Fight for $15. (Fast food protest)

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I have maids that make more than minimum wage. One of them speaks English. It's not hard here.

I mean my father only has a GED and yet owns a small trucking company with so far 4 trucks (excluding his) under his control and drivers on the payroll. I mean clearly if you're willing to go out of your way and find a method that works for you, at some point it will come.

 

[Danoff]

I mean my father only has a GED and yet owns a small trucking company with so far 4 trucks (excluding his) under his control and drivers on the payroll. I mean clearly if you're willing to go out of your way and find a method that works for you, at some point it will come.

Minimum wage jobs are awful... basically all of them. Nobody should be content staying there. I wasn't when I made minimum wage. Somehow I managed to survive on minimum wage and go to college full time. It's called ramen and room mates.

Even then, as a college student with no real work experience, I was at minimum wage for like a year before getting a raise above the minimum.

 

[Johnnypenso]

I was just pointing out that his "you have another 128 hours in the week" is unrealistic if you plan on not dying from lack of sleep. I would guess that he put that reply out in a rush and didn't think about that. Either way, I've got work to do...

Of course you have to balance all of your needs but it still leaves a huge chunk of time if you have a 40 hour work week. I've never really had a real job perse, one where you work a set amount of time and then go home, other than summer jobs and the odd part time job. Mostly I've been self employed or in sales of some kind. I became self employed for the first time basically out of anger, in my mid-20's, after being fired for literally being too good at my job. I was a General Sales Manager (fake news title since I was the only sales person) for a new fence and deck company and sold enough work by July to keep them busy until the fall. So, like a prudent business man, he let me go to save my salary, although he did pay me my commissions as the work came through. Even at the time I understood his reasons but I was so mad at not being in control of my destiny that I decided I'd be self employed from then on. Problem was, I really had no marketable skills to speak of, but I knew how to sell decks and fences and I knew, on an intellectual level, how to build them. I'd never actually built a fence or a deck, or mixed concrete, or tried to line up a run of 100 feet of fence posts or anything at all to do with decks and fences. I lived in an apartment at the time, with no storage space at all. I talked it over with the wife and she was horrified but knew I was committed and there was no turning back. Our future depended on my success.

Over the winter I worked it all out on paper, studied the relevant buidling codes, researched building techniques, and took pretty much all the money the wife and I had saved, and bought a flatbed truck and an assortment of tools. I had 10,000 flyers printed up and delivered them all by hand, personally. I ran an ad in the paper and hired a guy. His base salary was hourly minimum wage + piece work, depending on how many feet of fence or deck we completed that week. Before the season started I had sold about $25,000 in contracts. On the first job I ever did, it was a straight run of fence on the back 40 of a long, skinny lot. It wasn't exactly straight when I was finished but I was pretty proud of myself that I got through it and it looked like a fence. The customer was happy. 90% of what I needed to know and 90% of the mistakes I would ever make were in that 1 job. I'll never forget when we wrapped up on the third day, me admiring our handiwork, and my staff turning to me and saying, "Have you done this before?".

This type of experience colours all of my opinions when it comes to work and pay and a whole series of issues. As a self starter I find myself incredulous when people demand that their employers owe them a living wage. It doesn't jibe with my view of the world. I have a position available, this is what it pays, this is what I expect from you, this is what you get from me. I don't "owe" you anything, other than what I promised you when you took the job. I took guys that were unskilled and gave them a skill. The harder they worked, the more they got paid, something I've always believed in. I routinely put in 70-80 hour weeks but my staff were usually 40-60 and they'd make $500-600 per week. This was in the late 80's, not an inconsiderable sum at the time, for unskilled labour. At the same time, I demanded a lot. You had to be very punctual, especially because most of the time I was picking them up to go to a jobsite. You had to work almost as hard as me. If I carried 9 2x4's from the bundle you had to carry 6 or 7, not 2 or 3. You had to come prepared with your own tools (a hammer and a pouch basically) and enough food for the day. Some guys only lasted a few days or a couple of weeks. A few lasted for a whole season.

