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28 Brilliant Comebacks People Had To These Dumb Reasons Why Some People Don’t Want The Minimum Wage Raised In The US
For those living in a metropolitan city, $7.25 may feel like a small snack and a drink at best, but for many Americans, this is the reality of the federal minimum hourly wage.
The amount has been exactly the same since 2009, so no wonder that boosting it to $15/h became one of the Biden administration’s priorities. "No one should work 40 hours a week and live in poverty," he announced previously.
But right now, Biden is facing resistance in Congress as he acknowledged that the proposal will likely have to be omitted from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus financial relief plan. And while raising the wage would reduce the number of people in poverty and increase the pay for 27M workers, it will likely increase the federal budget deficit.
Many Americans are feeling cheerful about the prospect, but some are less than impressed. Armed with somewhat questionable arguments, the critics took it to Twitter to share why they don’t want the long-awaited increase of average minimum pay to happen.
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Wait, so you mean if someone works every waking minute then that should give them enough money to afford the basic necessities of life? That’s insanity!! /s 🙄
Yep, my great grandfather was a shoe salesman after he returned home from the war, until he retired in the '70's...was able to buy a home, a car, and provide a comfortably middle class life for his four kids, and stay at home wife. There is absolutely no reason why that can't be the case today. People working 40 hours a week shouldn't live below the poverty line. The system is disgraceful, and the "powers that be" who refuse to acknowledge that, should be ashamed of themselves. This cannot continue if there's any hope of this country surviving.
This is so inaccurate; "FLSA was a comprehensive federal scheme which provided for minimum wages, overtime pay, record keeping requirements, and child labor regulations. The purpose of the minimum wage was to stabilize the post-depression economy and protect the workers in the labor force. The minimum wage was designed to create a minimum standard of living to protect the health and well-being of employees." #FACTS
Nope not set up for you to live good. It was set up to.....The purpose of a living wage is to make sure that all full-time workers have enough money to live above the federal poverty level. The minimum wage is the wage mandated by law, to keep employees above the poverty level in their area. However, the minimum wage is simply not enough to provide one with the means to live.
The system absolutely SHOULD be broken. It only works for the privileged few.
I thought it was actually to support a family of 3 at poverty level. I don't recall home ownership being part of it. At the current federally established poverty level, that would be $22K a year, about $11/hr. However, that does seem incredibly low. I'm not sure how many places in the US a family could actually afford rent on that.
The first minimum wage was .25 cents an hour, or 4.64 cents an hour adjusted for inflation, so I call B.S.
But a lot of those jobs I did in high school. I wasn’t going to buy a house at 16. I don’t understand this I really don’t sorry.
That's not true at all. Most of the checkers/baggers/fast food workers in my area are adults. The only reason stores and restaurants put them as part time employees is so they don't have to pay them benefits.
Load More Replies...The federal minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour and it has stayed the same since 2009, making it an unlivable income in most parts of the US. In late January, Democrats introduced the Raise the Wage Act of 2021, which would gradually increase the federal minimum wage from $7.25 to $15 by 2025.
But the White House acquiesced to a Senate parliamentarian's ruling that a minimum wage increase to $15 an hour could not be included in the Covid-19 relief bill working through Congress. Meanwhile, President Joe Biden, on whom 27M workers rely right now, promised to not give up and try again.
Vermont also Sen. Bernie Sanders stated on Friday: “If anybody thinks that we're giving up on this issue, they are sorely mistaken," and added: "If we have to vote on it time and time again, we will and we're going to succeed. The American people understand that we cannot continue to have millions of people working for starvation wages."
Traditionally, the divide in Washington has been seen between labor and its Democratic allies, and business and its Republican allies. However, according to NBCNews, this time, the minimum wage fight is now “divided into three camps, none of which neatly conform to expected ideological or business groupings: There are those who support a full $15 minimum wage, those opposed to raising the wage at all and a large group in the middle open to raising the minimum to, say, $10 an hour but not all the way to $15.”
Meanwhile, various polls have been showing that a majority of Americans support raising the minimum wage. And while others are waiting for a nationwide decision, a number of cities and states have already lifted the floors of their own wage to $15.
