I don't like to talk about my job in this industry because I'm a) fearful of being seen as boastful and b) fearful of being fired but fuck it, we don't get paid shit and being silent is part of the problem (1/?) https://twitter.com/thebookseller/status/1273174795278901248

I got a paid internship through Creative Access, which gave me the London Living Wage for the few months I was there. In the 2nd month, I found out that the editorial assistant, post tax, was paid less than me, the intern (who wasn't being taxed). And I was on nothing!!! (2/?)

I then went into an extremely badly paid editorial job (17k) in the Midlands which barely gave me enough money to pay rent and actually live my life. But somehow I was getting paid more than a female colleague who was senior than me??? (3/?)

We spoke about it, I told her to use my salary info to get more money - she was shocked that I would 'let her do that' because 'we don't talk about money' (4/?)

When I attempted to negotiate a salary for my promotion at this place, I was told that I was lucky to be getting a promotion, despite doing the fucking work and more. I was also told I 'wasn't in London so I couldn't demand more money'. (5/?)

When my previous position was filled, the (white female) person who got it was paid more than I had in that job. Another (white female) new starter got paid more than my promoted salary despite having less experience in the industry. (6/?)

Future salary negotiations went nowhere. I tried to get another job for a long time and that's a whole other story. When I finally did, I was so glad to be a) out of there and b) to get that specific job, I didn't negotiate salary (now on 27k). Always negotiate your money. (7/?)

In this current job I have, I discovered that someone I knew was doing the same job as me, had been doing it longer, and was getting paid less than I was. I told her to use my info to negotiate a rise (8/?)

Once again, I was met with shock that I would let a person do that. That I would offer up this information and allow them to use it for their own cause. As if them getting paid what they're worth somehow negatively impacts me. It doesn't!!!! (9/?)

Staying silent about how much we get paid hurts us. Publishing coasts on people wanting so desperately to get a job, it can pay them less and they'll accept it because the journey here was so hard. I've done it. Fuck, I'm living that rn. (10/?)

Staying silent about this shit hurts us. It hurts future people who want to get where we are. The only people it helps are the ones on the fucking top. And guess what. They're all white, mostly middle class, mostly male. (11/?)

And that's some shit. There are glass ceilings for women and concrete ones for black and brown people. Not discussing your salary adds to that. No wonder none of us feel welcome in this damn industry. Y'all make us beg and bleed for crumbs (12/?)