There's nothing unusual to my story. Probably half of my friends are self-employed and they all have a story to tell. But they all have the same thing in common. They created their own destiny through hard work and determination and didn't rely on anyone else, beyond the support of their family and friends, to make a go of it. Some got a financial boost from parents, most did not. Not all of them are uber successful but some are. Not all of them are free of failure but some are. Most started out making peanuts, working as poorly paid apprentices in many cases, risking everything in other cases to go it completely alone. I don't think I know anyone that didn't work 2 or 3 jobs when they were younger.

Success isn't given to you. It's there for the taking but you have to go out and get it. No one is going to hand it to you. For some it comes through employment, but you need to acquire the skills and experience to make yourself valuable. For others, they simply create it from nothing, through their own hard work, determination and skillset. Either way, it's up to you.

 

[Danoff]

The harder they worked, the more they got paid, something I've always believed in.

Probably more realistically, the better they worked, the more they got paid. I suspect that's what you meant. I wouldn't pick on it except that it's a common misunderstanding about the world - that working hard is what matters. Working hard matters, but what really matters is getting good at it. Throughout life my jobs have gotten easier as pay went up because I got much better at the job. Efficiency with work is key to creating value quickly.

 

[Obelisk]

Having worked in retail for 3 years, including a horrible bagger job where I only got 3 hours a week at minimum wage, I honestly feel like we shouldn't be jacking the wage up so high. Basic economics would indicate that the higher expenses would force businesses to cut down on employee numbers in order to maintain profitability.

That said, I do have a retail job that currently pays $12.40 or $12.75 an hour, but that's because of Wegman's policies about caring for their employees as a family. I started at 11.40 last year and worked hard to get my job to where it is now, at a stable 25-30 hours a week.

You are not supposed to be able to live comfortably on minimum wage, just like how you shouldn't be able to live comfortably on government assistance...But then again, politics screws everything up.

 

[Northstar]

People are only "willing" to work for low wages because their only other option is to die homeless and hungry.

Isn't that the main reason anybody works at all?

The majority of $10/hr or less workers aren't willing to work for that. They're just not willing to die.

People trying to live off of minimum wage either haven't been looking very hard or are just too picky. I regularly pass a temp agency and they are always advertising decent paying jobs. Plus currently trade jobs are very short handed and some companies will train you from nothing since they are having that much trouble attracting people. Hell, I knew nothing about HVAC systems when I started my current job.

Are you all saying these people should just die then? I didn't ask to be born.

I'm saying they should get off their butts and do something besides hold up a sign hoping for a handout.

I shouldn't have to work my way up any ladders just to afford a roof over my head and food on the table.

Why shouldn't you? I was extremely happy with myself when I had my apartment to myself because I knew I busted my ass to get to the point where I can afford it.

People had places to live and food to eat before the words employer and employee were invented.

Yes, yes they did, it was called bartering. Instead of paying someone money to frame your house, you might have given them a cow or something else along those line.

A job is a job. 40 hours a week is 40 long hours. I thought slavery was abolished?

So you don't want to work at all? I'm not really getting your point with this one.

Although it did make me think of Dumb & Dumber so for that, I thank you.

My 8 hour work day was actually 12. Traffic sucks...

It's really fun when you work in a trade so you don't get paid for drive time and this...

Time to move.

...Doesn't really work since they build houses all over the place.

 

[polysmut]

I'm of the same kind of opinions as leftys & even I think the minimum wage is a false way of helping people out. I reckon all it does is distort the market & does nothing to help poor people get out of poverty.

 

[Northstar]

So despite Seattle having issues already, they've passed a minimum wage increase in Minneapolis.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2017/06/30/minimum-wage-vote-minneapolis/

Along with this they also passed a new ordinance that says for every 30 hours you work you get 1 hour of sick time (capped at 48 hours). This in itself is something I support, but on the other hand when combined with the higher minimum wage I think it will only worsen the damage. I'm guessing there will be more people working, but overall each person will get far fewer hours in an attempt to limit how much sick time employees are able to earn.