Seven states (Alaska, Florida, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, South Dakota, and Vermont) automatically increased their rates based on the cost of living and 14 states (Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, and Washington) increased their rates due to previously approved legislation or ballot initiatives.
Value is created when people stop being complicit with those who exploit.
Moreover, Florida voters approved Amendment 2, raising the state minimum wage to $15.00 per hour by 2026. The amendment raises the minimum wage to $10.00 per hour effective September 2021, with a continuing annual increase until reaching $15.00 per hour.
It’s funny how so many toss teens under the bus with labor, but do the math: college is extremely expensive and to pay tuition at the uni I work at you need 83 hours a week all summer. In 1980 you could pay tuition in 20 hours a week all summer. Many Americans are cobbling together a life on 2-4 of these jobs that for some reason were vital during the pandemic, but not valuable enough to pay adequately.
Bettie Douglas, a cashier at Which Wich Superior Sandwiches in St. Louis, Missouri who makes $10 an hour, told CNN that her salary barely covers rent, bills, and food.
She commented: "I deserve a liveable wage. Anyone who works deserves to take care of their families, feed their families, pay their bills, afford the necessities of life. I'm not asking for a handout, I'm working as much as I can. $10 is just not making it, and $15 isn't going to really make it either but at least it'll help."
lets count the ways Ned messed up here... I have; 1/ Australia isn't in Europe; 2/ they don't use Euros; 3/ if their currency is higher that makes a "European" $20 even more then an American $20, meaning the Aussies would be paid more then US$20/hr; 4/ this guy is the one that needs to learn. Not bad for just 26 words.
Minimum wage debate. Blue responded to the “just get a better job” argument by comparing it normal people being expected to just play in the NFL if they wanted a better job despite their mental or physical limitations.
"Just get a better job". Fine, let those w minimum wages all just quit and get better jobs. Then there's no movie theaters, no burger joints, no public restrooms and what not. How is this even a discussion? Especially in the states where EVERYTHING costs 😱
The amount of people in the US that are against other US citizens making a living wage is shocking... Instead of fighting to keep your neighbors wages low why not fight to increase your own? If you are upset that you went to school for years and now make the same as someone that didn't you need to fight to increase the wage in your field, not fight to keep yours the same and someone elses lower.
It's the same people that don't want universal healthcare even if it means lowing the cost of healthcare for everyone -- I don't know when Americans started hating other Americans so much that they'll vote down any measure that helps everyone because they think someone might get some advantage from it without "earning" it.
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The mentality of 'I don't want to see someone doing well for themselves' regarding wages and healthcare in USA is disturbing...
well, they loves to see people suffer while they think they are better. when, in fact they are so stupid and arrogant
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And the thing is, more poor people making more money is so much better for the economy. Think about it -- what creates more jobs, one billionaire buying a Ferrari or 40 ordinary people buying Chevy Sparks?
" Communist! ". It's a joke of course, i totally agree but dumb antisocialists would say it.
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Why are so many americans against anything that could give their fellow citizens a decent life? Minimum wage and "free" healthcare. Why is it so bad to have?
Because Americans are (or were) brought up to believe that they could be a success on their own merit, by doing the hard work themselves. Somewhere along the lines this came to also mean that to be a success it was ONLY on their own merit and by doing the hard work themselves. So if someone becomes a success with a helping hand, they "cheated" somehow, and that's not fair. Of course, this massively overlooks the significance that luck (bad and good) and privilege plays in the part of the success AND the merit.
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A $15/hr minimum means teenagers could afford college more easily. Wow, that's a tragedy... Oh wait, yes, for some people, it is. Wouldn't want the kiddos learning how to think and get an education, would they? (Yes, I'm in favor of the living wage. Alawys have been. Why? Because I've had to live at the so-called "it's fine" wage. If you need three jobs to afford a rathole apartment with ramen noodle dinners... Something is wrong, but it's not your work ethic!)
Proper education would probably destroy the Republican Party. We all know it.
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I don't think the argument is really about the value of work. It's about the value of people, and those against a livable minimum wage just don't value the people doing menial work — work they wouldn't want to do themselves.
