Mary Edna Tobias Marcy

“ Some of us work many years before we realize that even we wage-workers have one commodity to sell. As long as we are able to work we try to find a buyer of our labor-power. We hunt for a job and the boss that goes with a job.
Men and women who have no other means of support have to sell their labor-power for wages in order to live.
A commodity is something that satisfies some human want; something produced by labor-power for sale or exchange. A dress made by a woman for herself is not a commodity. A dress made to be sold to somebody else is a commodity. ”

“ Now you know that any man who is selling a commodity asks as high a price for it as he can. The little grocer who runs the small store near your home charges just as much as possible in selling butter to you. The coal dealers raise their prices whenever they can. And when you strike the boss for a job, you ask him as high a price for your labor-power as you think you can get.
High prices for labor-power is what wage-workers want. Low prices for labor-power is what your employer wants. ”

“ What happens when there are ten men competing to sell their labor-power? Who gets the job?
What happens when there are several jobs and only one worker? Will he receive higher or lower wages? Will he get a good price for his labor-power?
When workingmen are scarce and manufacturers are forced to pay a high price for labor-power (high wages) in a certain locality, does the scarcity of workers last long? ”