Anonymous wrote:Our lifeguards are both from the Ukraine. This is the 4th year we've had Ukrainian lifeguards.

One speaks very good English and the other's is good enough to get by, but he uses the translate app on his phone most of the time.

They are both in university in the Ukraine and come from small towns with little employment opportunities. This is a "work study abroad" program at their university. So they are getting paid and university credits to be here.

My neighbor is Ukrainian and likes to get their life stories each year. The one lifeguard from last year was actually able to remain in the US and is in the process of joining the USAF.

From what they've told her, the pool management company rents the apartments and charges them a weekly fee to live there. The fee is deducted from their paychecks. Their apartment is a 3 room apartment that 8 people share. They have a mixture of blow up mattresses and used mattresses (no bed frames). Their apartment has a couch and some beanbag chairs, but their friend's apartment has the cheapo lawn chairs from Walmart as their furniture. They don't have a table, dressers, or TVs, but cable & WiFi are provided. They have some miss-matched dishes and a few pots and pans. The random furniture pieces, pots & pans, and dishes are all kept in storage by the pool management company after the season. I thought they gave them the bicycles, but apparently they either rent them from the pool management company or are responsible for purchasing their own, which the pool management company will graciously buy from them a the end of the season.

It sounds like just godawful conditions to me, but they are loving it here. They love how we build out in the suburbs rather than up like they do where they're from. They always comment on how large our lawn areas are.

[b]

Join the USAF and from the Ukraine? She is probably a spy in training

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What countries are they mostly from?
Who pays their rent?
There is a apartment complex near my house where the rents start out at $2,000 a month and they are living there.
I know this because I always see them walking to and from the shopping center across the street carrying bags of groceries.
Summer lifeguarding must pay really well.

And you think lifeguards are EACH renting a one-bedroom apartment for $2000? Come on. You can't think of how they might double, triple or likely quadruple up???

So you mean to tell me they split the $2,000 ÷ 15?

That is a lot of people to share 1 single bathroom with.

I am poor. I live in a building with only one bedrooms and studios. A lot of the renters here are Mexican, and it's part of their culture to leave their front door open, for air (I assume). I have seen into a lot of apartments - they have two triple bunkbeds often. So six people sharing one studio. These are the dishwashers and busboys and cooks and fast food workers. It's totally normal when you come from a culture where three generations live together, to have 6-8 people in one small home.

You are assuming the lifeguards come from poor areas or poor families.

Anonymous wrote:What countries are they mostly from?
Who pays their rent?
There is a apartment complex near my house where the rents start out at $2,000 a month and they are living there.
I know this because I always see them walking to and from the shopping center across the street carrying bags of groceries.
Summer lifeguarding must pay really well.

Ask them?

Perhaps this is a city thing especially? We are out in Burke and all the lifeguards sound like they are from here. I will say tho that based on how crowded the pools are I am surprised there seem to only ever be two in the chairs.

Our old hoa used the Europeans for a few summers and then switched to local kids including some from the neighborhood. The locals were much better since they seemed less shy about calling kids out when they were doing something dangerous at the pool.

I've met a few and not all live in flop houses.
They do it just for the experience.

Some are so broke they gladly go with you out of sheer bordom.

I took this one 19 year old to the 9:30 club in D.C. and she totally loved it!

Nice way to break the ice.

Anonymous wrote:Again, yet another example of how immigration policy is really only in place to help businesses keep costs down. Whether it's illegal immigration or programs like this.

very true. Usually the DCUM crowd thinks they deserve low cost services and encourage this type of exploitation.

and the other side of the issue is that these guest workers are taking jobs from local workers.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are exploited at amusement parks that employ a lot of Europeans too. I remember reading about a lot of bad stuff happening to summer employees at Cedar Point in Ohio.

Same deal at Six Flags, Kings Dominion, and Busch Gardens too. Busch Gardens is divided up as the 'Old World' and I always giggle a little when an East Asian is running a ride in Scotland or a Russian is dipping ice cream cones in Germany.

And I think all these kids are living the dream during their summer in America, especially the ones from Eastern Europe. American kids pay thousands to backpack all over Europe on a summer break, meanwhile these kids are getting paid to experience their own adventure in America and all that's asked of them is to stay out of trouble and to hang out by a pool 40 hours a week. Lucky I'd say.

Wow, you are making equivalent backpacking across Europe on dollars a day, staying in fun hostels, trying new foods, zero responsibility, having sex, listening to music, visiting cathedrals and museums and having the adventure of a lifetime with sitting under the hot sun for 40 hours a week on watchful duty or working at a fast food stand, being isolated from locals, having half your salary taken midsummer to pay for travel over and accommodations? I don't think so. It's more like "semi-indentured servitude". I would love it to be the pleasant experience you imagine as many of these summer workers are very well educated/working on degrees back home - and if they left with a positive experience could be great ambassadors for inter-country relations.

Anonymous wrote:They are exploited at amusement parks that employ a lot of Europeans too. I remember reading about a lot of bad stuff happening to summer employees at Cedar Point in Ohio.

Same deal at Six Flags, Kings Dominion, and Busch Gardens too. Busch Gardens is divided up as the 'Old World' and I always giggle a little when an East Asian is running a ride in Scotland or a Russian is dipping ice cream cones in Germany.

And I think all these kids are living the dream during their summer in America, especially the ones from Eastern Europe. American kids pay thousands to backpack all over Europe on a summer break, meanwhile these kids are getting paid to experience their own adventure in America and all that's asked of them is to stay out of trouble and to hang out by a pool 40 hours a week. Lucky I'd say.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What countries are they mostly from?
Who pays their rent?
There is a apartment complex near my house where the rents start out at $2,000 a month and they are living there.
I know this because I always see them walking to and from the shopping center across the street carrying bags of groceries.
Summer lifeguarding must pay really well.

