Splain This Rucy!

[Deleted User 8570]

OK what if in order to get any government contract or work for a. Company that has a government contract, you must have a decent ratio and $15 minimum wage.

Corporations don't need the government work if all they care about is shareholders

OK, lets take your scenario...

A company that takes a contract to build/repair a highway in the U.S. currently pays laborers about 18.00 per hour and cement masons (a title earned after a three year apprenticeship) slightly north of 20.00 per hour.

In your world, the company has to pay the person that stands there holding a sign that says "stop" on one side and "slow" on the other and turns it every so often, basically an entry level no skill job, will be paid 15.00 per hour. Don't you think the laborers that dig trenches, compact dirt, load and unload trucks as well as the cement masons would expect to be paid more in comparison?

And again, what the hell does this have to do with Nun's being forced to provide abortions?

Let's cut a hole in your scenario and let the air out... The sign holder probably is cross trained to do lots of other things...

[zzand]

As for the sign holder being cross trained, not always, as a matter of fact a lot of companies hire college kids looking for summer work or retired people looking to get out of the house to be sign holders. I have two friends who hire for construction companies doing road work and according to them most unions won't allow their members to do the sign work except for breaks for the hired sign holder. If it is non-union then your statement holds water, but otherwise they are entry level, no skill jobs......

[TC Talks]

As for the sign holder being cross trained, not always, as a matter of fact a lot of companies hire college kids looking for summer work or retired people looking to get out of the house to be sign holders. I have two friends who hire for construction companies doing road work and according to them most unions won't allow their members to do the sign work except for breaks for the hired sign holder. If it is non-union then your statement holds water, but otherwise they are entry level, no skill jobs......

Thus skilled labors also gets a raise... and everyone can afford to live.

[Bryce]

As for the sign holder being cross trained, not always, as a matter of fact a lot of companies hire college kids looking for summer work or retired people looking to get out of the house to be sign holders. I have two friends who hire for construction companies doing road work and according to them most unions won't allow their members to do the sign work except for breaks for the hired sign holder. If it is non-union then your statement holds water, but otherwise they are entry level, no skill jobs......

Thus skilled labors also gets a raise... and everyone can afford to live.

LOL...

An E-1 Private, who puts their ass on the line every day in hostile environments, makes about 18,000.00 per year. You think that a person flipping a sign back and forth or wrapping burgers after they come out of a microwave, should make 31,000.00 per year?

Yeah, I'd guess you do.

[Mega Hertz]

Here is my question...why does it HAVE to be all or nothing? Does it really NEED to be $15 an hour? Again, no compromise, and we wonder why we're constantly in a stalemate. While changes obviously need to be made, is a $15 minimum really necessary? It would be nice to get out of the single digits, that much I know. I had started at a job at 18 in 2003 at $8.00 an hour. Fast forward to 2016, and upon coming to a decision to work a second McJob to pay up extra on some debts I would like to rid, I started a second job (which is also a McJob) at...you guessed it...$8.50 per hour. Does anyone have the ability to tell me or present facts from your choice of partisan slanted website, with a straight face, that COL and the cost of rent, gas, utilities, and groceries are exactly the same as they were in 2002-03? So that is why in 13 years, starting pay/minimum wage is exactly the same, even though my skills and knowledge have improved vastly in that time frame? It isn't like I'm walking into a new profession with no skills to add to the company. I agree that $15 an hour minimum wage is excessive, but why must it be mired in the $7.50-$8.50 range? So when will $15 be okay...when rent is $1600 per month, gas is $9 a gallon, car insurance is $800 a month, and a loaf of bread is $11? Give me a break.

[Deleted User 8570]

Here is my question...why does it HAVE to be all or nothing? Does it really NEED to be $15 an hour? Again, no compromise, and we wonder why we're constantly in a stalemate. While changes obviously need to be made, is a $15 minimum really necessary? It would be nice to get out of the single digits, that much I know. I had started at a job at 18 in 2003 at $8.00 an hour. Fast forward to 2016, and upon coming to a decision to work a second McJob to pay up extra on some debts I would like to rid, I started a second job (which is also a McJob) at...you guessed it...$8.50 per hour. Does anyone have the ability to tell me or present facts from your choice of partisan slanted website, with a straight face, that COL and the cost of rent, gas, utilities, and groceries are exactly the same as they were in 2002-03? So that is why in 13 years, starting pay/minimum wage is exactly the same, even though my skills and knowledge have improved vastly in that time frame? It isn't like I'm walking into a new profession with no skills to add to the company. I agree that $15 an hour minimum wage is excessive, but why must it be mired in the $7.50-$8.50 range? So when will $15 be okay...when rent is $1600 per month, gas is $9 a gallon, car insurance is $800 a month, and a loaf of bread is $11? Give me a break.

That was perfect... Nice job.

[Mega Hertz]

Here is my question...why does it HAVE to be all or nothing? Does it really NEED to be $15 an hour? Again, no compromise, and we wonder why we're constantly in a stalemate. While changes obviously need to be made, is a $15 minimum really necessary? It would be nice to get out of the single digits, that much I know. I had started at a job at 18 in 2003 at $8.00 an hour. Fast forward to 2016, and upon coming to a decision to work a second McJob to pay up extra on some debts I would like to rid, I started a second job (which is also a McJob) at...you guessed it...$8.50 per hour. Does anyone have the ability to tell me or present facts from your choice of partisan slanted website, with a straight face, that COL and the cost of rent, gas, utilities, and groceries are exactly the same as they were in 2002-03? So that is why in 13 years, starting pay/minimum wage is exactly the same, even though my skills and knowledge have improved vastly in that time frame? It isn't like I'm walking into a new profession with no skills to add to the company. I agree that $15 an hour minimum wage is excessive, but why must it be mired in the $7.50-$8.50 range? So when will $15 be okay...when rent is $1600 per month, gas is $9 a gallon, car insurance is $800 a month, and a loaf of bread is $11? Give me a break.

