UPMC to set minimum wage to $15 (YMCA, school, university)

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

You think wait staff at swanky restaurants make significantly more? Actually, they probably make less b/c they are tipped. Raising the minimum wage will raise prices overall. The swanky places will charge more, too.

Yes, I think wait staff at swanky restaurants make significantly more than fast food workers (if you include tips), though not all of them make over $15/hour.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

Wait till your kids get into high school. Good grief, the jobs my kids had in HS and even college were not jobs that adults would be able to support a family on. They were all part time, coaching sports, stuff like that.

Speaking personally, I wasn't allowed to work when I was in high school by my parents, as they thought it would detract from my schoolwork. I suppose I could have gotten summer jobs, but I didn't know how to drive until age 19, and I lived in an area where there wasn't good mass transit. Although honestly, I didn't really want a job anyway. The first job I had was the summer between my junior and senior year of college, working third shift in a plastics factory for $8.50 an hour.

Come to think of it, that so few high school age kids work today is probably in part due to how many less drive than did back when I was young. At last check, the number of teens with a licence before age 18 declined to 54%. It's different here in the city, but in most places it's too much of a PITA to use transit to get to work if you're just doing it part time for spending money.

Originally Posted by Katarina Witt

Slippery slope is a logical fallacy.

Kids have more expenses than just tuition and books when in college. In point of fact, it's hard if not impossible to earn the money for that. They also need clothes, gas money, entertainment money and other things that a free college education system, which not all countries have BTW despite what Bernie tells you, do not cover.

There's a big difference between high-school age teens working and college students, IMHO. Plenty of people ages 18-22 still work, and I'm sure many of them are attending college. I was saying I don't think we should privilege retaining jobs for 16 and 17 year olds as a matter of public policy.

[gg]

Just some UMPC propaganda to try and save face.

UPMC is a horrible company and is certainly NOT non profit!

Look at this crap!

Report: UPMC CEO Romoff raked in $6.4 million in total compensation | TribLIVE

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Speaking personally, I wasn't allowed to work when I was in high school by my parents, as they thought it would detract from my schoolwork. I suppose I could have gotten summer jobs, but I didn't know how to drive until age 19, and I lived in an area where there wasn't good mass transit. Although honestly, I didn't really want a job anyway. The first job I had was the summer between my junior and senior year of college, working third shift in a plastics factory for $8.50 an hour.

Come to think of it, that so few high school age kids work today is probably in part due to how many less drive than did back when I was young. At last check, the number of teens with a licence before age 18 declined to 54%. It's different here in the city, but in most places it's too much of a PITA to use transit to get to work if you're just doing it part time for spending money.



There's a big difference between high-school age teens working and college students, IMHO. Plenty of people ages 18-22 still work, and I'm sure many of them are attending college. I was saying I don't think we should privilege retaining jobs for 16 and 17 year olds as a matter of public policy.

My brother and I both worked in HS. We did various jobs, including bagging popsicles (ask anyone from Beaver Falls about Waite's Ice Cream-two of my cousins and I worked there, as did many BF high school students); lifeguarding; caddying; many more. Plus I babysat and bro had a paper route. Our parents wanted us to work. DH and his brothers all worked. When DH was in college, he worked for his professors in the summers. Some of his work is in the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I was a nurse's aid when I went to Pitt. Most of my friends worked.

Fast forward to the 00s-both of my kids worked, as I said doing coaching working the front desk at the rec center, day care, etc. They biked before they could drive. They worked summers while in college. Most of their friends worked.

About 25% of high school kids work these days. 1 in 4 high school students work, U.S. Census finds, including many in Oklahoma to support families | News OK The numbers went down during the recession, but are back up again. Actually, here's another story from 2013 that says that 80% work at least part time. http://thinkprogress.org/economy/201...ile-in-school/ In 2012, fewer were working. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...obs-hits-20-y/

[I_Like_Spam]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Speaking personally, I wasn't allowed to work when I was in high school by my parents, as they thought it would detract from my schoolwork.

I worked constantly in high school, and I think I learned a lot from it. Delivering papers, a school work study program at Langley (where I attended) and I think was federally funded in the early 70's, but most Palmer's Restaurant in town. I almost undoubtably spent more time in the Jenkins Arcade during my junior and senior years than I did at Langley.

A lot of kids worked back in the day. My brother got high school credit for his work at Giant Eagle as part of some "distributive education" scam.

[Goinback2011]

This won't just affect UPMC minimum wage workers. There will be pressure for an upward cascade in all wages in the company.


To avoid price increases, they'll resist that pressure and will have to reduce wages at the mid levels and upper levels to compensate. The easiest way to do this would be to hire foreign workers via the H1B program, or simply reduce payrolls across the board via layoffs.


The alternative is raising prices. Since they have a competitor, this won't be easy to do.

[theta_sigma]

I worked at the main branch of the Carnegie Library in high school, and had jobs all through college, but none of these jobs were for the purpose of supporting myself or my family. It was really just an educational life experience and a little spending money. I think I made $4.25/hr at the library.

[theta_sigma]

Surely an alternative would be to not pay the CEO $6.5 million, or is that crazy talk?

[gg]

Originally Posted by theta_sigma

Surely an alternative would be to not pay the CEO $6.5 million, or is that crazy talk?

Well that is only $500K+ a month for their non-profit leader.

Lets face it, that is normal for the egos on the top of all companies. It feeds their ego to watch others scrape by and they love every minute of it. They live to watch others squirm. It is the CEO of America that will create socialism at some point. Sadly the creators of these wildly high salaries will not be penalized, but will be frowned upon in the history books. I don't think they will give a crap. They certainly don't give a crap about anyone but themselves. Total sociopaths, but there are plenty to go around. It is 'Merica's culture. It is also Britain's culture as well, but not Japanese culture, which is an interesting study.

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by I_Like_Spam

I worked constantly in high school, and I think I learned a lot from it. Delivering papers, a school work study program at Langley (where I attended) and I think was federally funded in the early 70's, but most Palmer's Restaurant in town. I almost undoubtably spent more time in the Jenkins Arcade during my junior and senior years than I did at Langley.

A lot of kids worked back in the day. My brother got high school credit for his work at Giant Eagle as part of some "distributive education" scam.

I hate to be so trite, but things were different back then.

First, it was easier to make a decent living as an adult even if you didn't do well in school. Much as I dislike the current system, where people who have no business going to college are forced to spend tens of thousands just to add a line on their resume, higher education is basically required these days if you do not want to be poor. This chart is a few years old, but it shows it clearly. Wages for someone with only a high school degree are a third lower (accounting for inflation) than in 1979.



Second, as a knock-off effect of the elimination of so many formerly well-paying jobs that only required high school degrees (either due to the decline in manufacturing, or the conversion of many jobs into ones which now require a college education) there are lots of independently living working class adults who need those jobs in retail and food service which used to be staffed more exclusively by young people.

Edit: Personally, I wish we would go back to a system of apprenticing for many jobs. I think such a system was far fairer than the current setup, because the onus was placed on the employer to train a young person for their job at a reduced pay rate, rather than burden being put on the worker, who then needs to guess what skills will be needed in the labor market via their degree when they enter the labor force.