Do the Amish go on strike? Walk off the job?

Today I saw Amish friends who are construction workers. They’re excited about their new business making tiny houses. The Tiny House Movement is sweeping the USA as a sort of protest against McMansions; it’s a counter-cultural shift. The 1980’s was the decade of “BIGness” and now the paradigm shift is

towards “smallness.”

My daughter and I told the Amish how much a typical tiny house completely finished would cost: $40,000.00. They felt that they could beat the cost by using their own sawmills and wood. We ordered them a book on tiny house construction and floor plans, which includes sources to buy all necessary appliances. My daughter joked with them that they should get old-fashioned Ben Franklin pot belly stoves and make the interior look like an Amish house. At first we all laughed and then…light bulb. What a great idea.

But this business is being started due to Amish crews walking off their construction jobs since they were being paid substantially lower than non-Amish, what they call “the English” or “Yankees.” The Amish turn the other cheek, but they’re not pushovers. They believe in justice, fair pay for their hard work.

In starting their own business building tiny houses, Joe quit his job that took him away from his home and he started a sawmill on his land. Along with his dad and a brother-in-law they’ll make tiny houses. When they found out that their competition was selling these little 300 square feet houses for 40K they gawked. I thought they were mentally counting money, but they weren’t. They simply said, “We’ll sell them at a fair price, not that high.”

So, fair pay and fair prices are at the core of an Amish word ethic.

Look for Amish built tiny houses at a fair price soon

I’m thrilled that they walked off their jobs because fair pay wasn't given. It turned out for the best. They have a skip in their steps about being able to stay home and start this fascinating new business. And our family owns Thrifty Christian Shopper, an online store, and we’ll be able to use the internet to take orders. Our payment? A tiny house! I want one so badly. But I don’t want an Amish style one, but Victorian with gingerbread trim ;)