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Huh? Don't they still grow pineapples in Hawaii? I seriously doubt the farmers just gave up and let the land return to forest just because the workers won the right to fair pay for a fair days work. Or did they? If so, maybe the land is better off being forest, as it's just not justifiable to have people toiling all day in the broiling sun for menial wages.
Anyone that suggests that people should have to work jobs like that for low wages should have to spend a month out on the fields, just to see how they like it. It might even lead to a change of opinion.
Sigh, I just get so disgusted sometimes at the American "conservative" point of view...no wonder why our economy is in the tank, and shows no signs of getting any better. And now the Repubs want to take away Medicare for those 55 and under?? Gimme a break!
At the rate this country is going, it's almost enough to make me wanna learn French and move over to the real Promised Land. Oh France, how do I love youuuu. Or maybe I can just move to Canada, at least they've got free medical care there.
Hawaii island no longer has sugarcane and if there are any pineapples still grown, it is just by small, local farms. Nothing large-scale at all. ALL of those jobs are gone.
Hawaii County now owns thousands of acres of ex-sugarcane land. Why? The companies couldn't pay the property taxes and ended up deeding the land to the County in lieu of payment. The companies are bankrupt. There were no "golden parachutes". The County has been trying unsuccessfully to sell off parts of that "free" land.
There are now TWO areas of approximately 13,000 acres each, of land that were once sugarcane. One had millions of fast growing eucalyptus trees planted on it, all in roes, zero bio-diversity there... The hope is that they will be used to power an electrical plant and as they grow back, keep a sustainable process going.
The other area (Ka`u District) has been fallow ever since. It has been proposed that a biofuel plant is to be developed on the land.
That land (Ka`u District) cannot be used for growing normal crops and even schools that have located upon former sugarcane lands are not allowed to have vegetable gardens. Why? Arsenic was routinely used on the fields.
Not wanting to detour off Hawaii, but...
As to the "free medical care"... do you realize why taxes are so high in Europe and Canada? One of the wife's cousins died, waiting 4 months for an appointment to a cancer specialist. Canada health care is so great! Not.
Have you not heard that most of the countries in Europe are broke? Did you not read about the riots in France a few months ago?
I work for Maui County and we're all in unions. Salaries are still low-- I'm a technician and I make $37k before furloughs, and even directors of departments only make about $100k. In the private sector we could all make much more.
But the union did get us 21 days PTO and 21 days sick time per year. Our insurance isn't great though.
So it is up to who exactly, to decide how much a company is allowed to make in profits? Are you the "profit czar"?
That part in BOLD; we seem to have seen that route happen before.
I believe it was called Communism. The problem when everyone makes the same is that the incentive to better one's self goes away. Half the people quit working or trying and the other half, that were working hard, give up.
Communism was state socialism with the government deciding everything on the worker's behalf, no independent unions allowed . When Polish workers organized their Solidarity movement around replacing oppressive top-down rule by the communist party with independent democratic workers cooperatives, it signaled the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union. My point is about profit-sharing, not limiting profit. There is incentive because everyone is treated well, feels respected, is given a voice and able to make a good living. Saying 'taxes are high' doesn't get a rise from me; much of Europe has a more progressive tax system than the US does; and so it leans more heavily on the wealthy who can afford to pay than on the middle and working classes. But if we just shut down the illegal tax havens that the uber-rich in the US use, we'd have more than enough money for single-payer healthcare and much more.
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Those old plantations, being meant for export, specialized in only one variety of pineapple that was good for shipping and storage. Today we have many small farms growing different, interesting types of white, pink, or gold pineapples that taste so much better and are enjoyed right here on the islands. We don't need to be a pineapple republic. It is terrible to read about the arsenic that was used to destroy the sugarcane fields. I think a lot of those jobs could still be replaced by growing food to feed Hawaii, though not on that land.
I work for Maui County and we're all in unions. Salaries are still low-- I'm a technician and I make $37k before furloughs, and even directors of departments only make about $100k. In the private sector we could all make much more.
But the union did get us 21 days PTO and 21 days sick time per year. Our insurance isn't great though.
This means that in year 1, you could only work 10 months and still get full pay? Don't complain. In the private sector, you would get 5-10 days PTO (vacation) and 5 sick days in your first year. In five years, you might be up to 15 days PTO and maybe 10 sick days, IF you were lucky.
This means that in year 1, you could only work 10 months and still get full pay? Don't complain. In the private sector, you would get 5-10 days PTO (vacation) and 5 sick days in your first year. In five years, you might be up to 15 days PTO and maybe 10 sick days, IF you were lucky.
Yes, because time off in America is horrible compared to the rest of the developed world. What we get is really in line with everyone else-- every worker should demand the same time off.
Yes, because time off in America is horrible compared to the rest of the developed world. What we get is really in line with everyone else-- every worker should demand the same time off.
How does that enhance productivity? You are asking for 11.25 months pay for 10 months work. Have you not heard about the problems Europe has? They have the time off policies you want.
How does that enhance productivity? You are asking for 11.25 months pay for 10 months work. Have you not heard about the problems Europe has? They have the time off policies you want.
And if you the average 10 days PTO per year, you're doing 50 weeks of work for 52 weeks of pay... That's how paid time off works. It benefits workers to get more time off for the same pay, or more pay for the same work, or whatever. Why would you be opposed to working less and spending more time with your 3 boys?
It's normal for Europeans to take 2 or even 4 week vacations. They're the ones we see at the beach relaxing, enjoying the fruits of their labor, while Americans work their fingers to bone enriching the top 1% of the population, who by the way now make 25% of income and own 40% of total wealth in this country. Yeah, we're real productive, producing for the powerful. By the way, at the same time that we've been producing wealth for the top 1%, our real wages have been falling for the last 40 years.
Germany is doing better than us in pretty much every metric. They export more than they import, they have a great standard of living, universal healthcare, and are wealthier than us.
...And if you the average 10 days PTO per year, you're doing 50 weeks of work for 52 weeks of pay... That's how paid time off works. It benefits workers to get more time off for the same pay, or more pay for the same work, or whatever...
The less productive you are ( the more time off you have) the less money you actually make. Think about that for a while.
The less productive you are ( the more time off you have) the less money you actually make. Think about that for a while.
Productivity in America has been increasing forever.... and yet during the last 40 years our wages have gone down and our time off has gone down. Think about that for a while.
Do you really think your employer can't afford to give you 4 weeks off a year? Think again-- it's all about the profit. When are you going to enjoy life, when you're dead?
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