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The point is that if given the opportunity, a lot of people will pay their employees as little as they can get away with.
Is that why firms such as Goldman Sachs, Google, Apple, etc. have reputations for paying well? Is that why my employer just switched us from commission to hourly pay, at a rate well above the average for this area, resulting in our paychecks almost doubling?
Quote:
Originally Posted by aggie972
Their willingness to pay employees for their work by itself is not a good barometer of what that employee's labor is actually worth.
It's a barometer of what the employees' labor is worth to that particular company. It's not a barometer of what the employees' labor is worth to all employers hiring for equivalent positions within a given market.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aggie972
If employer and employee had equal negotiating power, then in theory, it might be a good barometer.
As a non-union employee in an employment-at-will, right-to-work state, I have equal negotiating power with any and every prospective employer. When they call me and offer me a position, I am free to accept it, reject it, or counter their offer.
Do you believe that, by and large, employees don't know the market value of their labor?
It is pretty hard to negotiate when you are not in an unionized work force.
You got that completely bass-ackward.
It's very easy to negotiate when you're a non-union employee, as you are the only one with whom the company can negotiate for your labor.
When you're a union employee, you don't get a chance to negotiate. The union negotiates a blanket contract for all employees (regardless of skill, productivity, or length of service to the company), and you are forced to accept the results of their negotiating skills. If you're a skilled negotiator who could've negotiated a higher wage for yourself, then you have to settle for less.
Wages are rising quite sharply in many fields. Probably not as much as benefits. I remember when I first started working how weak the benefits were. I really recently started a part time job in another field that I missed dearly. Now I hardly pay anything for medical, I get free meals, free dry cleaning, paid transportation, free gym access, and a few other interesting perks. All these perks allow me to save so much time that I can run my hotels in my spare time.
Employers are really trying to attract the best of the best. I don't blame them for that. It's competitive out there.
This. From my experience, you have amazing benefits like these now. Employers are focusing on quality of life and general benefits and are spending a lot of money to attract good employees. It's not about wages anymore.
Much of the business world is monkey-see-monkey-do, as exemplified by the Hormel strike of the mid-80's with the P-9 union.
What started it all? LTV owned the Wilson Meatpacking plants. They syphoned millions form those plants, over the years, never spent any money modernizing/improving the plants, they finally spun it off, leaving the company all but bankrupt, forcing their meatpackers to drop their pay from $10 an hour to $8 and $6 an hour!
The other meatpackers took notice, and were surprised there were no strikes as a result of it. So! All the other meatpackers decided to lower their wages as well, despite their profitability!
The Hormel workers in Austin, MN, facing wage cuts of 25%, despite Hormel's profitability, decided to fight it, tooth and nail, and lost!
Let's not forget Henry Ford, who doubled the wages of his workers in Detroit, and what happened? Thousands came to Detroit to apply for a job at Ford Motors, with only limited number of jobs available, and Henry Ford was excoriated in Detroit, and elsewhere, by the business community for doing something so outrageous!
Who says wages correlate directly with company profits? How much you're paid is dictated by how much your skills are worth. Not by how much the employer makes.
How much you're paid is not dictated by how much your skills are worth. That is 1980's. This is 2016.
How much you're paid is dictated by how little the employer can get away wth paying you so you won't complain too loud.
How long before America wakes up?? Why is it everyone is directing anger upon each other and not where it deserves to go?
If you want to share in owner profits, become a partner or a shareholder. If you want a higher wage, then grow the skills to command it. If you can't get the wage you want from your current employer, walk out the door and get that pay somewhere else. Prove they undervalued you compared to the market. If you can't do that....maybe you aren't underpaid since that's the market for your skillset.
How long before America wakes up?? Why is it everyone is directing anger upon each other and not where it deserves to go?
Also, you let me know when you personally start paying more for goods and services than you have to.
Be the change you want to see in the world.
Last edited by Thatsright19; 01-30-2016 at 03:38 PM..
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