So congratulations Minneapolis McDonald's employees, you'll be making $15/hour, but you'll only be getting 5 hours a week.

 

[CodeRedR51]

Along with this they also passed a new ordinance that says for every 30 hours you work you get 1 hour of sick time (capped at 48 hours).

This takes effect in Arizona as well starting tomorrow.

 

[BobK]

Just how does that sick time law work? Is it 30 hours cumulative, or 30 hours per pay period? If the latter, would one get a half hour for 15 hours worked, or would they get zero hours for 29 1/2 hours worked?

 

[Northstar]

Just how does that sick time law work? Is it 30 hours cumulative, or 30 hours per pay period? If the latter, would one get a half hour for 15 hours worked, or would they get zero hours for 29 1/2 hours worked?

The one in Minneapolis and St. Paul is cumulative.

 

[Johnnypenso]

So despite Seattle having issues already, they've passed a minimum wage increase in Minneapolis.

http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2017/06/30/minimum-wage-vote-minneapolis/

Along with this they also passed a new ordinance that says for every 30 hours you work you get 1 hour of sick time (capped at 48 hours). This in itself is something I support, but on the other hand when combined with the higher minimum wage I think it will only worsen the damage. I'm guessing there will be more people working, but overall each person will get far fewer hours in an attempt to limit how much sick time employees are able to earn.

So congratulations Minneapolis McDonald's employees, you'll be making $15/hour, but you'll only be getting 5 hours a week.

This almost makes me wish I made minimum wage again. I think in the last 10 years I've missed 2 or 3 days work due to injury and none to sickness. That means I missed out on 480 hours of time off with pay!

As someone who's run small businesses for 20+ years I can tell you this stuff really hurts. Margins are usually thin to begin with and this stretches things even tighter. Throw in having to pay people for not working 48 hours a year, the hassle of replacing them for those 6 shifts and increased costs of wages + stat holiday pay + vacation pay + severance and you have a recipe for robots and decreased staffing whenever possible.

 

[ryzno]

I told y'all this was gonna fail. But no, dumb ryzno doesn't know anything.
Dare I say, I told ya so!

 

[Northstar]

That means I missed out on 480 hours of time off with pay!

It's capped at 80, which is still quite alot. I'm guessing there will be an odd increase of "flu like symptoms" in people who have accumulated 70+ hours.

I personally approve of the sick time thing, but I think it will be like adding water to a grease fire in this case.

As someone who's run small businesses for 20+ years I can tell you this stuff really hurts. Margins are usually thin to begin with and this stretches things even tighter. Throw in having to pay people for not working 48 hours a year, the hassle of replacing them for those 6 shifts and increased costs of wages + stat holiday pay + vacation pay + severance and you have a recipe for robots and decreased staffing whenever possible.

It seems like a large majority of the people supporting increasing the minimum wage fail to realize that most businesses are not multi-billion dollar conglomerations. Sure McDonald's can afford it, but the same can't be said for the person that owns the small-time grocery store with already small profit margins.

I told y'all this was gonna fail. But no, dumb ryzno doesn't know anything.
Dare I say, I told ya so!

But, I think most of us were in agreement with you from the beginning.

 

[Johnnypenso]

It's capped at 80, which is still quite alot. I'm guessing there will be an odd increase of "flu like symptoms" in people who have accumulated 70 hours.
I personally approve of the sick time thing, but I think it will be like adding water to a grease fire in this case.

It seems like a large majority of the people supporting increasing the minimum wage fail to realize that most businesses are not multi-billion dollar conglomerations. Sure McDonald's can afford it, but the same can't be said for the person that owns the small-time grocery store with already small profit margins.

But, I think most of us were in agreement with you from the beginning.

