General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: THE PAY IS TOO DAMN LOW [View all]pasto76
(1,589 posts)yes, wages are too low. every serious economist says that higher base wages helps everyone in society.
BUT - we need to EARN those higher wages too. I work my ass off at work for a few reasons, one of them being so that if our contractors refuse to a raise in the new contracts, and list lack of profits, production, and OSHA citations as the reason(which comes up in every negotiation like clockwork), then I know *I* am not the reason we are losing money. I know I am doing my part.
I wish the folks working at mcdonalds would make 15 an hour. I wish they had great conditions and good benefits.
I also wish that I would always get a straw with my order. In the morning, its always a crapshoot if I get butter with the hotcakes. Or when they delete the hashbrown from my order or something. Moments like that I understand why some people think we all 'want a handout'. But then I know the folks at my local mcDs probably arent trained that well, and just like on any job, there my be a culture of 'who cares' with nobody there to break that up. in other words they just don't know better or how they are affecting our conditions. Pride in your work, quality service and product. When the American working person gets that back into our ethos as a culture, then we will have real leverage again. Until then I advocate to our contractors every chance I get, I use peer pressure to get the slackers at work to perform up at my level.