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I'm right there with you. My sister makes over 100,000 as a Publix manager at Publix. However, if you notice, the majority of employees that work the front line (cashiers, baggers) are either seniors or high school kids, with sprinklings of mentally challenged thrown in (they get some kind of kickback for handicapped). Just 3 years ago, if you started work at Publix, your starting pay was 6.50 an hour, PT.
Without cashiers and baggers, how Publix be able to be in existence?
My point is that lowly workers shouldn't be considered lowly workers just because they can easily be replaced and their job title doesn't require a masters degree. And they should be paid as if they are an important part of the company. They should make enough to at least be able to make house payments on an older home if they choose and they should be able to afford dependable transportation, and real food for the family - meats and vegies, as opposed to pasta every night because it's the cheapest food they can afford.
It's usually the people that make big bucks that don't believe workers lower on the ladder deserve to make decent money.
Mojow, I've got a couple of questions for you; Do you realize that selling groceries is a very low profit margin business? How much more are you willing to pay for your groceries so that your bagger can drive a nice car and live in a big ol' condo? Why do you think ANYONE except students, retirees or someone wanting a little extra money in a second job would be a bagger? If you started as a bagger, wouldn't you eventually want to move into jobs with more responsibility and prestige as well as pay? I deliver to the stores of a major retailer and have an observation; most of the slackers in the receiving area that make low wages will probably be there (or at the same pay level somewhere else) for a long time. Most of the sharp folks I deal with at the stores are gone fairly soon after I meet them. Ya think maybe there's a lesson in that???
The two co-chairmen of my trucking company are millionaires. They earned it through hard work and good business sense. I have no problem with that. While I have some issues in general with truck driver compensation (none of which they can fix in a deregulated industry), I feel that I'm well-compensated for the job I do. I like the people I work with and my co-chairmen provide us with nice, well-maintained equipment to operate. If I didn't, I could go make more money elsewhere. But there are many reasons besides pay that I stay at my current job. And to earn better money, I would have to do things I'd personally prefer not to; pull double trailers, unload product on a snowy ramp or service hazardous industrial gases.
Last edited by Crew Chief; 01-05-2008 at 08:50 PM..
Mojow, I've got a couple of questions for you; Do you realize that selling groceries is a very low profit margin business? How much more are you willing to pay for your groceries so that your bagger can drive a nice car and live in a big ol' condo? Why do you think ANYONE except students, retirees or someone wanting a little extra money in a second job would be a bagger? If you started as a bagger, wouldn't you eventually want to move into jobs with more responsibility and prestige as well as pay? I deliver to the stores of a major retailer and have an observation; most of the slackers in the receiving area that make low wages will probably be there (or at the same pay level somewhere else) for a long time. Most of the sharp folks I deal with at the stores are gone fairly soon after I meet them. Ya think maybe there's a lesson in that???
The two co-chairmen of my trucking company are millionaires. They earned it through hard work and good business sense. I have no problem with that. While I have some issues in general with truck driver compensation (none of which they can fix in a deregulated industry), I feel that I'm well-compensated for the job I do. I like the people I work with and my co-chairmen provide us with nice, well-maintained equipment to operate. If I didn't, I could go make more money elsewhere. But there are many reasons besides pay that I stay at my current job. And to earn better money, I would have to do things I'd personally prefer not to; pull double trailers, unload product on a snowy ramp or service hazardous industrial gases.
You're right, who would WANT to be a bagger? But there are less and less available jobs out there that force people to have to take what they can get. And obviously not EVERY one can move up as their are only so many Managerial positions.
Not every one is cut out for management. Are they still not valuable employees? And yes, I've seen some slackers on the job, the disgruntled employees that feel they aren't paid enough. A lot of them weren't slackers when they were hired.
I have nothing against the guy who owns Walmart for being rich, it's his company, he made the decisions that got Walmart where it is today. But his employees deserve to make a decent living since they played a role in his success. Can he BE just a little less rich so that he can share some of the wealth, just a little bit? Any kind of effort will do. I think a little more of his profits DO belong to his employees, rather than charging more to customers to cover the extra increase to the employees.
May I ask how much you make?
As an experiment, you could walk a mile in someone's shoes by living off of an $8 an hour job, 40 hours. Jobs are getting scarce and even people in certain fields with experience are having a hard time finding work. And I understand that the sharper you are (and the younger you are), the better chances that you can move up or out, but what about the average commoner, the one who may not be a spring chicken any more, and who may not be a sharpie, but who is dependable, a necessary (if small) piece of the machinery, and willing to work. Even if they are on the bottom of the pay scale, they should be able to afford basic necessities, and that doesn't mean that consumer prices should go up, that means the man at the top needs to be a little less greedy.
