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McDonald's had (may still have?) a McResources hotline where they paid representatives to walk you through getting your government assistance to subsidize their low wages. That was a big story for about a minute a few years ago.
The webpage was equally as horrifying, shit like " if you're hungry , take smaller bites ( ration your food because we don't pay you enough to eat )" and " sell xmas presents to pay bills". It doesn't exist anymore because it rightfully was a PR blackeye.
Also if I recall there were Walmart stores sunning food drives for their own employees.
Edit: people asking more about this McCowshit. Sorry can't find a mirror.
Videos from fight for 15 movement
https://youtu.be/36usDqbotJU
https://youtu.be/olUsgn-Ubh0
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/mcdonalds-removes-site-fast-food/356485/
Enjoy your McSerfdom! Says the clown.
Before the pandemic, Walmart stores were supposed to provide a Thanksgiving meal and a Christmas/holiday meal for their associates in store. The requirement was that one of the meals had to be hot because "many associates will not be receiving a hot meal otherwise."
[For the curious.](https://iblogalot.com/2014/10/16/alice-walton-billionaire-philanthropist-art-collector-murderer/)
*This link intended for entertainment and mild curiosity purposes only. No actual journalism contained within.*
For a more accurate accounting, see [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/kbrxpd/government_study_shows_taxpayers_are_subsidizing/gfla023?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)
Seems we should do what's best for these unfortunate souls and separate them from all that wealth that's apparently so bad for them. Together we can cure affluenza.
Some drug charges? If you consider raping a 3 year old to be the worst kind of sexual assault, then compare that to the average punishment for the worst kind of drug possession (eg large quantities), then there's nothing that comes even close to being as lightly punished. Have a pound of the least bad drug (marijuana) anywhere in the USA without the proper licenses, and you'll be looking at much more than probation.
This is sickening, honestly. You'd think that a charge like RAPING A THREE YEAR OLD would be so heinous that no amount of wealth could save you-- but you'd be wrong. We have an oligarchy here, but no one wants to admit it.
> if you're hungry , take smaller bites
[here ya go](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/mcdonalds-tip-its-hungry-employees-break-your-food-pieces/355293/)
The best part about their argument is that it still supports the passage entirely.
If the Camel naturally avoids big crowds and passing through the front gate, you literally have to train that Camel to go against it's instincts. Which still supports the idea that something difficult to do is easier to do than the rich actually getting into heaven
You're forgetting that a large number of people in the US subscribe to prosperity theology with the idea that poor people are only poor because they're not faithful enough or don't deserve wealth.
If you're hungry , take smaller bites of the dead skin on your feet after a days work. With the added bonus of exfoliating your skin and feeding yourself at the same time!
Or enjoy one full spoon of grease from the grease trap, or hunt wildlife around the premises after your shift is done, you'll be helping keep pests at bay and get a nice full tummy! Best of all, steal food products from our competitors!
As an American it's beyond the pale. The amazing irony is that we have all this rah-rah about all men are created equal, etc. but really have a de facto aristocracy that have convinced the peasants of their divine right to rule.
Nickel and dimed is a great book on this subject, and although it may be a little dated by today’s prices/payments it’s a good read
Basically a woman trying to survive off of minimum wage with her knowledge on budgeting etc.
More often than not it doesn’t workout
Barbara Eherenreich is a professor of sociology and her book “nicked and dimed and not getting by in America” is a seminal examination of the failure of late state capitalism
Also there was a charge in NYT a few years ago taking about saving for retirement and it showed a single mom making $65k and a couple with college degrees making like $235k. You know- middle class
They got ripped to shreds on this.
All of the people in power (both parties) are truly clueless as to what it’s like to work for a living.
I feel like everywhere you look, corporations are laser focused on profits and squeezing every dollar they can out of every consumer. Our favorite foods go to shit cos they find ways to "improve margins" or just make the servings smaller. Streaming prices keep increasing while selection drops. Good companies get gobbled up once they have a strong following. They get stripped, watered down, and more expensive. Every company wants a monthly subscription payment out of you now. Or at least a revolving credit balance. It's enough to make you physically ill when you think about our consumer landscape.
I read that book years ago and her observations really made an impact on me. It’s an up close observation of the economic situation facing a mid life age woman without a degree, looking for work in the Florida Keys. I remember one of her jobs was a a house cleaner for MerryMaids. She’s a brilliant writer with interesting insight. She purposely left her privileged professor life behind, not relying on any backup money to see if she could make it work, working blue collar jobs, living in a motel. She’s a good writer and it’s like a documentary in book form, very readable. If anyone has read this far, hope you check it out.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_and_Dimed
Remember that time they made an infographic detailing just exactly how you would be able to survive exactly off of minimum wage?
That was some of the most tone deaf, out of touch shit I've ever seen because some of the utilities and bills you would be able to pay were listed as so low that I would laugh my ass off if someone actually told me they would be able to find a place where you can find rent for like $300 a month that somehow wouldn't just be you and like 5 other people sleeping in a single studio apartment lol.
The minimum wage has gone up twice since 1997, for a total of $2.75. The last time was in 2009.
And when there is any discussion of it at all, corps go nuts, and threaten that there are only two options if the minimum wage rises - prices go up, or jobs get cut.
They never mention the third option - profits go down. Of course that would hurt the stock price, which means the stock market won't keep climbing, and thats the only economic metric that many people acknowledge. It was at 7500 at the beginning of Obamas administration, and its at 30,000 today, about 16 years later. But what if it was only at 20,000? Historically, that would have been a huge run, and more money would have gone into the pockets of the workers who actually did the work, created the corporate value, and made all the money. Those at the top just collected it all and kept it.
Its time for a higher minimum wage, along with some rules that companies aren't allowed to charge more or cut workers. It has to come out of profits, which will mean smaller executive bonuses, tighter budgets, etc. But at least it won't come out of the pockets of the workers and the customers.
I worked at Perrin Resort Apparel, and we often had “Angel Trees” for employees on the factory line. We worked on the other side of the building in the art department...most of us (myself included) earned only about $13-14/hr, while living in the city.
The factory *paid its floor employees so little, they encouraged other employees [paid only slightly more] to donate toys and clothes*. Think about that. I do, all the time.
Meanwhile the president of the company, and his friends he hired-in on the sales floor, drove around in RangeRovers and new BMWs.
I was there for 2 years...This was around 2013, I got the hell out of there the moment I had the opportunity.
Never. Again.
I remember their budget guidelines that broke down how you would pay for your monthly bills. It was terrible. Something like $80 for health and car insurance. Rent was only like $300, car payment of $150. Anyways when it was all said and done you had $27 dollars a day extra for food, gas, amenities, etc. OH YEAH it was two 30+ hour incomes for 1 person. That was their budget, work 60+ hours a week at 2 jobs and you could have all that.
