PayDay (Dallas, San Antonio, El Paso: crime, job market, income)

[Muhnay]

One thing about Texas I dont like is the Minium Wage laws.

Have any of you ever worked as a waiter/waitress? Bartender? Tipped Employee? $2.13 an hour is not enough to live on, and as you know most people dont tip... I understand the way it works is that the employer has to make up what ever tips dont cover to make minium wage.

Thats just crap. A tipped employee should be paid the same as everyone else and make tips for the job they do is a pain in the butt. You deal with a drunk ******* at 3am.

Why is it that 5 states on JAN 1st raised the minium wage.. because an American forced to work at $5.15 an hour can not survive. And if you cant survive on that, then how can you at half that?

[Trainwreck20]

Hmmm...I was a waiter for 10 years, and feel somewhat qualified to comment.
- If, over two weeks, you do not average minimum wage, your employer must make up the difference.
- If you are a waiter/waitress and do not make at least minimum wage, the place you are working must really have some sleazy clientel, or you are in the wrong line of work.

I worked at two places for about five years each, one of which was 'moderate' (price-wise) and the other was definitely working-class. I averaged $12-14/hour after taxes (yes, I paid my taxes) in both places. These jobs were generally dinner-time shifts, but lunch shifts still made ~$10/hour, I would guess.

[Muhnay]

Thats great.. but in Oregon as an example they dont pay less than minium. you get what is it $7.65 an hour plus your tips. The Same with Washinton State. I have a buddy living in Tacoma that makes $8.50 an hour plus tips, and he is making on average 21-24 bucks an hour.

So why pay a tipped worker less than anyone else?

Oh and I am not a Tipped Worker, I owned a bar called the Eagles Nest with my Mom a wile back.. the Left El Paso for a bit to try my hand at something else.. and came back when my grandmother passed away, I am now working law enforcement on a military base.

Just one of my pet peeves about is the fact the pay someone in that job market less than minium. Even though by your standerds you made far more. But think of what you could of made if you were on an equal pay range.

[Six Foot Three]

Yeah a little different up here in Albuquerque as the cities new minimum wage law kicked in today which is higher than New Mexico's. So people in ABQ will make more money than the surrounding cities but the Mayor is mad because he believes some employers will leave ABQ and go to nearby Rio Rancho Or Los Lunes...

[Muhnay]

Whats the Minimum there now? The Gov. should of made a state wide increase and that would of solved that problem.

[Six Foot Three]

It rose to 6.75 jan 1 and jan 1, 2008 to 7.15 and jan 1, 2009 7.50 in increments. Yeah the gov (richardson) has said he wants the whole state to be at 7.50 by jan 1, 2008 so we'll see what happens at the legislature stating later this month. However up here the wages are pretty good as thats why i live here instead of El Paso...

[Muhnay]

Humm.. My Wifes best friend lives there.. and you have a river.. we dont anymore.. You get snow.. hahaha.. and more rain than we do I think. I may have to look into moving up there as well. But its not as green as I would want it, and I dont think there is a large body of water to get lounge near and hang out with the kids.. without driving for hours.

Thats awesome though.. 6.75 is pretty good for a minium wage. Seems this area thrives on its minium wage jobs. $7.50 would be great, I hope it happens, means everyone here will move to Las Cruices and Almagordo.. and hell maybe even Chaperral.

Dont you have an income tax or something? I was always told to live in New Mexico but work in Texas.. something to do with taxes.

[Six Foot Three]

Originally Posted by Muhnay

Dont you have an income tax or something? I was always told to live in New Mexico but work in Texas.. something to do with taxes.

Yeap we do but its low and the gov cut the rates from 8.9 % to about 4 %. I get paid every 2 weeks so it like $40.00 out of my check but who cares as the wages are good here. Also our property taxes are lower than E.P. I have family in other cities and lived in a few different ones and i'm shocked that ABQ pays so well. Its higher than San Antonio, Tucson, and Oklahoma City in our region but Phoenix, Dallas and Denver pay better but thats to be expected.

We are farther than E.P. to Elephant Butte and the river here is a wildlife river with no recreation say like the Pecos river in Carlsbad where they can Jet ski right thru the middle of the town.Also with the exeption of Juarez our crime really bad here compared to El Paso. They even had a story in the paper a while back that auto theft here was as bad as E.P. and were 280 miles from juarez..