You can have an opinion about the societal division of welfare, but before you make economic arguments get a basic understanding how macroeconomics work. Besides, societies with a low gini coefficient (measuring income inequality, lower is more equal) tend to be much happier. This includes those at the top end of the income!
Seriously, there are many things from Europe, from which they can learn and just copy, like healthcare systems, school systems, minimum wages, insurances etc. But noooo, this is "socialism". This is the prove as well, how stupid they look at things... Biggest problem can be, that they feel soooo entitled for whatever. In Slovakia we have proverb about this, in free translation: there is no help for somebody, who can't take any advice...
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The teen argument never makes sense to me because on one hand you're complaining about a type of worker that a large majority of the time isn't working 40 hours a week, so they're not getting a career out of it in that moment. Secondly, you don't want teens to make a livable wage, but you also don't want college to be free or at least dramatically cheaper because it's our fault for being victims to predatory loans. Thus, you want nothing to change, you want everything to stay as is, wherein people live in poverty in one of the richest countries in the world, and the college debt crisis continues because no one can outright afford it if they aren't at least somewhat wealthy. Yeah, remind me to never pick you to lead anything as you clearly have zero leaderships skills.
What I don't understand, what do these people think the others do with more money? They won't burn it but buy stuff. Cars, clothes, services etc. So a lot of the complainers would make more money if their customers would earn more money. Are they idiots?
I have a great real-world example for you: My employer purchases a wire assembly for use in our products. We pay the assembler $1.64/ea. The components for this assembly cost $0.54/ea. I figure that with the right tools, someone who is experienced and has good muscle-memory for the task could assemble 180pcs/hr. Assuming they make $9/hr, the labor cost is $0.05/ea. The rest is overhead, shipping, taxes, scrap %, and profit margin for the company. If that worker were suddenly paid $15/hr instead, the labor cost would rise to an unfathomable $0.083/ea. Meaning my wire assembly would cost $1.68. Four cents will not break the bank for us.
I don't! Understand! Why this is such a big deal to some people! Just let the minimum wage be $15. To (poorly)quote one of the posts, "If people being able to live properly breaks the system, then it deserves to be broken"
Too bad these asshats will probably never see the excellent comments from all you BPs.
Tax payers supplement all this corporate welfare when the employees of these multi-billion dollar companies (who don't pay taxes) end up having to apply for food stamps when their full-time job doesn't pay enough. Not to mention the cost of healthcare for people who can't afford it. We work for these corporations that are making unheard of profits and somehow those profits are not reflective of what the compensation for the labor that produced those profits should be? If Amazon is making so much money then they sure as hell can afford to not have a serious accident rate that is 3 times higher than the industry average. Labor should be compensated! This bullshit needs to stop and they need to stop arguing about raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and set it as a living wage which would be $16.54 per hour. The minimum wage should be set at a living wage and be adjusted yearly based on what the calculated living wage is.
People are talking about it like it was "free money". Those people are working. They deserve to be paid for it. "But people with degrees earn less". They are sub paid too.
I can't understand why people are bothered with minimum wages above the standard of " Too much to die, to little to live." I often read comments from Americans in the line of "Why should a cashier make the same amount as a technician? " and all I can think is: "WTF, dude? How is it your concern or affecting your life if a cashier would make the same or more than a technician? It's none of your business how much other people get paid."
The rich bitches at the top want us lower/middle class peons to bicker over a few dollars. It is very hard for my husband and I to have a place and raise our son properly, and we have well paying jobs. I cannot even imagine how others have to do this on minimum wage. If I have to pay more for my burgers and groceries to help a fellow human, I am all for it.
Number 26 is a parody account. The people who take Ned seriously are the morons.
Don't take a minimum wage paying job if you don't want minimum wage. When I was 16, minimum wage was $3.35. I made $6. If you are worth it, you can get better money.
You do realize that everyone has a different life from one another? Just because you were able to find a job like that does not mean everyone would be able to. If you're trying to survive you don't always have the time to go and hunt for a better job, because you're working over time at your current job to keep a roof over your damned head.
