[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by Jammie

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflor...13/story1.html

I was just doing a bit of reading on the downsides of being employed for Disney. Looks like they're not alone.

Speaking of low wages~it appears that Publix will now be lowering their pay scale by 50 cents per hour. This will affect new employees and also employees who have hit the top of the former pay scale. They will lose 50 cents per hour for wages. HMMM, thought wages normally went up. It's just strange since it's often been posted that Publix is a very good place for general employment. They want to remain competitive so of course the employees will get the bad end of the deal. One of the areas mentioned is South Florida so I'm not sure if it'll affect Orlando or not.

I actually am very happy Jammie posted this. People are NOT seeing it, but wages in FL are going down because companies have a HUGE suplus of workers, specially illegal workers. This is depressing wages a LOT!

I am tired of FL companies abusing the fact that FL wages are depressed due to illegal alien labor surplus!

I am tired of Disney being the "Wage-setter" in Central Florida, pushing the market to keep Disney-low pay.

I am tired of being paid in "Sunshine Dollars", as if it was some kind of a priviledge to live in Florida! I do not eat sunshine, therefore it should not be "given" to employees and treat it like it is a benefit.

I am tired of working white-collar jobs with no health insurance, no 401(k), very few sick days and pretty much no vacation days!

I am tired of the FL policy of "at-will employment" where companies dump employees on the street and then fight the worker when the worker tries to get unemployment benefits.

People, you need to understand this. For years (at least the last two or three years) WAGES IN FL HAVE GONE DOWN STEADILY. And so has the availability of good paying jobs.

The ONLY thing that has gone steadly up in FL is the cost of living and insurance.

You move down here and expect to make just as much as you did in your home state? You will be greatly disapointed. Greatly.

If you are also tired of low wages and massive cost of living increases in FL, vote on our poll and drop us a line here!

[TriMT7]

Actually, supermarkets have been feeling the push mostly because of Wal-Marts and Super Targets.... not so much illegal workers. To tell you the truth I don't think I run into very many non-English speakers at the Publixes I've been to... if any.

Price competition from big box stores are what is doing this.... if anything, Publix has traditionally been one of the more fair corporations for its employees.


But, this is capitalism folks. Half the people on this board so quick to use the words "communism" and "socialism" should be appalled at the thought of getting rid of "right to work" .... or mandating vacations, sick leave, etc. Profits over people is sadly the American way, and will continue to be so until corporations decide (or are mandated by law) to have loyalties that stretch beyond maximizing dividends per share for shareholders.

[dreamofmonterey]

You move down here and expect to make just as much as you did in your home state? You will be greatly disapointed. Greatly.
_____________________________

Nirvana guy thanks for that post. It is true in many areas. Unless someone has transferred and has a written contract with their company, please be careful.

[Jammie]

Alright Nirvana, I like the way you have that poll set up. Think I voted for several of those answers.

There are areas of the country that are having problems with jobs being outsourced or companies laying off. I also live in a low-wage state, but our cost of living is a small fraction what it is in Florida. And before anyone says I'm a Florida basher, I'm only stating a fact. I love the sunny state.

[MananaLand]

http://www.bizjournals.com/southflor...13/story1.html

Anyone besides me happen to notice the date of that article?

"South Florida Business Journal - May 10, 2002"

[Jammie]

Evidently, you are the only person who caught that and I want to thank you for that. I was the one who posted the original thread about this. I apologize for the error in not seeing the date, but DANG it's small. Even though I feel bad for posting it, I've got to say that you just made my day. It was beginning to seem like the cost of living was constantly going up and to think that wages were starting to come down was a bit of a bummer.

[Nirvana-Guy]

Originally Posted by MananaLand

Anyone besides me happen to notice the date of that article?

"South Florida Business Journal - May 10, 2002"

Yes, it may be 2002, but it makes this even a worse of a problem: THE DECLINE OF WAGES IN FLORIDA HAS BEEN GOING A LOT LONGER THAN TWO OR THREE YEARS. THIS HAS BEEN ALMOST 5 YEARS TO-DATE!

Originally Posted by TriMT7

Actually, supermarkets have been feeling the push mostly because of Wal-Marts and Super Targets.... not so much illegal workers. To tell you the truth I don't think I run into very many non-English speakers at the Publixes I've been to... if any.

Price competition from big box stores are what is doing this.... if anything, Publix has traditionally been one of the more fair corporations for its employees.

But, this is capitalism folks. Half the people on this board so quick to use the words "communism" and "socialism" should be appalled at the thought of getting rid of "right to work" .... or mandating vacations, sick leave, etc. Profits over people is sadly the American way, and will continue to be so until corporations decide (or are mandated by law) to have loyalties that stretch beyond maximizing dividends per share for shareholders.

I agree that Publix has been very fair to its employees compared to Walmart and Disney. Now, what illegal aliens have done is depress wages.

See, why should Walmart hire you, an American worker, and pay Social security, work comp insurance, give you days off and all, when they can hire an illegal worker for 1/2 your wage and pay no taxes or have any work comp insurance?? That is what is causing wages to go down.

In regards to capitalism vs Socialism, I agree, profit sometimes causes companies to smash their workers. I am a true believer in Capitalism and I know socialism causes the economy to be stagnant (see France for a prime example - 10 years of stagnation in a super-socialist country).

And again, we go back to the illegal alien issue. If the market was not so flooded with illegal cheap labor, companies would be FORCED to pay their workers more to attract workers. This is part of capitalism... it's supply and demand. Very simple. Remove the oversupply of workers fropm the US workforce and wages will immeditaelly go up.

[TriMT7]

But there is no evidence that Wal-Mart is hiring illegal labor. I think the instance of Wal-Mart and illegal labor had to do with the cleaning crew, not your typical stock or cashier position. Neither Publix.

In my opinion, illegals drive down wages in industries where it's easier to hide them.... like in construction. Large corporations like Wal-Mart and Publix can't be caught being embroiled in illegal worker scandals. Mom and pop stores and restaurants on the other hand....


And with regards to "expanding economies".... a whole helluva lotta good it does to have the economy "expanding" when the vast majority of people see their economic situations stagnate or worsen over time. There HAS to be a happy median between FRANCE and the greed gone wild capitalism epitomized by the US today!!