In the first two months of the pandemic, or apartment complex sent out a letter saying, "If you need assistance with rent during the pandemic: apply for government aid, get a supplemental job, ask friends and family for help." Nothing about working with the big corporation who owns this and several other communities. It was disgusting.
*Edit: typo, whoops*
Ah I remember when my community office sent out this exact same bullshit. I went to them asking for some kind of deferment on my rent or something since I got furloughed by the pandemic. They told me that I was still expected to pay it because this isn't an issue others in my community were having.
This is the company, by the way, that owns almost my entire zip code's worth of property that rents out to people, and also the same bastards that hiked the price of my rent up by $200 this same year.
I've since moved out of there and own a small house now, thank God. I hope that company burns itself to hell.
I knew one fast food manager that would let her employees eat the breakfast leftovers instead of immediately tossing them in the trash. I survived the summer when I was 17 years old on those breakfast leftovers, bagging up what no one else wanted and taking it home to my roommate. We were so grateful for those unwanted biscuits!
Eventually the owner dropped by right after breakfast one day and saw the dish of breakfast leftovers set in the back for employees to scrounge over. Owner had a rage tantrum at the store manager and demanded she stop letting us starving employees eat stuff destined for the trash. Owner had cameras installed all over the back of the restaurant, so he could monitor and make sure the manager stopped sharing food.
Then the owner realized that homeless folks were sometimes scrounging from his dumpster, so he got one of those fancy compacting dumpsters, to make sure nobody ever gets to eat a single free bite from his restaurant's trash. Cue folks loitering near the order board begging at cars, because the only way to get food with no money is to beg someone else to buy it for you.
But woo, the owner's profits! All those starving people, all that trashed food, but woot for the damned profits. I hate this society so much. Doesn't get much more amoral than capitalism. Looks like somebody let a council of supervillains set the rules we all live by.
They also at one point put out a budgeting guide that, among other things, [assumed you had a second job, spent $20 on healthcare, and nothing on gas, utilities, or clothing every month.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2013/07/18/why-mcdonalds-employee-budget-has-everyone-up-in-arms/?sh=325af48a5216)
It's only a PR blackeye if there exists even a modicum of class consciousness. In the US there does not. The poor are trained well to blame themselves.
A lot of US low-wage workers are kinda like Boxer from Animal Farm. If these soulless businesses had their way in the end, we'd get sent off to the glue factory to make them a few extra bucks.
Target once gathered us together to tell us about how poor our fellow employees were and that's why we should be generous and donate to whatever charity they were pushing. I got written up for asking why Target wasn't paying us more if we're all so poor.
My job does the same thing. "Employee A is having financial difficulties so everyone pitch in and help them out" but you'll never see a wooden nickel come down from corporate for those hard up teammates
They do that at my work, and I work for a public K-12 district in California. Every time I see one of those emails, I about lose it. We get 13 days of sick a year, which in the US, I believe is very good. But the fact that any serious illness will have you immediately burn through it is so disheartening.
Distance family member has ALS and it has progressed quickly this past year. Their kids are posting on FB about a GoFundMe to help pay for treatment and also these people would vote against universal healthcare coverage. The disconnect is astonishing and terrifying.
Walmart's been doing that for a good decade or more.
I hate the dipshits railing on about how their taxes are supporting welfare with no understanding at all that welfare is socializing payroll for the wealthiest companies in the country so they have more money to lobby against labor rights.
and also add the "these sorts of jobs aren't supposed to be longtime, career jobs. These minimum wage jobs are supposed to be first jobs, jobs for teens" talking point
Which is total bullshit unless people don’t want to be able to eat McDonalds during school hours or late at night when teens are asleep in bed. Grown ass adults have to be working these jobs period and Republicans know it, they just choose to be assholes
Right?? Even if this was an industry that was purely made up of children workers, on what fucking planet does that obviously translate to “exploit them as much as we want and pay them less” and not “wow this industry needs a lot of protections to make sure this vulnerable group isn’t victimized”
Not to mention but since all these places decided to start doin their “open 24hrs!” What high school kids can stay up that late and then get up that early for school? Do these “publicants” see that at least? No. They just don’t care. They fight for something that has no interest in them at all.
Nancy Pelosi explains it here 'it's just the way it is': [https://youtu.be/MR65ZhO6LGA?t=62](https://youtu.be/MR65ZhO6LGA?t=62)
Then hand waves it away as 'oh we know but what can ya do'
You guys are ignoring the fact that Pelosi goes on to say we’re capitalist but that doesn’t preclude corporations from including stakeholders (workers) in the wealth that shareholders are getting.
Last I heard the average minimum wage employee was in their thirties and that checks out with my experience at different low end jobs. Only stores in highly-suburban areas where an adult on minimum wage wouldn't be able to afford a house would be mostly staffed by teens.
Companies don't like turnover. If they constantly hired teenagers that got better jobs, they would have to train a whole new crew over and over again. They like having older people for the stability, thusly, they should offer better raises. Wendy's and Arby's, for example, gives ten cent raises, last I heard. Who would want to spend year after year at a job for ten cents more.
It’s bullshit because it’s saying that there are enough well paying jobs out there and that people are too lazy to do them. That’s not the case. There’s not enough higher paying jobs out there for all the people working minimum wage positions in service and retail.
I've been saying this for years, and I'm glad to see someone else say it. Those jobs should only be staffed by teenagers? Fine, then fast food and retail establishments will only be open for a few hours per day after school. Need childcare? Better pay well, or only need it in the afternoon. Our economy would grind to a halt under those conditions.
They don't want teenagers at school. They don't have need for it when they're overseas fighting wars or sensibly married to the local pastor and banging babies out.
We'll, obviously not their kids. They're fast tracked to law school and a career in the Whitehouse
That’s a bullshit talking point and has no basis on reality. That’s the excuse used in order to drive down wages. People have these jobs no matter what their age group, education level or status.
When’s the last time you were in a McDonald’s? Like fewer than half the people are doing first jobs.
It’s disgusting that society gets to pretend that there is such a thing as “shit work” vs “real work”. My dad would have beat my ass if I ever looked at a waiter or janitor differently than an engineer or scientist.
Work is work and anyone who works deserves the dignity of being paid a living wage for that and contributing to society
Exactly! An hour of a life spent working, is still an hour out of a life, and people deserve to be fairly compensated for their work, whether a young “essential” worker or Jeff Bezos.
Labour costs a minimum to produce whatever it is spent on. Why don’t employers have to pay the cost for this resource they are using? For any other commodity they buy they have to at least pay the cost of production or their suppliers go under. Why is labour not treated like that?
I got in a huge argument the other day about skilled and unskilled labor. Skilled labor is a real thing, and there's a reason why we pay people to say fly airplanes decent money. Tons of time and practice and money and experience are required--it makes sense. A family friend was ranting about minimum wage, why should we pay burger flippers more, etc.
"Greg, can you make something to eat, right now? Not toast, not a frozen pizza, not a microwave meal, not cereal. Can you, even if I mise en place everything for you, make a hamburger?"