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the sad reality is that the closer we get to a $15 min wage, the more automation companies adopt to replace people to do those $15/hour jobs. I lived in Asia for 10 years and most fast food places, movie theaters, coffee chains had already adopted a fully automated system...literally a line of touch screens to order and pay with maybe 3-5 people behind the counter cooking and handing you your order and take $ if you happen to be paying in cash. I see that becoming the norm in the not too distant future and most of the $15/hour jobs slowly disappearing.
Weird how all the countries with such minimum wages don't have that.
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And this is how you create a large population of serfs for the ruling oligarchs. You divide the peasants into "us" then "them". If the people are busy fighting for scraps and cannot align themselves for mutually beneficial change, at the expense of the overlords, then those changes will never come to pass.
ALL government workers should be at this "minimum wage" level -- democrats, republicans, president, treasury . . . EVERYONE! It's easy for anyone earning more to deny someone else. Isn't this also tied to "Full time/40 hr work week"? That means anyone working 39 1/2 hours is considered "Part Time" and is not included in this American Ideal. For all the perks of being a government worker, they should only have what they have offered others. And while we're at it -- take away their parking spaces and private offices. And there better be a report accounting for their time and what they do, posted on the internet for EVERYONE to see, including their fellow employees. In this day and age of communication, there should be NO SECRETS between American Citizens and their elected government!
I wish it would go up. We have a 19 YO living at home because she can not afford to move out. Even a studio apt in the worst part of town is close to 1k a month. Then her car payment, insurance, food, utilities etc. Wages NEED to be raised or our children are going to live at home or with roommates for the rest of their lives. Hell I'm an adult who has had their career for FIFTEEN years. I have had one raise in FIFTEEN years (minus a few promotions that I had to test for, go through a rigorous oral board panel for and beat out many others vying for the SAME position) And God forbid if something happened to my other half, there's no way I could afford to live by myself and that's WITH making 28 an hour. Cost of living (especially in my state) is beyond ridiculous.
I think we should reduce the cost of things and then let’s see how that goes first before we just jump on the give everyone more money bandwagon. I know I have an unpopular opinion on this matter, but simply economics state if the cost of labor goes up then that means the cost of everything else goes up too. I just don’t think it’s a good solution. Even at $15 an hour affording a house is next to impossible unless you have no debt at all.
Cost have been going up anyway without wages going up.
Load More Replies... The problem is that if you have minimum wage,the prices could go up.And that wouldn't affect the rich as much as it would the poor.Not saying i am totally against it,i am just saying that that could backfire in some cases
But prices have been going up anyway without minimum wages going up. Which puts working people into poverty. And prices will always be going up so the wages need to follow so people can live decently.
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That’s a lie. There’s no “better solution” to paying a living wage consistent with production other than to pay it.
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That really is a problem. The skilled workers should advocate to make more. 'My wages aren't increasing so yours shouldn't either' is a terrible rationale. People should not live in poverty to placate a skilled worker's ego. Those living in poverty are not the enemy here.
Load More Replies... The amount of people in the US that are against other US citizens making a living wage is shocking... Instead of fighting to keep your neighbors wages low why not fight to increase your own? If you are upset that you went to school for years and now make the same as someone that didn't you need to fight to increase the wage in your field, not fight to keep yours the same and someone elses lower.
It's the same people that don't want universal healthcare even if it means lowing the cost of healthcare for everyone -- I don't know when Americans started hating other Americans so much that they'll vote down any measure that helps everyone because they think someone might get some advantage from it without "earning" it.
Load More Replies... The mentality of 'I don't want to see someone doing well for themselves' regarding wages and healthcare in USA is disturbing...
well, they loves to see people suffer while they think they are better. when, in fact they are so stupid and arrogant
Load More Replies... And the thing is, more poor people making more money is so much better for the economy. Think about it -- what creates more jobs, one billionaire buying a Ferrari or 40 ordinary people buying Chevy Sparks?
" Communist! ". It's a joke of course, i totally agree but dumb antisocialists would say it.
Load More Replies... Why are so many americans against anything that could give their fellow citizens a decent life? Minimum wage and "free" healthcare. Why is it so bad to have?
