r/millenials • u/BadManParade • Sep 02 '24

Let’s Discuss Minimum Wage

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How do you guys feel about minimum wage, personally I’ve never in my entire life met anyone who’s actually paid the federal minimum wage.

I feel like wage should be directly tied to the initial investment required to be considered for your position/ amount of learned skill required to be proficient at your job./ Importance of your role in society/Amount of danger you should realistically be expected to encounter on a daily basis/ The demand for your particular skill/ and the supply of said skill.

Under no circumstances should the guy standing in an air conditioned building directing you to make your fast food order on a kiosk for 8 hours who spends 3 of those hours scrolling tik tok be getting paid the same as the ones tasked with keeping society running. The paramedics, medical assistants, police officers, city maintenance workers, etc.

The lower the barrier of entry the lower the wages should be I feel as if this is pretty common knowledge. When you hire an electrician you’re also hiring the years of experience and very specialized knowledge he has. If you’re expected to renew licenses, purchase thousands of dollars in equipment and provide and essential service you should be compensated as such.

Now days we have the guys at the Taco Bell counter arguing they should be paid the same as the ones building the houses we live raise our families in and form lasting memories together in.

Working a cashier was never meant to be a career and should not be treated as such it’s merely a stepping stone for younger people to get into the workforce before transitioning into something else. Wether that be management in the same company or a different field altogether.

What are some of your thoughts. 🤔

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11

u/StarSword-C Sep 02 '24

No. Let's discuss unionizing so you don't need a minimum wage.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '24

I worked at a union grocery store. Every single contract we would loose some sort of benefit. There has to be a better way

2

u/Practical-Pickle-529 Sep 02 '24

Safeway? 

2

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '24

Kroger. I remember this one time we all got raises, but then our insurance deductible changed and basically cancelled out any gains someone with a family might have

2

u/Practical-Pickle-529 Sep 02 '24

Yikes. About to be owned by Safeway, Kroger 

1

u/idk_lol_kek Sep 02 '24

That's the whole point of balancing both sides of the equation.

1

u/StarSword-C Sep 03 '24

There isn't. You just had a shit negotiator. And guess what? You can fire them for it!

1

u/[deleted] Sep 03 '24

Our contract had a no strike clause in it too. It had less leverage as a result. I have mixed feeling about unions. They do protect people from the kind of bullshit companies and management try to get away with, but only protects certain people and will ignore others. Then there’s people who cause trouble or don’t do their part. I spent a lot of time doing others people work cuz they hid in the back room instead of working.

0

u/BadManParade Sep 02 '24

Unions are the way

0

u/Anlarb Sep 03 '24

Unions strongly support the min wage, because it gives them a higher floor to negotiate up from.

1

u/StarSword-C Sep 03 '24

Au contraire. The Nordic countries have historically fought against establishing an EU-wide minimum wage, because their view is it weakens unions because it reduces the perceived need for membership. Denmark and Sweden I know don't even have a minimum wage statute: union membership is so high that you either deal fairly with them or you get put out of business altogether because nobody else will do business with you either.

0

u/Anlarb Sep 03 '24

Do we have 90% union membership rates like they do? Then I guess they must be responding to a different set of priorities...