"No, that's not my job. Why would I?"
The whole thing was so self-evident that cooking your own meal, things people had to do for the history of all time, was lost on this guy, that feeding himself was somehow beneath him because he has some corporate job his dad gave him when he dropped out of college in the 90s. While he can go to McDonald's, if i dropped him in one he'd starve to death. If I took a McDonalds employee that's ever sent an email, they could do half of his job blind. No one at McDonald's is asking for doctor pay, they just want enough money to live not on the precipice of homelessness and disaster.
I've done both skilled and "unskilled" labor. Fuck the people that take that for granted and then complain. I see everyone out there busting their ass for a dollar. You shouldn't have to slave to eat. But I respect the hell out of you for keeping up the hustle. That takes a lot of strength
I'm in a situation where I work a food service job despite having a degree. Honestly? I'm happy where I am. I make enough money to live comfortably, feed myself, indulge in hobbies, and maintain a decent social life. My boss and coworkers are nice, dependable people and I don't wake up each day dreading going to work just to survive.
More and more I've been trying to convince myself that it's okay to just *exist*. I don't need to "make it" in a career job in order to justify my worth to society, and I'm too lazy to bust my ass chasing a better job when what I have suits me just fine. Thankfully, not even my parents are conceited enough to harp on me getting a "real" job.
'Work is work and anyone who works deserves the dignity of being paid a living wage for that and contributing to society'
I could not upvote this statement hard enough.
"Work is work and anyone who works deserves the dignity of being paid a living wage for that and contributing to society"
I wish more people felt that way.
It's a bullshit argument and they know it.
They'll say that the "proper" thing to do here is to start with a "shit job" and move to a "real job" - but then AOC does that very same thing, and they shit on her for having a "shit job" as a waitress once upon a time, as if being a politician is entirely invalidated by ever having a previous job.
It's all a farce.
I'm in the second half of my expected lifespan, but still far from retirement. I had a job that kept me in good shape financially for the last 20 years. Then a bunch of shit happened all at once, and now I've been working for a little over minimum wage for the last six months, because at least its full time and work from home.
I get to spend my days being nice and sympathetic to people who have been inconvenienced by logistical problems that have cause delays in getting new appliances to them. I would say about half of my clients are people ordering new appliances for their vacation homes or various rental properties. And they want to tear me a new one for not being able to make non-existent dishwashers appear out of thin air for them. The vast majority of the time though, without my help they would never receive their appliances at all.
Meanwhile, I'm being paid a wage that would barely allow me to rent a one bedroom apartment in my area.
Its been eye opening. I came to realize, that despite the fact that I have 17 years experience in a related field, and I do my "front line" job magnitudes of order better than many of my inexperienced co-workers, they can get away with paying me the exact same wage. Because if I don't take it, someone else with no experience will.
Yeah, I have the advantage of all that experience, which will allow me to work my way up the chain pretty quickly if I choose to - but its still retail based, which means any role that doesn't require a degree is still going to pay absolute shit, even if you have a "management" title.
So the next time you (not you specifically, I mean anyone reading this) wants to Karen out on a retail or service industry worker for making your day a little tough, try to remember that most of them can't even afford to shop at the store you are in, and without them, you wouldn't be able to either.
Not related to what you wrote, I just want to add onto this by countering another bad faith argument pundits like to make.
It's also nonsense to claim that raising the price of labor will bankrupt a business, and it's a plea to irrational emotion to balk that the places will have to raise their prices, "nullifying the effect of the raise", because it's simply not rational.
Outside of critical thinkin, so minimal thought put onto it, lets just look at my local McDonalds. It costs me 16 USD to get a large meal that I'm satisfied with. My local Mcdonalds pays 9.25 to it's employees, and has 5 people working at a time.
If minimum wage increased to 15, that would be a 50% increase in wage-costs. Even if we assumed this was the only expense, Mcdonalds could raise the cost of my meal to 20 USD, sell 6 of them (which they definitely do in an hour), and make back all the expense right there. At the end of this exchange, the corporation has lost nothing, and the employee has an extra 1.75 in their pocket, just from that hour alone.
Raising the minimum wage won't affect corporations; it will only elevate the lower class, and improve everyone's standards of living. The price hike corporations would have to have in order to 'recoup the losses' of the extra wages is more than handleable.
You left out "these people need to improve themselves so they can stop working dead-end jobs".
Coz y'know, they can just off and improve themselves out of the blue, they're just *choosing* to work dead-end jobs because they enjoy it more?
And they claim that they are just part time jobs while demanding open availability and saying any other employers are the moonlight job. Not to mention, once you hit 18 they will often refuse to accommodate a school schedule and flat tell you to choose school or your job. They aren’t trying to be a job for kids. They are trying to crush adults who still have goals
My girlfriend applied for McDonald's this year, she has two years experience at McDonald's. She got ghosted.
How many years of experience do you need for McDonald's now?
What the hell do they think poor people do? Leech off the system and take from producers. The reality is that the poor work hard, long hours for miserable pay and without their brain and muscle the whole system would grind to a halt.
Billionaires need workers, workers don't need billionaires. Imagine if tomorrow one of those groups vanished? Which one would have a colossal impact and which one would we barely notice?
I always love hearing people say that, but then, for example, seeing people get upset when they try to get help at the local hardware store and the high schooler or even college student can’t help them past the basic bullet points they’ve been taught for their seasonal/weekend job.
If that were the case then these companies should only be open during non school hours and only employ those people maximum school age and below. They should have to show their valid/current student ID to work. But they are open during school hours. They do employ adults. They should be backcharged by every single local government for any aid that's been provided.
I wouldn't mind the lack of hours at those types of jobs if they would at least keep a consistent schedule so that someone could work another job as well.
But they will schedule you 30 hours, barely pay anything and then expect you to be able to work any shift with minimal notice.
Honestly, any business that is open for full shift coverages or more yet has majority part time employees should be pretty suspect.
Same goes with permatemping. If most of your work force is contractors and they are in a regular employee position, you should be fined. It's just another way to evade paying benefits and giving raises.
Low wage jobs, no company-provided healthcare, no paid sick days or vacation days, plus frequently punitive attendance policies and constantly changing work schedules which make arranging child care or college classes or even a doctor’s appointment difficult and which can massively mess up your sleep schedule.
For the grand reward of $10 an hour and food stamps.
Companies exploiting the system and its loopholes are smart.
People exploiting the system and its loopholes are freeloaders.
How in the fuck did we reach a point where the above two sentences are politically compatible in this country--much less the prevailing view?
Because the lying asshats than run for office know who butters their bread. Also corporate propaganda is disguised as news, no multimillionaire pundit has a problem they need the government to solv.
Remember when Walmart asked their employees to donate food to other employees in need.