I was using 48 hours for 10 years hence the 480 hours. Why do you think McDonalds can "afford" it? Many McD's are small businesses as well, individually owned and managed. They have dozens of staff and more than a dozen working at peak times. McD's margins are quite small, probably on the order of 5-10% or less which is fairly typical for fast food franchises. That means on sales of $3 million you might clear $150-300k. If wage costs are around 25% and they go up 20% relatively, there goes most or all of your profit margin. So the price of food to the consumer has to go up to compensate. Probably not a lot, probably less than a $ for a combo, but then you'll sell less food because demand is sensitive to price. Etc. etc. etc. It's not the end of the world, the market will adjust, but in the end I will bet that prices will be higher, levels of employment will be lower and automation will explode in the next few years. The fewer number of people employed will probably have fewer hours as well, as businesses try to keep more and more people at part-time with less benefits to help lower wage costs.

 

[Northstar]

I was using 48 hours for 10 years hence the 480 hours. Why do you think McDonalds can "afford" it? Many McD's are small businesses as well, individually owned and managed. They have dozens of staff and more than a dozen working at peak times. McD's margins are quite small, probably on the order of 5-10% or less which is fairly typical for fast food franchises. That means on sales of $3 million you might clear $150-300k. If wage costs are around 25% and they go up 20% relatively, there goes most or all of your profit margin. So the price of food to the consumer has to go up to compensate. Probably not a lot, probably less than a $ for a combo, but then you'll sell less food because demand is sensitive to price. Etc. etc. etc. It's not the end of the world, the market will adjust, but in the end I will bet that prices will be higher, levels of employment will be lower and automation will explode in the next few years. The fewer number of people employed will probably have fewer hours as well, as businesses try to keep more and more people at part-time with less benefits to help lower wage costs.

I admittedly forgot they're franchises. This is why you don't try debating at 10 in the morning.

 

[ryzno]

But, I think most of us were in agreement with you from the beginning.

True, but some people were arguing that it would work with their textbook theories.

 

[Imari]

Probably more realistically, the better they worked, the more they got paid. I suspect that's what you meant. I wouldn't pick on it except that it's a common misunderstanding about the world - that working hard is what matters. Working hard matters, but what really matters is getting good at it. Throughout life my jobs have gotten easier as pay went up because I got much better at the job. Efficiency with work is key to creating value quickly.

This reminds me of another one of my pet peeves: people killing themselves or their employees with 60+ hour weeks for no particularly good reason. Sometimes everything happens at once and the work just needs to be done, but if you're doing that in general it's pretty bad. From memory, productivity for most people falls off pretty heavily around the tenth hour unless you're doing purely mindless manual labour.

It's far better to spend an hour a day on your systems and your self knowledge than it is to work another hour. There will always be more work, so the quicker you learn to do it the easy way, the better.

True, but some people were arguing that it would work with their textbook theories.

There are countries where you are guaranteed a certain amount of sick leave, depending on your terms of employment. Australia is one of them. We still have minimum wage workers. It seems to work OK, because it's accepted as just the way things are. It's not really textbook when there's a bunch of countries that are actually doing it.

Like most, I rarely get use out of it but there are times when it's pretty nifty. I got seriously ill with shingles a couple of months back, and the doctors basically loaded me up on painkillers till I was high as a kite. Had we not had sick leave I would have had to go to work. Had I somehow not managed to kill myself on the motorway while full of opiates, I probably would have either been fired at work for being on opiates or have blown up me and a few other people. I know the arguments against it, but there are times when it absolutely works.

Personally, I think that they should just roll it into personal leave because that avoids the whole issue of incentivising people to fake illnesses to get a long weekend, but that's another story.

