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Labor/Workers movements thread

dartsndeacs said:
well I mean we're gonna find out given California is mandating mcdonalds workers make $20/hr next year
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Like literally everything else in our society and economy, we are finding out the hard way that the cheap conveniences that make America -America are only possible through unsustainably low wages, and when the people working these jobs which provide these conveniences, demand higher pay we have no logical argument to deny them this, so we dehumanize this process and claim that this work isn’t deserving of a living wage, as if it should be accomplished as a hobby or something. It’s non-sensical.
 
I've come full circle on this over time. If you work 40 hours a week at a job that provides a service to others, you should make a living wage commensurate with the COL where you live. The rise in housing and food costs has so far outpaced minimum wage that its insane that anyone should have to work 2 jobs to be able to live a basic life. A job worked 40 hours a week is not a hobby, or one trying to make beer money on the side. It's a commitment of time in exchange for the financial security to cover the basic needs of life.

At face value, 25/hrs sounds like a lot, but it's relative to where you live. In a city like LA, you're still sharing housing expenses with 1 or 2 other people just to get by. In a city like Aiken, SC, 25/hrs (roughly 50k/yr) is probably above a livable wage for one person but really I have no clue what the local COL is...just a perceived cost. Even the effective average current minimum wage is roughly $12/hr, which definitely isn't livable.

There will always be jobs that should pay more based on the value of what they provide, but the entire premise of a minimum wage was as a floor to ensure fair compensation for a week's work and abolish nonliving wages in sweatshops, etc. That it wasn't indexed to inflation was a flagrant omission, yet a correctable one.

Do I think being a cook at waffle house should be paid as much or more than a teacher? No...but it's because I think teachers provide a much more valuable job to society and they should be paid way more.

Aside from the wages, it is fucking stupid that an employee in a food service industry does not eat for free.
 
Liquid Karma said:
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I’m not current on all the specifics they are bargaining over, but I am familiar with the Public Relations tactic that these companies use to publicize a big number out of context to portray themselves as being generous, when it’s very often the details of job benefits and hiring structures that are the impediments to agreement on a contract.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
I’m not current on all the specifics they are bargaining over, but I am familiar with the Public Relations tactic that these companies use to publicize a big number out of context to portray themselves as being generous, when it’s very often the details of job benefits and hiring structures that are the impediments to agreement on a contract.
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Yeah. Like they're offering a 23% raise while making the job 23% worse and making it easier to fire 23% of workers.
 
Well it sounds like Ph and mdmh have a copy of the proposal.
 
 
Liquid Karma said:
I've come full circle on this over time. If you work 40 hours a week at a job that provides a service to others, you should make a living wage commensurate with the COL where you live. The rise in housing and food costs has so far outpaced minimum wage that its insane that anyone should have to work 2 jobs to be able to live a basic life. A job worked 40 hours a week is not a hobby, or one trying to make beer money on the side. It's a commitment of time in exchange for the financial security to cover the basic needs of life.

At face value, 25/hrs sounds like a lot, but it's relative to where you live. In a city like LA, you're still sharing housing expenses with 1 or 2 other people just to get by. In a city like Aiken, SC, 25/hrs (roughly 50k/yr) is probably above a livable wage for one person but really I have no clue what the local COL is...just a perceived cost. Even the effective average current minimum wage is roughly $12/hr, which definitely isn't livable.

There will always be jobs that should pay more based on the value of what they provide, but the entire premise of a minimum wage was as a floor to ensure fair compensation for a week's work and abolish nonliving wages in sweatshops, etc. That it wasn't indexed to inflation was a flagrant omission, yet a correctable one.

Do I think being a cook at waffle house should be paid as much or more than a teacher? No...but it's because I think teachers provide a much more valuable job to society and they should be paid way more.

Aside from the wages, it is fucking stupid that an employee in a food service industry does not eat for free.
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People making a living wage with healthcare covered don't need as many government services either... there are all sorts of secondary benefits to doing it this way.
 
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