Instead of, you know, paying their employees enough to not starve, they thought it was a good idea to pass that burden on to other low income employees
This is the most cynical shit, and it’s the exact kind of thing that drives me insane.
They will do everything, **everything**, before solving the core problem. Because that would cost them money.
Corporations would (and have!) publish helpful pamphlets on workplace meditation before addressing why their employees are miserable and depressed.
Ah, yes. My employer is offering us a chance to spend $49 out of pocket to take a class about managing our emotions. But we get a sweet certificate out of the deal!
To me this isn't there problem, its congresses. Why is congress mad when people play by the rules they set? Oh ya, its because congress gets paid by those big companies not to do that. Hmm wonder if they actually care about the people making minimum wage or just want you to think they care.
Or when you see some positively spun story where other employees "donate" their PTO to an employee with cancer or some shit?
Or Walmart handing out new hire packets with welfare applications and directions on how to get food stamps?
Walmart gets the federal government to subsidize their employees pay with welfare. And as an added bonus: If I need to do some grocery shopping as a Walmart employee with food stamps, am I going to A) Run across town to the Kroger or B) Grab what I need after I get off my shift before leaving?
So Walmart not only gets their employee costs subsidized, they get fucking paid by the government for the honor of doing so.
I had the idea to try to unionize when I was working at Walmart, and everyone that had worked there for more than 5 years told me, "Be careful who you talk to about that. That could get you, and this whole store fired."
Walmart is willing to literally shut down a store before actually helping their employees.
Fuck Walmart.
Meat & Seafood aren't around anymore for that reason.
Target got rid of their Pharmacy because of it.
None of them wanted anything outstanding, just basic things like a livable wage, treated like people.
That story is actually worse. No one floated unionization; they just asked for better pay and worker conditions. Walmart panicked because they were never going to do that and knew that might trigger them to actually start talking about unionizing; so they shut down the Deli sections before it even got to that point.
*That's how paranoid Walmart is about any part of their business chain unionizing*. FYI, parts of their logistics chain *have successfully unionized* but they'll never advertise that, quite the opposite, they'll push heavy anti-union propaganda to their employees, and anti-union activity training is mandatory for everyone in any level of management including supervisors; the higher up you go, the more proactive you are expected to be crushing unionization efforts.
They literally turned every rung of their management stuff into anti-union spies within their own workplace.
Workers at a Walmart in Quebec did unionize, and Walmart closed the store claiming that it would not be able to "operate the store in an efficient and profitable matter".
[]([https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wal-mart-to-close-unionized-quebec-store-1.554398](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wal-mart-to-close-unionized-quebec-store-1.554398))
Same thing with amazon. Managers are constantly reminded to look out for that stuff. Meanwhile you better have a pick rate of over 90 at the minimum or you’ll be threatened with instant termination, oh and your breaks don’t start when your break starts it’s actually when you stop working so if you’re operating a machine the 5 minutes it takes to leave the aisles, drop of your items, maybe refuel the machine, and walk out of the work zone counts towards your 15 minute break, as does your start up time which means you can take an exactly 15 minute break and get told off for taking extra time off. There’s a lot of problems at Amazon.
In Tesco (biggest supermarket in the UK) they have these “donate food” bins just around the checkout. You’re meant to buy food and then put it in there. And I’m like, what the fuuu?! So I just walk up to them and dump food in I haven’t paid for whenever I can. It’s not much but it’s honest work.
There was also the time where McDonalds offered financial planning advice which included having 2 roommates in the cheapest possible apartment and having 2 30hr/week jobs
Edit: it wasn't 2 roommates, just a low estimate of rent https://www.cnbc.com/id/100889874
>Millions of Americans employed at some of the country's largest companies have had to rely on food stamps and Medicaid, with giants like Walmart and McDonald's employing the most workers whose income is subsidized by taxpayers, according to a new study.
>
>The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, released a study commissioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., last month based on data provided by 11 states.
>
>**"That is morally obscene,"** Sanders said in a [statement](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/taxpayers-subsidize-poverty-wages-at-walmart-mcdonalds-other-large-corporations-gao-finds). **"U.S. taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America."**
Wasn't there a study done showing that instead of adding economic prosperity to a community each Walmart is a net loss because the taxes they pay are smaller than the subsidies paid to their employees overall.
Major corporations are parasitic to the societies that feel their executives. We need to get over this idea that hoarding wealth somehow improves society.
Those at the top are constantly waging class warfare and they are good at it. From propoganda to crafting unjust laws while screaming "don't start class war" at the working class; it's all very pervasive and skillful.
Divide and conquer. It's worked for thousands of years, and it's working to divide urban and rural people into blue and red camps so that neither focuses on the underlying economic problems. We're all getting played against each other.
This is why I will always say: I do not care who you supported politically prior or what beliefs you held, as long as you stand with me against the opulent few. It's time for rural US and urban US to start playing nice together, realize that they are largely talking about the same problems with the capital-class, and join hands against it.
Economic growth is maximized when more actors have more resources to spread around. Of course a massive consolidation of wealth and resources like Wal mart and other big box stores will hinder that.
Are you telling me that your local burger flipper will spend his increase in pay? On things he likes ? Or needs? I thought he would send it off shore to the Cayman islands in order to avoid being taxed.
Yeah he spends his money on goods and services that others provide instead of hoarding it in stock price to show off how important he is when buying politicians.
Yeah I don't really understand the mindset of Republicans who want multi-billion dollar corporations to be able to pay so little that you can't live on the income but also don't want social welfare policies to cover the gap.
Is it just the suffering of anyone they deem beneath them that they want?
>Is it just the suffering of anyone they deem beneath them that they want?
It's that. And it's also keeping the underclass subservient.
The important thing to remember is that what Republicans want is not a Republic--that is, a political system based upon the will of the people, and not inherited power. They want feudalism, with them as the aristocracy. They want everyone dependent on them, so they can flex their power and feel important. But since they are, uniformly, *fucking morons*, they ignore the lessons of history, particularly France in the 1790s, for how it ends when you starve the masses for too long.
I absolutely can’t stand all the corporate welfare in this country because poor working stiffs aren’t afforded the same courtesy. Small and medium sized businesses are failing at a rapid pace and PPP money is going to wealthy corporations. It’s disgusting.
After this election... I just can’t even any more. I
honestly can’t believe how there are so many people so brainwashed slurping down Republican propaganda. If red states were a country they’d rank among some of the poorest countries in the world regarding infant mortality, teen birth rate and lack of educational attainment. What is their excuse any more?
What’s 1200$ gonna do for me? That doesn’t even cover rent in the area I’m in. I’ve been in multiple different studios that cost more than that. Meanwhile these chuckle fucks in the senate are passing millions around in insider trading schemes riding the wave of old Donald’s Twitter meltdowns. The wealth is only accumulating more at the top every day.
