Minimum wage general strike

[East coast navy]

The problem is the value of the dollar keeps going down. Watch, MUST SEE! World war 3 is upon us (fixed) on youtube. It's a eye opener.

 

[DriveInDriveOut]

The problem is the value of the dollar keeps going down. Watch, MUST SEE! World war 3 is upon us (fixed) on youtube. It's a eye opener.

I agree the value of the dollar is the problem. People insist on blaming Obama or Bush for the economy. The real problem is the Federal Reserve stooges sitting in their marble palace screwing over working people so Wall Street can keep their profits.

The minimum wage needs to be increased, but it is only part of the solution. Raising minimum wage is simply a temporary compensation for the devaluation of the dollar, and best case scenario it will barely be able to keep up with the CPI.

I'm no economist... but I do know that while they squabble over these problems... hard working Americans deserve a living wage.

 

[East coast navy]

I agree the value of the dollar is the problem. People insist on blaming Obama or Bush for the economy. The real problem is the Federal Reserve stooges sitting in their marble palace screwing over working people so Wall Street can keep their profits.

The minimum wage needs to be increased, but it is only part of the solution. Raising minimum wage is simply a temporary compensation for the devaluation of the dollar, and best case scenario it will barely be able to keep up with the CPI.

You have to watch the video. China is killing the dollar.

 

[PiedmontSteward]

​Nothing against the individuals but that is some fricked up stick.

This is actually fairly common in unions. While we don't have any porter jobs in my local, the UAW had a practice of bidding out janitorial jobs to the bargaining unit so the oldest and most beat down employees could sweep floors and scrub toilets instead of wearing themselves down to a total nub on the assembly line.

Not much different than every office having "that old guy" that doesn't really do anything, but he's been there so long that the company doesn't want to let him go. Either way, UPS can afford it.

 

[PiedmontSteward]

You sound like you're 17 years old. Someday you'll grow up and get it. Hey, why not take advantage of that Tuition Reimbursement someone wrote about up top there? You can get a "Bachelor's equivalent" degree and make BANK"

I won't go into my kid's careers, but with the hard work, determination and some planning, they are doing well. They got past the PT Loader phase of their lives around 16.

Actually, I put myself through school while slinging boxes at UPS. I have a four year bachelor's degree and wanted to go into education, but this society has done nothing but demonize teachers and public servants for the last decade in the name of austerity. I make more (comparatively) slinging boxes than I would in a classroom in my state.

You sound like a bully that loses it when people begin to stand up for themselves. You'd better get used to it; history is cyclical and the average working man and woman is tired of being abused for a paycheck that gets smaller and smaller as the years go on. I never understood why you conservative types got pissy when people organize to improve their lot in life -- you worship the Horatio Alger myth of pursuing the American Dream by pulling yourself up by your boot straps, so what's the difference if someone does the same thing with a union card in their back pocket?

 

[PT Car Washer]

That someone sweeping the floors gets paid the same as a package car driver.

Those are the wages the company negotiated. The company must feel the jobs have a value.

 

[Lineandinitial]

America has become "Corporate America"
So lets just say in my state the minimum wage goes up....
Take a a company that makes billions of dollars a year like Walmart, and then comparable, on a very small scale, Your local grocery store. Walmart can afford this new minimum wage and still keep its prices down, whereas Joes store has no choice but to pass this cost on to the consumer. It's already hard enough for this small hometown grocer to compete with this big corporation, and now the minimum wage increase could potentially put Joe out of business. So the wage increase is terrible for these small businesses and great for corporations. Unless..... Americans wake up and start supporting their towns and small businesses. Take Walmart out of the picture and Joe has no reason to raise their prices due to an increase in minimum wage,because now their community is buying from them, and they are making way more profit than before....
Same goes for large franchise restaurants vs. your local restaurants

This is only theory of course

You made my point... choosing to only consider that which supports your argument, some people fail to see the obvious. There are "Buy Local" movements in every town, but there are people with entitlement mentalities that think it is a game to squeeze every cent out of the supplier and care only about themselves and what it costs THEM in the end... would probably choose the cheaper alternative, rather than spend a few more cents to support local business. I know it is ultimately my fault as I am a corporate pig.

