$15/hr minimum wage- what's it mean to you?

[kevin bingham]

So thats the idea that's it's entry level.. but reality is my neighbor from down the street takes the bus 10 miles to work at a taco bell in the suburbs. and takes another bus to work at a kfc. She puts in 12 hour days everyday not to mention the time it takes to wait for the bus. thankfully, her parents watch her kids who she hardly ever sees. I have never worked fast food but looking at a kitchen during lunch, it does not look like easy work. My neighbor, after busting her ass for 12 hours at two different spots, still has to rely on the government and her family to raide her kids. She is a high school graduate, she does not party or do drugs. She makes it to work on time everyday. I don't understand why that is not valued enough that she cant survive without government assistance.

 

[MasterBlaster]

God bless her.

Please!

 

[sotc]

If she's content to work there and make that, it's her choice. If she wants better, apply for better, even if she fails she can learn why and apply to another. I made less than minimum wage at 12, I hounded this wood stove place till they gave in. They paid me $2.35 a hour twice a week to polish the brass on the stoves, vacuum, clean the bathroom etc. With no drive for more, I bet they'd be glad to pay me that still. Not bashing her, sounds like good work ethic, she should find someone that will train her and be glad to have her in their office

 

[No_Bivy]

So nick....... If I was applying for job at your company with 5 yrs exp on ground.....how much would I earn. How bout as a climber?

My guess is you pay low based on your aversion to raising minimum wage.

Some folks are "stuck" where they are......despite there best work ethic. With no money to re educate themselves how can the expect better?

Side note...when I first started working the pay was 3.25 per hour. Would have been 1983 ish....probably year you were born. I can remember when it went to 5.25. Currently 7.25......no one can survive on that

15 is closer to living wages

 

[kevin bingham]

yeah, she should quit one of her jobs. Bring jer daily pay from 80 to 40. Maybe she could sell her kids. Then she should, rack up some public debt at a community college. Maybe an associates degree in "computer programing" or "architecture". Then, I think she should just go get a job dragging brush for Nick.

 

[kevin bingham]

I imagine Nick pays very well and is adverse to government assistance. The folks at Walmart and taco bell love getting assistance from the tax payers. They don't give full time work so they don't have to give benefits, they get all their employees on the government nipple right off the bat. They even give trainings to their employees on how to do so. I think it's a great idea. and why not. I could totally hire a motivated groundie for minimum wage. I would have people lining out the door for a minimum wage job dragging brush. That's the economy in these parts. Then i woild totally feel like an asshole boss taking advantage of the system. I don't like the idea of someone working for me also having to stand in line at family services applying for a bridge card. Minimum wage should be a living wage.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Minimum wage should be a living wage.

And there you go!

 

[BlackSmith]

So thats the idea that's it's entry level.. but reality is my neighbor from down the street takes the bus 10 miles to work at a taco bell in the suburbs. and takes another bus to work at a kfc. She puts in 12 hour days everyday not to mention the time it takes to wait for the bus. thankfully, her parents watch her kids who she hardly ever sees. I have never worked fast food but looking at a kitchen during lunch, it does not look like easy work. My neighbor, after busting her ass for 12 hours at two different spots, still has to rely on the government and her family to raide her kids. She is a high school graduate, she does not party or do drugs. She makes it to work on time everyday. I don't understand why that is not valued enough that she cant survive without government assistance.

Where's baby daddy...

 

[sotc]

yeah, she should quit one of her jobs. Bring jer daily pay from 80 to 40. Maybe she could sell her kids. Then she should, rack up some public debt at a community college. Maybe an associates degree in "computer programing" or "architecture". Then, I think she should just go get a job dragging brush for Nick.

Not my suggestion, that was all your creativity. My thought was keep applying for better jobs.
What do kids sell for these days anyway?

 

[kevin bingham]

Baby daddy long gone. dead weight most likely, another mouth to feed.

 

[BlackSmith]

Reads like she made all the wrong moves in life and it should be everyone else's problem?

 

[NickfromWI]

My guess is you pay low based on your aversion to raising minimum wage.

lol. quite the opposite. I run my business on slim to non-existent profit margin because we put so much money into the crew. in 2014, 48% of all our expenses went to payroll. Profit margin was somewhere in the 3% range, depending on how you slice it. My first priority is doing what we can do to get our crew the best pay and the best equipment possible.

Minimum wage should be a living wage.