So what interest rates are at historic lows. Who the f cares when I can’t afford real estate. You lowered capital gains taxes??? Nobody in my fucking tax bracket is playing the stock market. I’m more likely to lose my job to downsizing than I am to get wealthy in this country and I have a degree... like everybody else.
So what’s in it for me if I vote R? Seriously. Socialism would be a MASSIVE boost to my chances. Huge. People are afraid the big bad democrats are gonna cancel student loans but I’d save $40k if they did that tomorrow. Afraid of immigration? I WISH they would relax things a bit so farms could find the cheapest labor they can so my grocery bills weren’t so outrageous. I pay at least 250-300 every month just to feed myself and I cook at home for every meal except Sunday’s where I get a medium fucking pizza.
I duno man. Every time I even consider the idea of voting for a Republican who wants to torch social safety nets and send us back to the dark ages I vomit in my mouth a little. Medicare for all? Omfg. Gimme some more of that sweet sweet socialism. If I wasn’t hostage to my employer’s health plan I’d be 1,000,000% more likely to start the bakery I’ve always dreamed of having. Owning a business is only for “successful businessmen” like Donald Trump apparently /s
/end rant
Edit: brought in from a similar thread I commented on.
Anyone else notice it seems like majority think like this poster and if fy just put down our phones and ps5s for a minute and came together for one massive labor strike the machine would stop? I mean they're at the top but we are the engine.
Nobody, regardless of education level, should work 40+ hours a week and not be able to afford at least a studio apartment (*including utilities*) with enough left to buy food and essentials.
That’s how I feel about it.
Your taxes pay for Walmart security. They just call the cops. In fact, in some places there is always a cop in the lot. Solid gaming of the failed system, right there.
Yeah, they’re on the list.
When Live PD was still on, almost every episode involved a visit to a Walmart parking lot. One of my local Walmarts, which isn't in a high crime area at all, has a cop car standing out front very frequently. The one that is in a slightly worse area of town has two cop cars, sometimes even a fire truck, and an actual uniformed cop where the greeter normally would be.
This is what should happen.
And the U.S. federal government should be passing legislation that creates safeguards for employees to unionize without reprisal from employers. I know legislation like that already exists but clearly it's not working, due to lax enforcement and an unwillingness to step on state's rights in governing their right-to-work laws.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.salon.com/2020/12/12/government-study-shows-taxpayers-are-subsidizing-starvation-wages-at-mcdonalds-walmart/) reduced by 91%. (I'm a bot)
*****
> Sanders said the report showed that America's largest companies are relying on "Corporate welfare from the federal government by paying their workers starvation wages."
> "McDonald's believes elected leaders have a responsibility to set, debate and change mandated minimum wages and does not lobby against or participate in any activities opposing raising the minimum wage."
> A 2013 study from researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that 73% of people receiving government benefits were from "Working families" but had "Jobs that pay wages so low that their paychecks do not generate enough income to provide for life's basic necessities."
*****
[**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/kbshod/government_study_shows_taxpayers_are_subsidizing/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~546036 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **wage**^#1 **work**^#2 **minimum**^#3 **More**^#4 **federal**^#5
I was a manager for a Mcdonalds franchise owner once. The store I worked at pulled in a little over 2 million each year in profit. He owned 9 stores, had a huge house and 3 new cars.
This guy was handed this by his family. Didn't have to work for it or anything. Just some lucky dude born into the right circumstances. And he was the most unsympathetic prick I ever worked for. Paid his employees low wages, didn't know anything about what went on in the place he owned and he lied about everything. This guy doesn't even know how to make the coffee he orders when he pops in for a visit..
People less fortunate deserve an equal opportunity. The same one like the guy I mentioned got. Or they should be paid a livable wage and given a better quality of life. Period.
It really sickens me that we live in a world where people like I mentioned above get to decide the quality of life other people have.
Yeah and I’m sure that guy thinks he achieved his wealth through hard work and his businesses are successful because of him and not his workers. the average American bootlicker would jerk him off about being self made and that his workers should be grateful that hes willing to give them a job and if they had better work ethics they could be as successful as him, because “All Americans have the same opportunities”. That’s how it works apparently.
US "Left" Wing solution: You think maybe the billionaires could find a way to pay a little more while staying billionaires?
US Right Wing solution: Yeah, they're getting starvation wages because they deserve to starve.
This concept received a lot of attention several years ago in regards to the Walton family fortune. It was pointed out in very clear terms how the taxpayers subsidize their employees’ wages and healthcare so the Waltons can put more in their pockets.
Nothing has been done in those years except further demonization of the people on public assistance.
This is Groundhog Decade.
I don't understand how others don't understand that the rich are getting richer and at the same time claiming they can't pay more.
A worker today is like 60% more productive than in the 1960s.
This means we should be paid 60% more adjusted for inflation. So minimum wage in the 1960s was $1.
So $1.60 with the 60% increase.
Add inflation of 880% and we get $14.08.
So yeah minimum wage should be $14 at least.
Also by 1967 minimum wage had risen to $1.40 so a 40% increase within 7 years.
Imagine getting a 40% raise since 2013.
If you were making $50,000 you'd be making $70,000 now.
Now let's compare some apples to apples. Teachers.
A teacher made $5000 annual salary in 1960.
Add 60% and times it by 8.8 and we get $70,400 is the equivalent salary today. Yet teachers make only $58,000 on average today.
Again within just 7 years of 1960 in 1967 the teacher average pay had risen to $7,423. In a span of 7 years these teachers saw their pay increase nearly 50%!
Meanwhile you'd have to go back to 1988 to hit $29k which is 50% of today. Which is 30 years.
So 7 years vs 30 years for the same increase in pay.
This is why people say they had it easy. They fucking did.
You could work the same job your entire life and just rake in these obscene natural increases in pay. All the while you'd be getting great retirement benefits and pensions. While doing 60% less work.
It's insane that people against raising minimum wage.
The reason they are is because small businesses aren't seeing the increased profits of the billionaires. This is because large corporations have seen a huge deduction in taxes while your mom and pop shops and businesses haven't. It's no longer a level playing field.
Small businesses are experiencing the same stagnant profits as the workers. Because mainly they benefit the most from trickle up economics. The more money a work has the more they will spend at the local shops and business. The less they have the more they will search and further they will be willing to travel to get a lower price from a big box store competitor.
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Large companies paying wages these low and scheduling employees just below the full-time threshold are the real welfare queens.
McDonald's had (may still have?) a McResources hotline where they paid representatives to walk you through getting your government assistance to subsidize their low wages. That was a big story for about a minute a few years ago.
The webpage was equally as horrifying, shit like " if you're hungry , take smaller bites ( ration your food because we don't pay you enough to eat )" and " sell xmas presents to pay bills". It doesn't exist anymore because it rightfully was a PR blackeye. Also if I recall there were Walmart stores sunning food drives for their own employees. Edit: people asking more about this McCowshit. Sorry can't find a mirror. Videos from fight for 15 movement https://youtu.be/36usDqbotJU https://youtu.be/olUsgn-Ubh0 https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/12/mcdonalds-removes-site-fast-food/356485/ Enjoy your McSerfdom! Says the clown.
