Wednesday 9th October 2019...nice day!!

I think all my days are going to be busy now I have started the Three kings drive....The donations are coming in which is so wonderful!!

My gym session this morning was at 11.30 am a great time for me as I dash home get cleaned up and off to poker fortunately from my house to Ray’s house where we p,Amy is only two minutes non the scooter!!

I seem to be on a super roll at poker came away with another win..this time 200 pesos.

Afterwards I had time to come home shower and get myself sorted for my English class.......nine students showed up and I moved the desks out of the way and we sat around in a circle, much better, each of them told of their pay forward..everyone did something it is a blessing to me to hear their stories!!

Then I made copies of this...

And we took turns to read one out loud and then we talked about it....they are so inquisitive and ask questions we only got to number 11 before we had to stop as the class was almost finished...but we had time to play one game of twenty quest for chocolate.....what a great class!!!

Interesting article and this happens at all the big grocery stores In Mexico!!

For seniors bagging groceries, tips are their only source of income

A bagger might earn a 10-peso tip from a shopper with two bags, or simply a blessing.

When shopping in a supermarket in Mexico, you are likely to see senior citizens bagging groceries at the checkouts. These seniors are not employees, but volunteers, subsisting entirely on tips.

At Walmart and its subsidiaries Sam’s Club, Bodega Aurrera and Superama and other supermarket chains such as Chedraui, Soriana and La Comercial Mexicana, pensioners bag groceries. None of them receive salaries, but the work is important to them.

Mexico does not have age-based labor discrimination laws. Employers can advertise for a position and include the age range they are willing to hire. Even when these age ranges are not explicitly stated, it is nearly impossible to find a job in Mexico after turning 60. This creates a desperate situation for senior citizens whose pensions do not cover living expenses.

Supermarket chains take advantage of this desperation by hiring them as volunteers instead of employees, at great benefit to their bottom line.

Volunteers at the Superama on Río Churubusco in Mexico City work five-hour shifts, six days a week, with their day off rotating from week to week.

Although they have none of the benefits or protections of regular employees, they are still expected to follow many of the same rules. If they want to go on vacation, they must ask for permission in advance but receive no vacation pay.

If they miss a day of work, they must bring a written justification, such as a doctor’s note. Their only medical insurance is through pensions from their previous careers.

At Superama, volunteers work for 30 minutes, then rest for 30. Not every supermarket provides breaks. At Soriana, volunteers work for five consecutive hours.

Diego, 66, who asked that we not publish his name, has been bagging groceries at Superama for four years. “I’ll keep working until I fall over. I have to.”

So how are the tips?

“Some people tip better than others. You might get 10 pesos [US $0.50) for two bags, or you might bag a week’s worth of groceries and get a smile, or a blessing.” Diego used to be self-employed but retired with a government pension.

María Guadalupe Zarate, 64, has also been at Superama for four years. She previously worked as the head cashier for the IMSS Social Security Institute, and is also on a government pension. “I can make about 200 pesos a day. That money is important for my personal economy. If I need to rest when it isn’t my break, one of the other volunteers will cover for me,” she said. What she makes in tips is almost double the minimum wage for a day of work in Mexico City — 102.68 pesos.

Walmart has a long history of shady business practices and strained labor relations in Mexico. In March of this year, the company narrowly avoided an 8,000-employee strike by meeting some of their demands. In 2012, the New York Times published an exposé on their history of using bribes to circumvent zoning laws, including opening a store next to the pyramids at Teotihuacán, which led to prolonged protests by local residents.

In 2008, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled Walmart’s employee payment scheme was unconstitutional. It had been paying employees with vouchers only redeemable in their stores.

The federal government reached an agreement recently with pension funds that will reduce commissions and give a person entering the workforce today 10% more upon retirement. Unfortunately for current retirees, there are no plans to increase their pensions.

Mexico’s senior citizens will have to continue to make ends meet however they can, and for many that will mean bagging groceries for tips

Yashi Kochi!!!