Because Americans are (or were) brought up to believe that they could be a success on their own merit, by doing the hard work themselves. Somewhere along the lines this came to also mean that to be a success it was ONLY on their own merit and by doing the hard work themselves. So if someone becomes a success with a helping hand, they "cheated" somehow, and that's not fair. Of course, this massively overlooks the significance that luck (bad and good) and privilege plays in the part of the success AND the merit.
Load More Replies... A $15/hr minimum means teenagers could afford college more easily. Wow, that's a tragedy... Oh wait, yes, for some people, it is. Wouldn't want the kiddos learning how to think and get an education, would they? (Yes, I'm in favor of the living wage. Alawys have been. Why? Because I've had to live at the so-called "it's fine" wage. If you need three jobs to afford a rathole apartment with ramen noodle dinners... Something is wrong, but it's not your work ethic!)
Proper education would probably destroy the Republican Party. We all know it.
Load More Replies... I don't think the argument is really about the value of work. It's about the value of people, and those against a livable minimum wage just don't value the people doing menial work — work they wouldn't want to do themselves.
You can have an opinion about the societal division of welfare, but before you make economic arguments get a basic understanding how macroeconomics work. Besides, societies with a low gini coefficient (measuring income inequality, lower is more equal) tend to be much happier. This includes those at the top end of the income!
Seriously, there are many things from Europe, from which they can learn and just copy, like healthcare systems, school systems, minimum wages, insurances etc. But noooo, this is "socialism". This is the prove as well, how stupid they look at things... Biggest problem can be, that they feel soooo entitled for whatever. In Slovakia we have proverb about this, in free translation: there is no help for somebody, who can't take any advice...
Load More Replies... The teen argument never makes sense to me because on one hand you're complaining about a type of worker that a large majority of the time isn't working 40 hours a week, so they're not getting a career out of it in that moment. Secondly, you don't want teens to make a livable wage, but you also don't want college to be free or at least dramatically cheaper because it's our fault for being victims to predatory loans. Thus, you want nothing to change, you want everything to stay as is, wherein people live in poverty in one of the richest countries in the world, and the college debt crisis continues because no one can outright afford it if they aren't at least somewhat wealthy. Yeah, remind me to never pick you to lead anything as you clearly have zero leaderships skills.
What I don't understand, what do these people think the others do with more money? They won't burn it but buy stuff. Cars, clothes, services etc. So a lot of the complainers would make more money if their customers would earn more money. Are they idiots?
I have a great real-world example for you: My employer purchases a wire assembly for use in our products. We pay the assembler $1.64/ea. The components for this assembly cost $0.54/ea. I figure that with the right tools, someone who is experienced and has good muscle-memory for the task could assemble 180pcs/hr. Assuming they make $9/hr, the labor cost is $0.05/ea. The rest is overhead, shipping, taxes, scrap %, and profit margin for the company. If that worker were suddenly paid $15/hr instead, the labor cost would rise to an unfathomable $0.083/ea. Meaning my wire assembly would cost $1.68. Four cents will not break the bank for us.
I don't! Understand! Why this is such a big deal to some people! Just let the minimum wage be $15. To (poorly)quote one of the posts, "If people being able to live properly breaks the system, then it deserves to be broken"
Too bad these asshats will probably never see the excellent comments from all you BPs.
Tax payers supplement all this corporate welfare when the employees of these multi-billion dollar companies (who don't pay taxes) end up having to apply for food stamps when their full-time job doesn't pay enough. Not to mention the cost of healthcare for people who can't afford it. We work for these corporations that are making unheard of profits and somehow those profits are not reflective of what the compensation for the labor that produced those profits should be? If Amazon is making so much money then they sure as hell can afford to not have a serious accident rate that is 3 times higher than the industry average. Labor should be compensated! This bullshit needs to stop and they need to stop arguing about raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour and set it as a living wage which would be $16.54 per hour. The minimum wage should be set at a living wage and be adjusted yearly based on what the calculated living wage is.
People are talking about it like it was "free money". Those people are working. They deserve to be paid for it. "But people with degrees earn less". They are sub paid too.