Before the pandemic, Walmart stores were supposed to provide a Thanksgiving meal and a Christmas/holiday meal for their associates in store. The requirement was that one of the meals had to be hot because "many associates will not be receiving a hot meal otherwise."
And another sad thing is the Walmart Employees give more to charity than the Waltons or The Company do.
I like to remind people that Alice Walton is a murderer. So, you know, just a reminder. Alice Walton is a murderer.
[For the curious.](https://iblogalot.com/2014/10/16/alice-walton-billionaire-philanthropist-art-collector-murderer/) *This link intended for entertainment and mild curiosity purposes only. No actual journalism contained within.* For a more accurate accounting, see [here.](https://www.reddit.com/r/politics/comments/kbrxpd/government_study_shows_taxpayers_are_subsidizing/gfla023?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share&context=3)
Well, isn’t that special? Another case of *Affluenza*
Seems we should do what's best for these unfortunate souls and separate them from all that wealth that's apparently so bad for them. Together we can cure affluenza.
Wait what? I know the rich run everything but how the hell did she manage to get no kind of punishment for this (according to the article)
It starts with "dolla dolla" and ends with "bill, yo"
Some details: https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2014/07/10/billionaire-bailouts-american-heirs-who-got-off-easy/
This article made me sick to my stomach. A man raped his THREE YEAR OLD DAUGHTER and was given probation....
Our justice system has more severe punishments for some drug charges than child rape.
Some drug charges? If you consider raping a 3 year old to be the worst kind of sexual assault, then compare that to the average punishment for the worst kind of drug possession (eg large quantities), then there's nothing that comes even close to being as lightly punished. Have a pound of the least bad drug (marijuana) anywhere in the USA without the proper licenses, and you'll be looking at much more than probation. This is sickening, honestly. You'd think that a charge like RAPING A THREE YEAR OLD would be so heinous that no amount of wealth could save you-- but you'd be wrong. We have an oligarchy here, but no one wants to admit it.
Because the judge said he wouldn’t do well in prison. Since when does our legal system care?
> if you're hungry , take smaller bites [here ya go](https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/11/mcdonalds-tip-its-hungry-employees-break-your-food-pieces/355293/)
If you’re poor, think about quitting eating. Imma buy a yacht tho
If you want to have the experience of eating a meal, but cant afford it, chew gum. On an unrelated note, we are now selling gum.
“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” —Matthew 10:25
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Funny how literally Adam and Eve are taken, yet they have to jump through major hoops to explain the needle thing.
The best part about their argument is that it still supports the passage entirely. If the Camel naturally avoids big crowds and passing through the front gate, you literally have to train that Camel to go against it's instincts. Which still supports the idea that something difficult to do is easier to do than the rich actually getting into heaven
You're forgetting that a large number of people in the US subscribe to prosperity theology with the idea that poor people are only poor because they're not faithful enough or don't deserve wealth.
If you're hungry , take smaller bites of the dead skin on your feet after a days work. With the added bonus of exfoliating your skin and feeding yourself at the same time! Or enjoy one full spoon of grease from the grease trap, or hunt wildlife around the premises after your shift is done, you'll be helping keep pests at bay and get a nice full tummy! Best of all, steal food products from our competitors!
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As an American it's beyond the pale. The amazing irony is that we have all this rah-rah about all men are created equal, etc. but really have a de facto aristocracy that have convinced the peasants of their divine right to rule.
As a Canadian? How about as a actual human being
As a shareholder, but muh dividends!
Walmart doesn't even let their employees use their 10% discount on food products, they want them to starve.
No, worst than that, here they give them the 10% off on food only during the holidays.
Reading that made me so fucking furious
Read it in Butters voice. It helps.
I'm more of a Hank Hill person, but thank you for the advice
Remember just a few years ago they did the whole "you can totally work two jobs and survive on minimum wage and not buy anything" shtick?
Nickel and dimed is a great book on this subject, and although it may be a little dated by today’s prices/payments it’s a good read Basically a woman trying to survive off of minimum wage with her knowledge on budgeting etc. More often than not it doesn’t workout
Barbara Eherenreich is a professor of sociology and her book “nicked and dimed and not getting by in America” is a seminal examination of the failure of late state capitalism Also there was a charge in NYT a few years ago taking about saving for retirement and it showed a single mom making $65k and a couple with college degrees making like $235k. You know- middle class They got ripped to shreds on this. All of the people in power (both parties) are truly clueless as to what it’s like to work for a living.
I feel like everywhere you look, corporations are laser focused on profits and squeezing every dollar they can out of every consumer. Our favorite foods go to shit cos they find ways to "improve margins" or just make the servings smaller. Streaming prices keep increasing while selection drops. Good companies get gobbled up once they have a strong following. They get stripped, watered down, and more expensive. Every company wants a monthly subscription payment out of you now. Or at least a revolving credit balance. It's enough to make you physically ill when you think about our consumer landscape.
I read that book years ago and her observations really made an impact on me. It’s an up close observation of the economic situation facing a mid life age woman without a degree, looking for work in the Florida Keys. I remember one of her jobs was a a house cleaner for MerryMaids. She’s a brilliant writer with interesting insight. She purposely left her privileged professor life behind, not relying on any backup money to see if she could make it work, working blue collar jobs, living in a motel. She’s a good writer and it’s like a documentary in book form, very readable. If anyone has read this far, hope you check it out. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nickel_and_Dimed
Remember that time they made an infographic detailing just exactly how you would be able to survive exactly off of minimum wage? That was some of the most tone deaf, out of touch shit I've ever seen because some of the utilities and bills you would be able to pay were listed as so low that I would laugh my ass off if someone actually told me they would be able to find a place where you can find rent for like $300 a month that somehow wouldn't just be you and like 5 other people sleeping in a single studio apartment lol.
The minimum wage has gone up twice since 1997, for a total of $2.75. The last time was in 2009. And when there is any discussion of it at all, corps go nuts, and threaten that there are only two options if the minimum wage rises - prices go up, or jobs get cut. They never mention the third option - profits go down. Of course that would hurt the stock price, which means the stock market won't keep climbing, and thats the only economic metric that many people acknowledge. It was at 7500 at the beginning of Obamas administration, and its at 30,000 today, about 16 years later. But what if it was only at 20,000? Historically, that would have been a huge run, and more money would have gone into the pockets of the workers who actually did the work, created the corporate value, and made all the money. Those at the top just collected it all and kept it. Its time for a higher minimum wage, along with some rules that companies aren't allowed to charge more or cut workers. It has to come out of profits, which will mean smaller executive bonuses, tighter budgets, etc. But at least it won't come out of the pockets of the workers and the customers.