 

[MidFieldMaven]

I make $10.50 an hour to deliver car parts in a Ford Transit Connect cargo van. You really need to have a zen-like state of mind to keep from going insane and having dreadfully dark thoughts about humanity in general when you drive for a living, especially in a crowded city. If I didn't have my phone plugged into the aux port to listen to music, I'd have quit a long time ago. It's not like an office job where you can pretty much tune out. Your awareness of surroundings needs to be 100% at all times. Do I feel I deserve more money? Of course. But then I also notice how many people exist and need jobs. There are literally hundreds of people waiting for me to screw up so they can swoop in and take over where I left off. This is the reality for 99% of people. The first year I started, I was working 7am-5pm Mon-Fri and 8am-2pm Sat. That's 56 hours a week. I had no energy when I came home. I ate garbage. I had no time for videogames or working out. I was beyond depressed. I wasn't allowed any vacation or sick time. I took two unpaid days off that first year. Then I earned 5 vacation days and 1 sick day. I also asked for a reduction in hours because I was on the verge of snapping like a twig, mentally. "It is no measure of health to be adjusted to a sick society." So now I work 7am-3pm Mon-Fri and am off weekends. I make absolute trash for income now. I made more money collecting unemployment after the military. A lot more.

There is no justification for anyone who works full-time to bring home less money than anyone who isn't working. This simply should not be happening.

We, the USA especially, are a work-obsessed culture where coworkers and employers think you're weak if you take a day off. We're expected to show up early, bright and bushy-tailed, for a meager paycheck that can barely keep the lights on. And we're told to learn a trade if we're unsatisfied, or go back to school, as if that's feasible for everyone. Who would do jobs like mine if everyone was skilled? People are happier when they are paid generously. Why do employers insist on having unhappy employees? Oh that's right, because they couldn't care less. Like I said before, there are hundreds of people waiting like vultures for your job. Automate everything and get it over with. Let's see what happens when half the population is out of a job.

 

[Johnnypenso]

I make $10.50 an hour to deliver car parts in a Ford Transit Connect cargo van. You really need to have a zen-like state of mind to keep from going insane and having dreadfully dark thoughts about humanity in general when you drive for a living, especially in a crowded city. If I didn't have my phone plugged into the aux port to listen to music, I'd have quit a long time ago. It's not like an office job where you can pretty much tune out. Your awareness of surroundings needs to be 100% at all times. Do I feel I deserve more money? Of course. But then I also notice how many people exist and need jobs. There are literally hundreds of people waiting for me to screw up so they can swoop in and take over where I left off. This is the reality for 99% of people. The first year I started, I was working 7am-5pm Mon-Fri and 8am-2pm Sat. That's 56 hours a week. I had no energy when I came home. I ate garbage. I had no time for videogames or working out. I was beyond depressed. I wasn't allowed any vacation or sick time. I took two unpaid days off that first year. Then I earned 5 vacation days and 1 sick day. I also asked for a reduction in hours because I was on the verge of snapping like a twig, mentally. "It is no measure of health to be adjusted to a sick society." So now I work 7am-3pm Mon-Fri and am off weekends. I make absolute trash for income now. I made more money collecting unemployment after the military. A lot more.

There is no justification for anyone who works full-time to bring home less money than anyone who isn't working. This simply should not be happening.

We, the USA especially, are a work-obsessed culture where coworkers and employers think you're weak if you take a day off. We're expected to show up early, bright and bushy-tailed, for a meager paycheck that can barely keep the lights on. And we're told to learn a trade if we're unsatisfied, or go back to school, as if that's feasible for everyone. Who would do jobs like mine if everyone was skilled? People are happier when they are paid generously. Why do employers insist on having unhappy employees? Oh that's right, because they couldn't care less. Like I said before, there are hundreds of people waiting like vultures for your job. Automate everything and get it over with. Let's see what happens when half the population is out of a job.

At some point in your life you learn to accept that you are where you are because of the choices you made. There are exceptions of course, accidents, illness etc, but outside of that, we succeed or fail in life because of the choices we make. Lots of guys I went to highschool with hated school, some failed out, most are relatively successful today because they made good choices. Some are burnouts and some didn't make it out of their 20's. My older brother failed grade 10 - 3 times. Never graduated. But he was a helluva nice guy, well liked and easy to get along with. He ended up working as a sales manager for a good sized security firm in Toronto because of his personality. He always worked from the time he was 16. My younger brother never finished highschool either. Similar personality to my older brother, he also always worked and worked hard. He wasn't well educated but he learned everything he could about his job, took night classes and extra training etc. Eventually ended up as a QA Supervisor at Royal Pipe and has been there for 20 years, one of the largest pipe makers in the world.