 

[brown_trousers]

I spent the day walking the picket line with fast food workers that went on strike today in my town alongside my BA. At least two of them (from KFC) were fired on the spot for walking out.

While $15/hour might seem like too much, McDonald's could double their wages and the price of a Big Mac would only go up (comparatively) by 68 cents. (Source: Errors in McDonald's Wage Analysis) As a tax payer, I'm sick and tired of subsidizing the mega profits of companies like Walmart and McDonald's by paying for health benefits (Medcaid coverage) and food stamps for families that deserve better than sub-minimum wage from companies that can afford it. And as a union member, it's my responsibility to support workers that are trying to stand up for themselves by demanding respect on the job.

88% of fast food workers are over the age of 20 and one third have families. These aren't part-time gigs for high school kids to get extra spending money any more. Welcome to the McJob economy.

Those fast food joints definetely have the money. Do you know what the profit margin is on just a soda? It is staggering! Over 1000% profit easy

 

[brown_trousers]

You made my point... choosing to only consider that which supports your argument, some people fail to see the obvious. There are "Buy Local" movements in every town, but there are people with entitlement mentalities that think it is a game to squeeze every cent out of the supplier and care only about themselves and what it costs THEM in the end... would probably choose the cheaper alternative, rather than spend a few more cents to support local business. I know it is ultimately my fault as I am a corporate pig.

Its a conundrum that people have such issues with places like Walmart. Walmart is not the one to blame, it is the people who choose to shop there. Walmart is just a puppet that responds to the consumers choices

 

[DriveInDriveOut]

Its a conundrum that people have such issues with places like Walmart. Walmart is not the one to blame, it is the people who choose to shop there. Walmart is just a puppet that responds to the consumers choices

Walmart IS the one to blame.
Just because consumers go there, doesn't free Walmart from responsibility.
A company with 15 billion dollars in pure profit a year, can't afford to pay a living wage? Walmart's CEO makes more in an hour than it's average worker makes in an entire year. All taxpayers are paying for Walmart's refusal to offer it's "associates" a living wage.

 

[LongTimeComing]

Minimum wage needs to go up. Yes.

But $15 an hour for an entry position at a friggin McD?!?! Are these people retarded? Obtain some skill....do some real work...then you can bitch and complain and "strike" for real money...

Now let me clarify. Fast food might be the only job someone can get, for whatever multitude of reasons. It might become their one and only source of income. I get that. But that doesn't mean that the wages should...all of the sudden...conveniently become well enough to live off of happily for the rest of your life. What makes these people deserve $15 an hour? It sure as hell isn't their skill....it's not physically or mentally demanding work....Do they just feel (wait for it) entitled? Are they just demanding it just because they can? The company's profits does not decide a person's pay...the work they do does.

If they get their $15 an hour...Will this insure they are always polite? Never screw up my order? Food will be fresh and hot? It will actually come to me fast?

 

[CharleyHustle]

history is cyclical and the average working man and woman is tired of being abused for a paycheck that gets smaller and smaller as the years go on. I never understood why you conservative types got pissy when people organize to improve their lot in life -- you worship the Horatio Alger myth of pursuing the American Dream by pulling yourself up by your boot straps, so what's the difference if someone does the same thing with a union card in their back pocket?

If the government raises my wage by law, and compels my employer to provide my health care, and confiscates my wages and my employers profits to provide a retirement benefit, and passes regulations that impact hours and break periods and working conditions of of every scope involved within my job, why...WHY??? would I ever join a union and pay dues to get these very same things?

 

[DriveInDriveOut]

If the government raises my wage by law, and compels my employer to provide my health care, and confiscates my wages and my employers profits to provide a retirement benefit, and passes regulations that impact hours and break periods and working conditions of of every scope involved within my job, why...WHY??? would I ever join a union and pay dues to get these very same things?

