Work Reform

I don't think the negative sentiment for unskilled labor positions getting pay increased that equals skilled labor is out of jealousy but out of the skilled laborer now being undervalued. If I got a pay cut equal to an unskilled position while I'm an engineer, I'd be very unhappy that all my time, learning, and productivity in my field would essentially equal to the same value as a job a fourteen year old can perform. If unskilled labor increases in value, then skilled labor should as well. Why would someone bother trying to waste the 10 years to become a licensed surgeon when he could just move pallets in a warehouse for the same money in this scenario? Some labor is skilled and specialized and therefore rare and valuable. Some labor is dangerous and life-threatening by nature and therefore rare and valuable. Different careers/jobs/positions pay differently for a good reason most of the time. Linemen can die in a flash of light any given day and therefore I think they certainly deserve more than I make because of that because I certainly do not want to do that job. If unskilled jobs became so well paid that it equaled skilled jobs, no one would bother wasting the effort to get the credentials to do the skilled jobs and then we'd be out of engineers, doctors, lawyers, mathematicians, physicists, chemists, oilfield workers, etc.

The fact that they managed to convince the US that people working a fast food job don't deserve a living wage while CEOS are making millions to billions is utterly insane.

If the rising floor makes things cramped, it is time to raise the roof not break the floor.

I'm retired from a union IT job with a college. And now that I've got mine, I will go to the wall to help Gen Z and Alpha get theirs too.

“To succeed is not enough - others must fail.”

(Variously attributed to Gore Vidal and François de La Rochefoucauld)

Anybody that's offended by burger flippers making as much as them should be pointing that anger in the right direction. Towards their employer.

If a bunch of burger flippers started making what I make I would demand a raise. If my raise was denied I'd go get a job as a burger flipper and probably be a lot less stressed out than I am currently.

I don't want more or less than what the fare share of the economy Boomers had back in 60' and 70'.

The health benefits and insurance can be sig ificant portion of pay. The min wage burger flippers likely dont get that, even with laws increasing min wage.

I’m a software developer. My old roomie is a truck driver. I’m devastated he makes almost as much as I do.

He has to drive a truck 5 days a week the entire year, no matter the weather. He deals with accidents, annoying customers, breakdowns, tight spaces, heavy goods. Workdays often drag out, and sometimes he didn’t manage to get home and had to sleep in the truck or at a motel. People are dependant on his work, if his truck doesn’t arrive, a store might not get food, and the attached community will suffer. He takes half an hour to commute to work.

I work from home. I have a few set meetings daily, but I schedule my time on my own. Three times a week I take some extra time to go for a run through the forest with my dog. I’m safe, my bed is always nearby. My commute is the thirty seconds it takes to crawl into clothes and to my office. If I miss my work we at worst have to delay a product launch by a little.

I’m happy with my pay, no doubt, and I wouldn’t want a pay cut. My friend deserves much more though. It’s bananas to me that he doesn’t catch up with me despite all the overtime and such. It’s incredibly unfair.

My thing is I don't want to be on top. I want to live in a society where I can be on the bottom and have a good life.

When the minimum wage was instituted, the intention was one full-time worker would be able to support the family of four suburban lifestyle. They've been gaslighting us for a long time.

And the union would have more justification for negotiating a new even higher wage then they currently have.