderful. Lotsa people can probably make some seriosuly good money at home, depending on their level of skill and what the need for that skilll is. I wish I could work at home at least as a part time job since I need to be home for my children anyhow

yellowrose10's photo
Mon 05/04/09 12:23 PM
cat....i live with my sister to take care of her....but i do contract bookkeeping and contract dance teaching....so i survive lol

catwoman96's photo
Mon 05/04/09 12:27 PM
i text enough anyhow...ima become a professional texter on the side. I dont care if they pay me a quarter to text somebody...I will text away

Winx's photo
Mon 05/04/09 12:49 PM

blah work to pay taxes.

what an american thing to do.

ima work to support my family and another by doing so.

my daughter needs freaking braces. and 3 baby teeth pulled prior to
betcha the other family gets their childrens braces for free.

me...nope. work. worry. pray. worry. work. sign a damn loan. pray. work.

blah blah blah

take the 'sob' stories out with garbabge. and give me my money BACk and quit ripping me off.


Actually, Cat, very few people are able to get braces for free with state health insurance. The child has to have severely deformed teeth to meet their criteria. I do mean "severely".

catwoman96's photo
Mon 05/04/09 01:16 PM
sure winx. a life on medicaid isnt enviable anyhow.
im jsut stressing today

Winx's photo
Mon 05/04/09 01:18 PM

sure winx. a life on medicaid isnt enviable anyhow.
im jsut stressing today


I have to pay cash for my child's braces too.flowerforyou

catwoman96's photo
Mon 05/04/09 01:20 PM


sure winx. a life on medicaid isnt enviable anyhow.
im jsut stressing today


I have to pay cash for my child's braces too.flowerforyou


im hopin for some credit.

Winx's photo
Mon 05/04/09 01:22 PM



sure winx. a life on medicaid isnt enviable anyhow.
im jsut stressing today


I have to pay cash for my child's braces too.flowerforyou


im hopin for some credit.


I'm doing payments. That's how they do it here. It starts next month. lol