And you think lifeguards are EACH renting a one-bedroom apartment for $2000? Come on. You can't think of how they might double, triple or likely quadruple up???

So you mean to tell me they split the $2,000 ÷ 15?

That is a lot of people to share 1 single bathroom with.

I am poor. I live in a building with only one bedrooms and studios. A lot of the renters here are Mexican, and it's part of their culture to leave their front door open, for air (I assume). I have seen into a lot of apartments - they have two triple bunkbeds often. So six people sharing one studio. These are the dishwashers and busboys and cooks and fast food workers. It's totally normal when you come from a culture where three generations live together, to have 6-8 people in one small home.

We have had some of these Eastern European lifeguards at our pool over the years. I think our club prefers to employ children of members but when they don't apply for the jobs they have to fill them somehow. I've heard anecdotally that American high school and college kids are too busy with summer camps, travel, and internships to take jobs that aren't as "appealing" for a resume. Even the kids who like to swim and be at the pool go for the coaching jobs and teach swim lessons which pay better.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, yet another example of how immigration policy is really only in place to help businesses keep costs down. Whether it's illegal immigration or programs like this.

Many don't go back to their home countries once the summer ends. I loosely know of a few who have been here for years since coming here for this same job. They try to find other companies that will sponsor them through work but if they don't they stay anyway.

Actually, the J-1 program has a very low overstay rate.

These are middle class college or grad school kids. They come here for three months, work, and then travel around for another month. Their parents are heavily subsidizing this experience. They go home because they have to go back to school. When they graduate, they are very employable.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Again, yet another example of how immigration policy is really only in place to help businesses keep costs down. Whether it's illegal immigration or programs like this.

+ a million. People ask why teenagers aren't lifeguards anymore. I get that its because there aren't enough teenagers available to work in the summer, but I also think their wages haven't changed at all since I was probably a lifeguard, it was very good money when I was a teen, enough to support all the fun things I wanted to do during the year. Now, I bet you could $2000 even if you worked all summer. It's not worth it for teens!

My teen is a lifeguard. They pay minimum wage, and are expected to do a lot more than just sit on the side of the pool--they clean it, obviously, but also have to do some amount of landscaping/mowing.

I know, but what I was a lifeguard we made more than minimum wage ($12 an hour or so in 2000) It was worth it to get certified and stay in shape and all that. You could also make more money by doing lessons and things.

What? You know my kid makes minimum wage? How does that make sense? Where were you making $12/hr 17 years ago?! He stays in shape anyway, he's a mulit-sport athlete including swimming. I've told him NOT to mow lawns--it's a private club, and he's definitely not been hired to do that. It's insane to watch these teens mowing in flipflops. I'm horrifiied that one of them is going to have an accident. So stupid. SMH.

Being a Lifeguard was THE summer job to have back when I was in HS from 1996-2000. Even after passing certification, we had to come in periodically to make sure were still in shape and able to rescue. I know the last summer I was a lifeguard in 2000, I was making $15/hr after doing it for 4 summers. That was crazy good money back then for a 17/18 year old! Especially when my friends were making $5-something/hr doing retail or fast food. Those that got jobs as waiters/waitresses (which was hard because of the whole alcohol thing) were the only ones who usually made more than us lifeguards when you factored in the tips.

My neighbor's son is a lifeguard at our local rec center (indoor pool; no outdoor pool). He's been unable to find any summer lifeguarding work at an outside pool the past 2 summers.

Our lifeguards are both from the Ukraine. This is the 4th year we've had Ukrainian lifeguards.

One speaks very good English and the other's is good enough to get by, but he uses the translate app on his phone most of the time.

They are both in university in the Ukraine and come from small towns with little employment opportunities. This is a "work study abroad" program at their university. So they are getting paid and university credits to be here.

My neighbor is Ukrainian and likes to get their life stories each year. The one lifeguard from last year was actually able to remain in the US and is in the process of joining the USAF.

From what they've told her, the pool management company rents the apartments and charges them a weekly fee to live there. The fee is deducted from their paychecks. Their apartment is a 3 room apartment that 8 people share. They have a mixture of blow up mattresses and used mattresses (no bed frames). Their apartment has a couch and some beanbag chairs, but their friend's apartment has the cheapo lawn chairs from Walmart as their furniture. They don't have a table, dressers, or TVs, but cable & WiFi are provided. They have some miss-matched dishes and a few pots and pans. The random furniture pieces, pots & pans, and dishes are all kept in storage by the pool management company after the season. I thought they gave them the bicycles, but apparently they either rent them from the pool management company or are responsible for purchasing their own, which the pool management company will graciously buy from them a the end of the season.

It sounds like just godawful conditions to me, but they are loving it here. They love how we build out in the suburbs rather than up like they do where they're from. They always comment on how large our lawn areas are.

Anonymous wrote:it's a big scam by the pool companies and the HOAs that want cheap labor are fine with it.

they aren't treated great. crammed into tiny dirty apartments with 4-6 in a room. most of them don't care. they party, hook up and get a fun summer.
afterward they travel out west and have more fun. obviously it would be better if these jobs went to locals, but it won't happen under current immigration. they also don't pay some of the taxes, so it's a win win for the employers that keep the $$$ off of them.

Many of them are from Eastern Europe and need the money and language experience. Legit exchanges are wonderful - for our kids to go overseas as well. However, I fear there is some exploitation as there can be with au pairs and her types of legal, temporary worker programs.

Why don't we have a youth program that trains teenagers to become lifeguards?
Clearly, we do not pay lifeguards enough given the shortage of US labor.