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Regarding the BMW plant in S.C., they are building cars not only for the U.S. market share, but for global export. I'm assuming they are not in a rush to utilize more cheap American labor.
And no doubt about it regarding the others looking to build in the south. They are coming here for one reason. To manufacture a product closer to the end consumer, utilizing the cheapest labor possible. Are they going to be merely assembling the vehicles here, or will they actually be manufacturing the parts as well? I'm curious to know. It is interesting that a cheap labor nation like South Korea would actually be interested in building a car in a more expensive labor country though.
I don't really disagree with what you said. But since when is South Korea a low wage country?
At the same time, many European businesses have been offshoring their union labor to our non union production facilities. Much of the work is being done by temps. This has a marginal advantage, as most of those workers in those U.S. facilities are paid so little that they must rely on tax payer subsidies just to survive. In my opinion, someone working 40 hours a week SHOULD NOT require subsidies just to survive. That is not the mark of a 1st work nation, that is the mark of a slave wage nation. We are the new China for many of these European countries. Yes, we are getting their work, but at what cost?
My thoughts exactly. Anyone working 40 hours a week should be able to survive without government assistance. In essence, companies paying such low wages are profiteering partly by benefiting from government / taxpayer subsidised labour (yet we always blame the working poor themselves rather than the net beneficiaries of thier underpaid labour).
Fast food joints. Imagine burger-flippers making $22 an hour, with 6 weeks off a year and full bennies. Yep, that'd be possible if every fast-food worker in the US were part of the new Quick Service Restaurant Union...lol. Sure, Big Macs would then cost $7, but would that be such a bad thing to have in this country? Maybe people would eat at home more, and not get so F-A-T eating that gross fast food all the time.
So raise the wage, and then raise the prices knowing full well that they'll lose most of their business....
Your burger flipper is going to end up with $0 an hour with 52 weeks off a year.
My thoughts exactly. Anyone working 40 hours a week should be able to survive without government assistance. In essence, companies paying such low wages are profiteering partly by benefiting from government / taxpayer subsidised labour (yet we always blame the working poor themselves rather than the net beneficiaries of thier underpaid labour).
So raise the wage, and then raise the prices knowing full well that they'll lose most of their business....
Your burger flipper is going to end up with $0 an hour with 52 weeks off a year.
How is it that fast food places in Australia are able to pay their min wage of $15+ an hour and still stay in business? Sure, those burgers and fries cost more than here, but they woof 'em down just the same - maybe because working people in Australia aren't making poverty wages.
I'd like to know why wages have gone up in most other countries of the world while ours have gone down when adjusted for inflation - case in point - when I worked part-time for UPS in 1990, I was making $9 an hour. How much does that job pay now? You guessed it - $9 an hour. The job I had one summer at a theme park paid something like $7 an hour. What does that job pay now? Usually around $7.50 an hour.
Something's clearly gone wrong in this country, and it's up to all of us to try and fix it - by demanding employers *pay a fair wage.* As Dragonborn mentioned, employers are mooching off the taxpayers by paying so little that they need food stamps and other assistance just to make ends meet. That's why I never trust what "free market" advocates say, as they only advocate what's good for business, never what's good for the rest of us that actually have to work for a living.
How is it that fast food places in Australia are able to pay their min wage of $15+ an hour and still stay in business? Sure, those burgers and fries cost more than here, but they woof 'em down just the same - maybe because working people in Australia aren't making poverty wages.
I'd like to know why wages have gone up in most other countries of the world while ours have gone down when adjusted for inflation - case in point - when I worked part-time for UPS in 1990, I was making $9 an hour. How much does that job pay now? You guessed it - $9 an hour. The job I had one summer at a theme park paid something like $7 an hour. What does that job pay now? Usually around $7.50 an hour.
Something's clearly gone wrong in this country, and it's up to all of us to try and fix it - by demanding employers *pay a fair wage.* As Dragonborn mentioned, employers are mooching off the taxpayers by paying so little that they need food stamps and other assistance just to make ends meet. That's why I never trust what "free market" advocates say, as they only advocate what's good for business, never what's good for the rest of us that actually have to work for a living.
Excellent, excellent point. It's so shameful to blame the working poor and treat them as failures when we the taxpayers are subsidizing businesses that deliberately underpay in order to raise their profits.
And I don't think all businesses will fail if they pay a working wage. A rising tide lifts all boats. There will still be a level playing field and the population will have a greater disposable income.
So what you are saying is that if fast food restaurants are required to pay a living wage, NOBODY WILL EVER BUY A BURGER AGAIN!
Really?
Why would people pay more for a burger? The price at a McD's would approach a sit down restaurant, and the low price is the number one reason a McD's can capture significant market share.
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