I can't understand why people are bothered with minimum wages above the standard of " Too much to die, to little to live." I often read comments from Americans in the line of "Why should a cashier make the same amount as a technician? " and all I can think is: "WTF, dude? How is it your concern or affecting your life if a cashier would make the same or more than a technician? It's none of your business how much other people get paid."
The rich bitches at the top want us lower/middle class peons to bicker over a few dollars. It is very hard for my husband and I to have a place and raise our son properly, and we have well paying jobs. I cannot even imagine how others have to do this on minimum wage. If I have to pay more for my burgers and groceries to help a fellow human, I am all for it.
Number 26 is a parody account. The people who take Ned seriously are the morons.
Don't take a minimum wage paying job if you don't want minimum wage. When I was 16, minimum wage was $3.35. I made $6. If you are worth it, you can get better money.
You do realize that everyone has a different life from one another? Just because you were able to find a job like that does not mean everyone would be able to. If you're trying to survive you don't always have the time to go and hunt for a better job, because you're working over time at your current job to keep a roof over your damned head.
Load More Replies... the sad reality is that the closer we get to a $15 min wage, the more automation companies adopt to replace people to do those $15/hour jobs. I lived in Asia for 10 years and most fast food places, movie theaters, coffee chains had already adopted a fully automated system...literally a line of touch screens to order and pay with maybe 3-5 people behind the counter cooking and handing you your order and take $ if you happen to be paying in cash. I see that becoming the norm in the not too distant future and most of the $15/hour jobs slowly disappearing.
Weird how all the countries with such minimum wages don't have that.
Load More Replies... And this is how you create a large population of serfs for the ruling oligarchs. You divide the peasants into "us" then "them". If the people are busy fighting for scraps and cannot align themselves for mutually beneficial change, at the expense of the overlords, then those changes will never come to pass.
ALL government workers should be at this "minimum wage" level -- democrats, republicans, president, treasury . . . EVERYONE! It's easy for anyone earning more to deny someone else. Isn't this also tied to "Full time/40 hr work week"? That means anyone working 39 1/2 hours is considered "Part Time" and is not included in this American Ideal. For all the perks of being a government worker, they should only have what they have offered others. And while we're at it -- take away their parking spaces and private offices. And there better be a report accounting for their time and what they do, posted on the internet for EVERYONE to see, including their fellow employees. In this day and age of communication, there should be NO SECRETS between American Citizens and their elected government!
I wish it would go up. We have a 19 YO living at home because she can not afford to move out. Even a studio apt in the worst part of town is close to 1k a month. Then her car payment, insurance, food, utilities etc. Wages NEED to be raised or our children are going to live at home or with roommates for the rest of their lives. Hell I'm an adult who has had their career for FIFTEEN years. I have had one raise in FIFTEEN years (minus a few promotions that I had to test for, go through a rigorous oral board panel for and beat out many others vying for the SAME position) And God forbid if something happened to my other half, there's no way I could afford to live by myself and that's WITH making 28 an hour. Cost of living (especially in my state) is beyond ridiculous.
I think we should reduce the cost of things and then let’s see how that goes first before we just jump on the give everyone more money bandwagon. I know I have an unpopular opinion on this matter, but simply economics state if the cost of labor goes up then that means the cost of everything else goes up too. I just don’t think it’s a good solution. Even at $15 an hour affording a house is next to impossible unless you have no debt at all.
Cost have been going up anyway without wages going up.
Load More Replies... The problem is that if you have minimum wage,the prices could go up.And that wouldn't affect the rich as much as it would the poor.Not saying i am totally against it,i am just saying that that could backfire in some cases
But prices have been going up anyway without minimum wages going up. Which puts working people into poverty. And prices will always be going up so the wages need to follow so people can live decently.
Load More Replies... That’s a lie. There’s no “better solution” to paying a living wage consistent with production other than to pay it.
Load More Replies... That really is a problem. The skilled workers should advocate to make more. 'My wages aren't increasing so yours shouldn't either' is a terrible rationale. People should not live in poverty to placate a skilled worker's ego. Those living in poverty are not the enemy here.
Load More Replies...