All of those things happened a long time ago, or was that your point?
Minimum wage, medicare, social security, labor laws and osha regulations.
Yet many people on here keep joining the union, myself included. Why would you join the union? Case in point: Fed ex or UPS, which would you rather work for?
Maybe that was your point and I was just missing the sarcasm.

 

[superballs63]

$15 an hour for a completely unskilled position flipping burgers, or salting fries is a JOKE. When I started driving, starting rate for a FT PC driver was $16.10. You mean to tell me that these lazy bastards at McDonald's deserve to make a dollar less than what I do when I have all these responsibilities, and all they have to do is ask if you want fries with that while standing in the A/C?

No, I don't think so.

I LOVE that the KFC workers who went on strike were immediately fired for walking off the job. They AREN'T in a union, so their walking off the job was basically their way of saying friend-U to their bosses, so good riddance!

 

[DriveInDriveOut]

$15 an hour for a completely unskilled position flipping burgers, or salting fries is a JOKE. When I started driving, starting rate for a FT PC driver was $16.10. You mean to tell me that these lazy bastards at McDonald's deserve to make a dollar less than what I do when I have all these responsibilities, and all they have to do is ask if you want fries with that while standing in the A/C?

What year was that? There's something called inflation. Look into it.

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

$15 an hour for a completely unskilled position flipping burgers, or salting fries is a JOKE. When I started driving, starting rate for a FT PC driver was $16.10. You mean to tell me that these lazy bastards at McDonald's deserve to make a dollar less than what I do when I hve all these responsibilities, and all they have to do is ask if you want fries with that while standing in th

No, I don't think so. I still remember my sup saying "im not paying you 18 bucks an hour over time to see how slow u can work!"...lol

I

 

[CharleyHustle]

All of those things happened a long time ago, or was that your point?

Have you looked at the percentage of the work force that's unionized today as opposed to 30 years ago or even last year. Many workers at UPS are in the union because they are compelled to by closed shop states. Here in Michigan it will be interesting to see how many remain in the union now that we are a RTW state. The reality is that unionization and union workers are a shrinking part of the labor market. I feel that those McDonalds and KFC workers have absolutely no intention of joining a union or paying dues, they are like most others and prefer that someone else (like the government or the Teamsters) do all the heavy lifting while they reap the benefits. I certainly wont be wasting any time walking a picket line with them until they actually grow some hair and sign the cards and vote the union in. Of course then I wouldn't have to walk their picket line, they could do that themselves. Then again, if the government abides by their protestations and raises their wages, no one will need to walk any picket line.

 

[DriveInDriveOut]

Have you looked at the percentage of the work force that's unionized today as opposed to 30 years ago or even last year. Many workers at UPS are in the union because they are compelled to by closed shop states. Here in Michigan it will be interesting to see how many remain in the union now that we are a RTW state. The reality is that unionization and union workers are a shrinking part of the labor market. I feel that those McDonalds and KFC workers have absolutely no intention of joining a union or paying dues, they are like most others and prefer that someone else (like the government or the Teamsters) do all the heavy lifting while they reap the benefits. I certainly wont be wasting any time walking a picket line with them until they actually grow some hair and sign the cards and vote the union in. Of course then I wouldn't have to walk their picket line, they could do that themselves. Then again, if the government abides by their protestations and raises their wages, no one will need to walk any picket line.

I'm aware union membership is at an all time low.
You know what also is at an all time low? The purchasing power of the minimum wage.

 

[CharleyHustle]

I'm aware union membership is at an all time low.
You know what also is at an all time low? The purchasing power of the minimum wage.

What I'm thinking is that if the government slashed the minimum wage in half, that the purchasing power of all my hard working union brothers and sisters would go up. Then maybe some of these now really low paid workers would actually sign a card.

 

[superballs63]

What year was that? There's something called inflation. Look into it.

2009. Inflation hasn't gone up THAT much.