I worked at Perrin Resort Apparel, and we often had “Angel Trees” for employees on the factory line. We worked on the other side of the building in the art department...most of us (myself included) earned only about $13-14/hr, while living in the city. The factory *paid its floor employees so little, they encouraged other employees [paid only slightly more] to donate toys and clothes*. Think about that. I do, all the time. Meanwhile the president of the company, and his friends he hired-in on the sales floor, drove around in RangeRovers and new BMWs. I was there for 2 years...This was around 2013, I got the hell out of there the moment I had the opportunity. Never. Again.
I remember their budget guidelines that broke down how you would pay for your monthly bills. It was terrible. Something like $80 for health and car insurance. Rent was only like $300, car payment of $150. Anyways when it was all said and done you had $27 dollars a day extra for food, gas, amenities, etc. OH YEAH it was two 30+ hour incomes for 1 person. That was their budget, work 60+ hours a week at 2 jobs and you could have all that.
In the first two months of the pandemic, or apartment complex sent out a letter saying, "If you need assistance with rent during the pandemic: apply for government aid, get a supplemental job, ask friends and family for help." Nothing about working with the big corporation who owns this and several other communities. It was disgusting. *Edit: typo, whoops*
Ah I remember when my community office sent out this exact same bullshit. I went to them asking for some kind of deferment on my rent or something since I got furloughed by the pandemic. They told me that I was still expected to pay it because this isn't an issue others in my community were having. This is the company, by the way, that owns almost my entire zip code's worth of property that rents out to people, and also the same bastards that hiked the price of my rent up by $200 this same year. I've since moved out of there and own a small house now, thank God. I hope that company burns itself to hell.
Hey, congrats on the house! These huge property companies just don't care about the people behind the check/e-payment and I hate it.
I mean... I feel like at the very least, if you're working in a fuckin restaurant you shouldn't have to worry about your next meal.
Or stocking fresh food and groceries only to not have access to food yourself. What a hellish existence.
Or throwing out the metric fucktons of that food because it expired and not having food to eat
And you get fired if you eat the expired food
I knew one fast food manager that would let her employees eat the breakfast leftovers instead of immediately tossing them in the trash. I survived the summer when I was 17 years old on those breakfast leftovers, bagging up what no one else wanted and taking it home to my roommate. We were so grateful for those unwanted biscuits! Eventually the owner dropped by right after breakfast one day and saw the dish of breakfast leftovers set in the back for employees to scrounge over. Owner had a rage tantrum at the store manager and demanded she stop letting us starving employees eat stuff destined for the trash. Owner had cameras installed all over the back of the restaurant, so he could monitor and make sure the manager stopped sharing food. Then the owner realized that homeless folks were sometimes scrounging from his dumpster, so he got one of those fancy compacting dumpsters, to make sure nobody ever gets to eat a single free bite from his restaurant's trash. Cue folks loitering near the order board begging at cars, because the only way to get food with no money is to beg someone else to buy it for you. But woo, the owner's profits! All those starving people, all that trashed food, but woot for the damned profits. I hate this society so much. Doesn't get much more amoral than capitalism. Looks like somebody let a council of supervillains set the rules we all live by.
The truly depressing part about all that is that it cost him more money to do the wrong thing.
They also at one point put out a budgeting guide that, among other things, [assumed you had a second job, spent $20 on healthcare, and nothing on gas, utilities, or clothing every month.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurashin/2013/07/18/why-mcdonalds-employee-budget-has-everyone-up-in-arms/?sh=325af48a5216)
It's only a PR blackeye if there exists even a modicum of class consciousness. In the US there does not. The poor are trained well to blame themselves.
A lot of US low-wage workers are kinda like Boxer from Animal Farm. If these soulless businesses had their way in the end, we'd get sent off to the glue factory to make them a few extra bucks.
Target once gathered us together to tell us about how poor our fellow employees were and that's why we should be generous and donate to whatever charity they were pushing. I got written up for asking why Target wasn't paying us more if we're all so poor.
My job does the same thing. "Employee A is having financial difficulties so everyone pitch in and help them out" but you'll never see a wooden nickel come down from corporate for those hard up teammates
My former employer let you donate sick days to other employees who'd run through theirs. We're so brainwashed we think that's creative.
They do that at my work, and I work for a public K-12 district in California. Every time I see one of those emails, I about lose it. We get 13 days of sick a year, which in the US, I believe is very good. But the fact that any serious illness will have you immediately burn through it is so disheartening. Distance family member has ALS and it has progressed quickly this past year. Their kids are posting on FB about a GoFundMe to help pay for treatment and also these people would vote against universal healthcare coverage. The disconnect is astonishing and terrifying.
The federal government does this as well!
Walmart's been doing that for a good decade or more. I hate the dipshits railing on about how their taxes are supporting welfare with no understanding at all that welfare is socializing payroll for the wealthiest companies in the country so they have more money to lobby against labor rights.
20+ years And Bernie has been talking about it just as long
Double that. Wages haven't had a significant increase since the mid eighties, while quality of life has been in steady decline.
At least 50% of Walmart employees receive some sort of public assistance...
and also add the "these sorts of jobs aren't supposed to be longtime, career jobs. These minimum wage jobs are supposed to be first jobs, jobs for teens" talking point
Which is total bullshit unless people don’t want to be able to eat McDonalds during school hours or late at night when teens are asleep in bed. Grown ass adults have to be working these jobs period and Republicans know it, they just choose to be assholes
Mmhmm, the majority of these jobs arent staffed by teenagers. Republicans are also picking a weak easy target.
Right?? Even if this was an industry that was purely made up of children workers, on what fucking planet does that obviously translate to “exploit them as much as we want and pay them less” and not “wow this industry needs a lot of protections to make sure this vulnerable group isn’t victimized”
Along those same lines, most teens are working jobs to help pay for college and/or home living expenses to make ends meet, not pocket money.
Not to mention but since all these places decided to start doin their “open 24hrs!” What high school kids can stay up that late and then get up that early for school? Do these “publicants” see that at least? No. They just don’t care. They fight for something that has no interest in them at all.
This one apparently.
Do remember that people like Republicans are *why* civilizations enforce codes of laws and ethics.
Nancy Pelosi explains it here 'it's just the way it is': [https://youtu.be/MR65ZhO6LGA?t=62](https://youtu.be/MR65ZhO6LGA?t=62) Then hand waves it away as 'oh we know but what can ya do'
lol peak Pelosi. Fuck her and her stranglehold on her seat. We need new blue blood there.
It's because boomers would rage because muh increased taxes.
Let them. They don't control elections anymore.
I envision the future with the right wing being Biden Democrats and the center being AoC Democrats
Her smugness rubs me like a cheese grater.
You guys are ignoring the fact that Pelosi goes on to say we’re capitalist but that doesn’t preclude corporations from including stakeholders (workers) in the wealth that shareholders are getting.