I think that's what this boils down to. I just don't agree with this. Minimum wage, to me, means "this is something until I find a real job."

I wonder what % of americans are only earning minimum wage...

love
nick

 

[stig]

Don't be lazy, Nick.

It only took me one try to find this:

http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2013/ted_20130325.htm

 

[sotc]

Amazing numbers Nick, hats off to you. My philosophy is keep the business healthy, have a cushion and then pay what I can.

I agree with your thoughts on minimum wage.

 

[kevin bingham]

I guess that it's your opinion on what a real job is. Is picking lettuce or strawberries in the hot sun not a real job? Most people I deal with don't consider what I do to be a real job. They think their jobs are so much superior to mine. They can't understand why I would charge them What I want to charge them. They don't understand why I don't pay ourselves less. The thing is that these people that complain couldn't even describe their job in a paragraph or less. What do they even do? What good are they doing anybody. buying and selling people's used car loans? Tthe whole we value people and their time is way distorted.

 

[kevin bingham]

Reads like she made all the wrong moves in life and it should be everyone else's problem?

I think she has done amazingly well with very little. Top quality character. And she serves people food which is something j think people in this day and age feel their entitled to for nothing.

 

[kevin bingham]

Reads like she made all the wrong moves in life and it should be everyone else's problem?

I think she has done amazingly well with very little. Top quality character. And she serves people food which is something j think people in this day and age feel their entitled to for nothing.

 

[No_Bivy]

So what do you pay nick.......are you pay scales secret?

 

[sotc]

I guess that it's your opinion on what a real job is. Is picking lettuce or strawberries in the hot sun not a real job? Most people I deal with don't consider what I do to be a real job. They think their jobs are so much superior to mine. They can't understand why I would charge them What I want to charge them. They don't understand why I don't pay ourselves less. The thing is that these people that complain couldn't even describe their job in a paragraph or less. What do they even do? What good are they doing anybody. buying and selling people's used car loans? Tthe whole we value people and their time is way distorted.

I don't know if this is directed at me or not but i picked strawberries as a kid. Paid by the flat. Not sure what that has to do with anything but maybe you should offer her a job? Answering phones or packing wrenches? I'd bet she or many of her co workers will lose jobs if the min goes to $15.

 

[cory]

So many good ideas and perspectives in this thread. TH is rocking..

 

[FireFighterZero]

What happens when the seasonal fruit job ends? Is that enough work for the year?

It would seem to me that when the labor costs go up, jobs are lost. It has been a great motivator to automate and mechanize.

Make flipping burgers a career and witness a machine that wont forget the pickles.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I think the term over looked here is Entry Level Job. You know the one that is pretty much your first run with a company to prove your worth and work ethic. The place you start to show motivation or while you go to further educate for a future advancement or profession.
It is too big a leap all at once going almost double the minimum wage now.
At 15.00 per hour minimum, plan on only EVER being a part time employee with hardly a bennie. Just saying.

 

[kevin bingham]

I don't think in most places 15$ is a reality. LA maybe because it costs so much to live. But th e minimum wage now is a dollar lower adjusted for inflation than the 60s and 70s. I see both sides of the argument. I would ultimately like to see more people able to buy homes, buy tree work, get educated and be healthy. The less people there are with any means the more it sucks for everyone. The super rich suck to do tree work for and there are so few of them.

 

[NickfromWI]

So what do you pay nick.......are you pay scales secret?

They are not secret. I'd be happy to tell. But you're too hyper focussed on it and it has nothing to do with this conversation. You'll just be like, "oh well I would pay WAY more than that...." No one in my company starts at minimum wage and we are in the upper 5th percentile for pay scale in this industry in this market. Raises are awarded regularly to those who earn them (aka everyone). In fact, my wife and I run the biz together and us combined make less than our top 2 climbers combined. Not only that, we are almost ALWAYS the highest bidding company by a LONG shot...so I know it's not that we are under bidding. We live in a very expensive market. If you go raising minimum wage on it, it's just going to make it that much harder because we DO start people at less than $15/hr.

I think the term over looked here is Entry Level Job....

You nailed- Minimum wage is what entry level workers should get. If 2 years go by and you're still working entry level, you should still get min wage. If you want a $2 hr wage and I could drop you and fill you in with a new guy doing basically the same work...why wouldn't I?

love
nick

 

[MasterBlaster]

I sense a bonding campout for the two of you!