No offense intended, but 56 hours a week is probably my average work week for my first 20 years in the workforce. Even right out of school, trying to carve out a living in the insurance business, I took a second job at the St. Lawrence Market in downtown Toronto. I got up a 4 in the morning every Saturday, drove 40 minutes there and back again at night, and worked 12 straight hours in the process, all for $80 cash. That's after working a full week including many night appointments. My wife took all the overtime she could handle and typically worked 50-55 hours a week as well. When I started my fence and deck business I worked 70-80 hours a week for 6 months, probably 50-60 for 3 months and in the winter I worked in a factory for 3 months, usually 40-48 hours a week as well.

For most of us, life isn't a cakewalk. It is what you make it. If you're constantly looking around for someone to blame and angry at the world, chances are you'll find someone to blame and be angry at the world. Making different choices is the only way to achieve a different outcome and future.

 

[ryzno]

I make $10.50 an hour to deliver car parts in a Ford Transit Connect cargo van.

I do delivery also in a cargo van. I assume you are using a company van and not your personal van. I'm not trying to brag but I make twice that, but there's a catch. I pay for all my repairs and all my gas. I've worked 24 hours straight, I had to call my girl, to pick me up, to take me to a part store, fix the van in a parking lot and continue my deliveries with a late penalty. The end of the day I profited $70 for 24 hours. I've also had good days where I can clear $250 in a 10 hour day. It's a gamble.
That said $10.50 an hour @ 56 hours sounds like a good guaranteed check every week when you count overtime.

I'd rather be in your shoes with guaranteed pay per hour in a company vehicle, not per load at my expense.

I literally just quit my job last week. The warehouse I worked at was consolidating to another warehouse. That would add an additional 60 miles a day just to pick up my loads. So I needed to take a few days off cause my transmission was acting up(still is). The company would not let me take a day off. And I happened to have a week left on my contract. So, I had to rent a van to finish my contract without the breech of contract fine.
Long story short, I spent almost $300 dollars more than I earned that week(the mileage killed me), and the company didn't care. So when they begged me to resign my 5 new contracts, I treated them how they treated me. I grabbed all my crap out my locker in the break room and left.(I did forget my lock and my Falcons trash can )

Like you said you have to pay 110% attention to the idiots driving around you. But we have a skill and patience some lack. There will always be driving jobs. I'm actually taking advantage of this situation. I've been training with one of my trucker buddies to get my CDL and I'm also using this time to get my health right. My blood pressure was through the roof and I didn't even make it past the first thing in the DOT physical.

I hope you can find a better paying job in the future. You just got to keep your ears open at the warehouses and be willing to jump on a limb sometimes. But considering 50+ hours a week is too much for you now, I wouldn't recommend trucking at the time. I've already been offered a $65k salary by the company my friend works for, but I'll be gone 3 weeks home 1. I won't have much free time, but it's for my families best interest.

Good luck and safe travels out there on the lonely road.

 

[Famine]

I told y'all this was gonna fail. But no, dumb ryzno doesn't know anything.
Dare I say, I told ya so!

I'd be surprised if there were more than five people in this thread supporting it or suggesting it will work, or if more than 20% of posts did the same.

Certainly in the first two pages at least there's a lot of people saying how ridiculous and unworkable it is.

 

[Exorcet]

We, the USA especially, are a work-obsessed culture where coworkers and employers think you're weak if you take a day off. We're expected to show up early, bright and bushy-tailed, for a meager paycheck that can barely keep the lights on. And we're told to learn a trade if we're unsatisfied, or go back to school, as if that's feasible for everyone. Who would do jobs like mine if everyone was skilled? People are happier when they are paid generously. Why do employers insist on having unhappy employees? Oh that's right, because they couldn't care less. Like I said before, there are hundreds of people waiting like vultures for your job. Automate everything and get it over with. Let's see what happens when half the population is out of a job.