You're right, who would WANT to be a bagger? But there are less and less available jobs out there that force people to have to take what they can get. And obviously not EVERY one can move up as their are only so many Managerial positions.
Not every one is cut out for management. Are they still not valuable employees? And yes, I've seen some slackers on the job, the disgruntled employees that feel they aren't paid enough. A lot of them weren't slackers when they were hired.
I have nothing against the guy who owns Walmart for being rich, it's his company, he made the decisions that got Walmart where it is today. But his employees deserve to make a decent living since they played a role in his success. Can he BE just a little less rich so that he can share some of the wealth, just a little bit? Any kind of effort will do. I think a little more of his profits DO belong to his employees, rather than charging more to customers to cover the extra increase to the employees.
May I ask how much you make?
As an experiment, you could walk a mile in someone's shoes by living off of an $8 an hour job, 40 hours. Jobs are getting scarce and even people in certain fields with experience are having a hard time finding work. And I understand that the sharper you are (and the younger you are), the better chances that you can move up or out, but what about the average commoner, the one who may not be a spring chicken any more, and who may not be a sharpie, but who is dependable, a necessary (if small) piece of the machinery, and willing to work. Even if they are on the bottom of the pay scale, they should be able to afford basic necessities, and that doesn't mean that consumer prices should go up, that means the man at the top needs to be a little less greedy.
Mojow, I guess I'm just getting pretty realistic about life as I get older... The only limitation to your income is YOU. If you don't like what you are doing; get the training to do something else. There are ways to get into almost any career field you are interested in. Even if you have to start by sweeping the floors. And you don't have to manage anybody or anything to make good money. The only person I'm responsible for is me. And all I have to do is get my load to the customer safely and on time. Our household income (with some planning) is WELL over the average for our area. A decent truck driver should make at least $40K/year. (And that's a LOT more than $8/hour) You can make more than that if you want to do some of the jobs I discussed above or own your own truck and are able to run your own business smartly!
Like I said, I have some issues with truck driver compensation and I am frustrated by the way truckers in general are treated. I see how employees everywhere are treated like cost factors instead of assets to be paid fairly and treated well. But the bottom line is; If you're not happy where you are, YOU should do something to make YOUR life better. I'm tired of hearing people whine about their job situation. Although I'm not in a union, my industry has a very good association that lobbies on behalf of drivers at the state and federal levels and does many other things for us. But, out of over three million or more CDL holders, only 160,000 drivers belong to it. But they still whine...
Mojow, I kinda got off the subject a bit, but the bottom line is: ya don't have to work for a boss that doesn't treat you well. Yes, it be wonderful if Mr. Employer would put a little less money in his pocket and give more to his employees. But that doesn't happen for MANY reasons:
- Why pay people any more than you have to to keep enough warm bodies showing up for work every day?
- Gotta pay the stockholders
- Maybe the busines doesn't have as much profit margin as the employees think it does.
Anyway, life ain't always fair. But YOU gotta get up and make it fair for you and yours!
Since the min wage hadn't been changed in ten years, what would have been the annual percentage increase during those ten years? Does it add up to the current $6.67?
Raising minimum wage to the levels you suggest offers less incentive for people to better themselves and move up the ladder.
What?????!!!!!! For crying out loud!! Working 40 hours per week @ 6.67 per hour = 266.80 per week before FICA, etc., and you see no problem with this?
How in the world is someone supposed to "better" themselves bringing home this kind of money? What a misanthropic statement, please enlighten us with your theories on how you think this is a good thing.
Last edited by kshe95girl; 01-07-2008 at 08:13 AM..
Reason: spell
What?????!!!!!! For crying out loud!! Working 40 hours per week @ 6.67 per hour = 266.80 per week before FICA, etc., and you see no problem with this?
How in the world is someone supposed to "better" themselves bringing home this kind of money? What a misanthropic statement, please enlighten us with your theories on how you think this is a good thing.
No, I don't. I earned $4.25 an hour as a college student in part-time jobs, and it was definitely an incentive to finish my education. I can't and won't subsidize every low income person's lifestyle. Socialist European countries don't even do that. For example, the UK...which is far more socialist than the United States...did not even have a minimum wage until about a decade ago. I knew people who as recently as 1996 were making 2.50 GBP per hour in that insanely expensive country.
I don't think I'm being misanthropic at all. I think you're being pie-in-the-sky and unrealistic. Explain to me why someone should be paid $10 an hour to stock shelves or flip burgers.
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