That was perfect... Nice job.

The LOL emoji concerns me...are you legitimately congratulating me or having a laugh at my expense? Lol...I guess it's pretty sad when you get labeled and told that your opinion is wrong.

[Deleted User 8570]

Here is my question...why does it HAVE to be all or nothing? Does it really NEED to be $15 an hour? Again, no compromise, and we wonder why we're constantly in a stalemate. While changes obviously need to be made, is a $15 minimum really necessary? It would be nice to get out of the single digits, that much I know. I had started at a job at 18 in 2003 at $8.00 an hour. Fast forward to 2016, and upon coming to a decision to work a second McJob to pay up extra on some debts I would like to rid, I started a second job (which is also a McJob) at...you guessed it...$8.50 per hour. Does anyone have the ability to tell me or present facts from your choice of partisan slanted website, with a straight face, that COL and the cost of rent, gas, utilities, and groceries are exactly the same as they were in 2002-03? So that is why in 13 years, starting pay/minimum wage is exactly the same, even though my skills and knowledge have improved vastly in that time frame? It isn't like I'm walking into a new profession with no skills to add to the company. I agree that $15 an hour minimum wage is excessive, but why must it be mired in the $7.50-$8.50 range? So when will $15 be okay...when rent is $1600 per month, gas is $9 a gallon, car insurance is $800 a month, and a loaf of bread is $11? Give me a break.

That was perfect... Nice job.

The LOL emoji concerns me...are you legitimately congratulating me or having a laugh at my expense? Lol...I guess it's pretty sad when you get labeled and told that your opinion is wrong.

I got a kick out of the paragraph you wrote but not at your expense. I agree wholeheartedly with it and thought it was quite witty.

[Mega Hertz]

Here is my question...why does it HAVE to be all or nothing? Does it really NEED to be $15 an hour? Again, no compromise, and we wonder why we're constantly in a stalemate. While changes obviously need to be made, is a $15 minimum really necessary? It would be nice to get out of the single digits, that much I know. I had started at a job at 18 in 2003 at $8.00 an hour. Fast forward to 2016, and upon coming to a decision to work a second McJob to pay up extra on some debts I would like to rid, I started a second job (which is also a McJob) at...you guessed it...$8.50 per hour. Does anyone have the ability to tell me or present facts from your choice of partisan slanted website, with a straight face, that COL and the cost of rent, gas, utilities, and groceries are exactly the same as they were in 2002-03? So that is why in 13 years, starting pay/minimum wage is exactly the same, even though my skills and knowledge have improved vastly in that time frame? It isn't like I'm walking into a new profession with no skills to add to the company. I agree that $15 an hour minimum wage is excessive, but why must it be mired in the $7.50-$8.50 range? So when will $15 be okay...when rent is $1600 per month, gas is $9 a gallon, car insurance is $800 a month, and a loaf of bread is $11? Give me a break.

That was perfect... Nice job.

The LOL emoji concerns me...are you legitimately congratulating me or having a laugh at my expense? Lol...I guess it's pretty sad when you get labeled and told that your opinion is wrong.

I got a kick out of the paragraph you wrote but not at your expense. I agree wholeheartedly with it and thought it was quite witty.

Well thank you then, NS. I guess I'm just so passionate about this because I've never been one to rely on the government or handouts to earn my way. I've worked two jobs for a pretty good portion of my youth in order to handle my business. And I'm just really tired of working hard, and learning and trying to gain as many skills as possible in order to bring worth to the company I work for, and making myself valuable to them. And it's just heartbreaking getting stuck in the single digits for pay, the same way it has been for as long as I care to remember. And of course, there are the extremists that have to be wise asses and post their memes of McDonald's workers, getting stoned and being lazy and screwing up order after order and making $15 an hour, while some paramedic who is always driving and saving a life every 26 seconds on a 36 hour straight shift makes a mere $7.75 an hour. There's a way to do this right, but like every other issue, people are more concerned with smart ass answers and pictures on the Internet and strawman arguments as opposed to getting it done. But why bother...its just something else the USA can be behind other countries in, like education and GDP.

[Bryce]

Mega, I understand your lament, I really do, but there are a few things to consider.

A McJob isn't designed to be a job that one raises a family on. It is a job that is designed for high school kids to learn about working. Showing up on time, how to act in the workforce, etc. The skill set and pay level is meant for those kids to have a bit of money to put gas in their car and take Suzy to the movies and malt shop on Saturday night. Or, as in your case, a second income to help pay down some debt. (Which I commend you for. Being debt free in the next couple of years will be VERY important.) It (the McJob) isn't designed as a career, or to live independently. Some do make it a career and advance to restaurant management at the McJob and use it as a stepping stone to move up the food chain. But again, running the cash register and wrapping burgers isn't designed to be a career and the remuneration for such a position reflects that fact.

Now, as far as why the job is paying just about the same as it did in 2003. Since 2007 wages as a whole have went down. Median Household income in 2007 was $57,936 as of 2014 the number was $53,657. That's over a 4000.00 decrease in household income. Entry level people aren't being paid more and neither is anyone else.

[audiophile]

I remember Burger King sign with now hiring sign at $10/hr in the late 1990's.

The problem is now is not enough competition for workers, which drives up wages.