From my experience, I would have to disagree. I actually have yet to hold a job with an employer that didn't care or work-addicted employees that looked down on people seeking reasonable hours, and that includes minimum wage jobs. I wouldn't dispute that there are bad employers/bosses/businesses, but I would strongly hesitate to say that they are the norm.

You dialed back your hours to give yourself more breathing space and from what you said it sounds like it was a smart move. In the future, do you think that you would feel up to the task of exploring other jobs on a part time basis? It sounds like your current job isn't really something that you're comfortable with. If it's that bad I'd think you should be able to find a place where you won't feel as stressed.

 

[Joey D]

I think it probably varies by job, in my line of work we are expected to have a work-life balance. If you work too much without a day off, you're almost forced by management to take a breather because of the risk of burn out. Granted my job isn't terribly difficult 95% of the time, but that 5% of the time where it is, it's really difficult and you are under a tremendous time crunch. My boss is a super chill guy that pretty much has the philosophy of "if your work is done then I don't care about your work schedule." I can work from home, the coffee shop, or my desk whenever I want. I have flex time, vacation, paid holidays, and great benefits. The career I work in invests a ton of money in employees with training, so it makes sense to keep them happy so they don't leave.

There is no justification for anyone who works full-time to bring home less money than anyone who isn't working. This simply should not be happening.

True, but I think it's more of a problem with those who choose not to work getting money than those who do work not getting enough. If social programs were reduced then taxes, in theory at least, would also go down meaning those who work get more money in their check every week.

 

[Danoff]

We, the USA especially, are a work-obsessed culture where coworkers and employers think you're weak if you take a day off.

I haven't experienced that in any of my jobs. Not saying it doesn't happen, but I've never been in it. Maybe if you're working for Google or Amazon or something.

We're expected to show up early, bright and bushy-tailed, for a meager paycheck that can barely keep the lights on.

Uh... I don't think that's usually true either. I think most people expect minimum wage workers to be a little unhappy about their jobs. What you're expected to do while you're making minimum wage is make plans to have a better life. I don't know where your interests are, but there are things you can learn via audio-instruction while driving.

And we're told to learn a trade if we're unsatisfied, or go back to school, as if that's feasible for everyone. Who would do jobs like mine if everyone was skilled?

So here it is in a nutshell - there are people who set themselves up for their future, and people who get behind and constantly work to cover the past. Setting yourself up for the future gets you further ahead. Working to cover the past gets you further behind. So much of life is non-linear. The further ahead you get, the easier it is to get ahead. The further behind you get, the easier it is to get behind. The main thing you need to do to get ahead is to constantly be looking far ahead.

The car goes where you eyes go*.


*The Art of Racing in the Rain - good book.

 

[Johnnypenso]

Harvard Study on the Impact of Minimum Wage on Business Survival

Our point estimates suggest that a one dollar increase in the minimum wage leads to a 14 percent increase in the likelihood of exit for a 3.5-star restaurant (which is the median rating), but has no discernible impact for a 5-star restaurant (on a 1 to 5 star scale).

 

[Carbonox]

It seems relevant to note that St. Louis reverts back to a 7.70 minimum wage after an earlier hike.

 

[trustjab]

Having lived and worked in multiple states with high and low minimum wage, I think it's safe to say that republican states usually have lower minimum wages, but also lower costs of living. The opposite is true in Democratic states. This is just my personal experience. Living in NJ when I was younger, apartments were high, let's say $1000 for a 2 bedroom while in WV the same two bedroom would be $550. But I could make $9 or $10/hr in Jersey but only $7.25, $7.50 in WV. Looking back, it was easier making $7.50 an paying $350 bucks for a cheap 1 bedroom in WV than trying to do the same in NJ at $9.

 

[Thematic]

If it's food you want, but you are not hungry quite yet: https://www.researchgate.net/projec...teins-from-Air-by-Electricity-Driven-Microbes

 

[1241Penguin]

$15 minimum wage, emergency leave become law as Ontario passes labour reform legislation

That's rather unfortunate for my fellow Canadians across the country.