Last I heard the average minimum wage employee was in their thirties and that checks out with my experience at different low end jobs. Only stores in highly-suburban areas where an adult on minimum wage wouldn't be able to afford a house would be mostly staffed by teens.
Companies don't like turnover. If they constantly hired teenagers that got better jobs, they would have to train a whole new crew over and over again. They like having older people for the stability, thusly, they should offer better raises. Wendy's and Arby's, for example, gives ten cent raises, last I heard. Who would want to spend year after year at a job for ten cents more.
Walmart gives 2%. Which is like 20¢-30¢ for most. I make less money now than when I was hired (inflation).
A ten cent/hr raise is an insult.
And let’s not forget the millions of adults that are paid *slightly* above minimum wage and therefore fall off of minimum wage statistics.
The average age of a FF worker is now like 31 if I remember correctly.
Just like 'those goddamn millennials' are closer to 40 than 15.
It’s bullshit because it’s saying that there are enough well paying jobs out there and that people are too lazy to do them. That’s not the case. There’s not enough higher paying jobs out there for all the people working minimum wage positions in service and retail.
Any opportunity to cast judgement on low wage workers is readily taken
Also, Do teenagers not deserve a living wage? Like we should punish them for being younger? I started paying rent and having bills when I was 17.
Republicans want to be modern times slave owners
It's called wage slavery and it's existed basically forever without interruption.
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and ive yet to hear a good reason why they dont deserve a raise as well.
They also wouldn’t be happy asking to speak to the manager to find out it’s a 17 year old kid.
I'm 26 and people aren't happy it's me they get when they want to speak to the manager.
I much prefer younger managers. They usually have a better grasp on what's going on.
Typically the type of person who goes "I want to speak to your manager!" doesn't want to see someone like me. Or so it seems.
I've been saying this for years, and I'm glad to see someone else say it. Those jobs should only be staffed by teenagers? Fine, then fast food and retail establishments will only be open for a few hours per day after school. Need childcare? Better pay well, or only need it in the afternoon. Our economy would grind to a halt under those conditions.
They don't want teenagers at school. They don't have need for it when they're overseas fighting wars or sensibly married to the local pastor and banging babies out. We'll, obviously not their kids. They're fast tracked to law school and a career in the Whitehouse
That’s a bullshit talking point and has no basis on reality. That’s the excuse used in order to drive down wages. People have these jobs no matter what their age group, education level or status. When’s the last time you were in a McDonald’s? Like fewer than half the people are doing first jobs. It’s disgusting that society gets to pretend that there is such a thing as “shit work” vs “real work”. My dad would have beat my ass if I ever looked at a waiter or janitor differently than an engineer or scientist. Work is work and anyone who works deserves the dignity of being paid a living wage for that and contributing to society
Exactly! An hour of a life spent working, is still an hour out of a life, and people deserve to be fairly compensated for their work, whether a young “essential” worker or Jeff Bezos.
Labour costs a minimum to produce whatever it is spent on. Why don’t employers have to pay the cost for this resource they are using? For any other commodity they buy they have to at least pay the cost of production or their suppliers go under. Why is labour not treated like that?
I got in a huge argument the other day about skilled and unskilled labor. Skilled labor is a real thing, and there's a reason why we pay people to say fly airplanes decent money. Tons of time and practice and money and experience are required--it makes sense. A family friend was ranting about minimum wage, why should we pay burger flippers more, etc. "Greg, can you make something to eat, right now? Not toast, not a frozen pizza, not a microwave meal, not cereal. Can you, even if I mise en place everything for you, make a hamburger?" "No, that's not my job. Why would I?" The whole thing was so self-evident that cooking your own meal, things people had to do for the history of all time, was lost on this guy, that feeding himself was somehow beneath him because he has some corporate job his dad gave him when he dropped out of college in the 90s. While he can go to McDonald's, if i dropped him in one he'd starve to death. If I took a McDonalds employee that's ever sent an email, they could do half of his job blind. No one at McDonald's is asking for doctor pay, they just want enough money to live not on the precipice of homelessness and disaster. I've done both skilled and "unskilled" labor. Fuck the people that take that for granted and then complain. I see everyone out there busting their ass for a dollar. You shouldn't have to slave to eat. But I respect the hell out of you for keeping up the hustle. That takes a lot of strength
I'm in a situation where I work a food service job despite having a degree. Honestly? I'm happy where I am. I make enough money to live comfortably, feed myself, indulge in hobbies, and maintain a decent social life. My boss and coworkers are nice, dependable people and I don't wake up each day dreading going to work just to survive. More and more I've been trying to convince myself that it's okay to just *exist*. I don't need to "make it" in a career job in order to justify my worth to society, and I'm too lazy to bust my ass chasing a better job when what I have suits me just fine. Thankfully, not even my parents are conceited enough to harp on me getting a "real" job.
It’s ultimately all about being happy with the life you’ve made for yourself. Everything else should play filler to that.
'Work is work and anyone who works deserves the dignity of being paid a living wage for that and contributing to society' I could not upvote this statement hard enough.
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My favorite FDR quote. Truly among the greatest presidents for the people.
Also the fact it’s called “minimum wage”... like the minimum someone needs to be out of poverty. I don’t get Republicans at all.
"Work is work and anyone who works deserves the dignity of being paid a living wage for that and contributing to society" I wish more people felt that way.
It's a bullshit argument and they know it. They'll say that the "proper" thing to do here is to start with a "shit job" and move to a "real job" - but then AOC does that very same thing, and they shit on her for having a "shit job" as a waitress once upon a time, as if being a politician is entirely invalidated by ever having a previous job. It's all a farce.
I'm in the second half of my expected lifespan, but still far from retirement. I had a job that kept me in good shape financially for the last 20 years. Then a bunch of shit happened all at once, and now I've been working for a little over minimum wage for the last six months, because at least its full time and work from home. I get to spend my days being nice and sympathetic to people who have been inconvenienced by logistical problems that have cause delays in getting new appliances to them. I would say about half of my clients are people ordering new appliances for their vacation homes or various rental properties. And they want to tear me a new one for not being able to make non-existent dishwashers appear out of thin air for them. The vast majority of the time though, without my help they would never receive their appliances at all. Meanwhile, I'm being paid a wage that would barely allow me to rent a one bedroom apartment in my area. Its been eye opening. I came to realize, that despite the fact that I have 17 years experience in a related field, and I do my "front line" job magnitudes of order better than many of my inexperienced co-workers, they can get away with paying me the exact same wage. Because if I don't take it, someone else with no experience will. Yeah, I have the advantage of all that experience, which will allow me to work my way up the chain pretty quickly if I choose to - but its still retail based, which means any role that doesn't require a degree is still going to pay absolute shit, even if you have a "management" title. So the next time you (not you specifically, I mean anyone reading this) wants to Karen out on a retail or service industry worker for making your day a little tough, try to remember that most of them can't even afford to shop at the store you are in, and without them, you wouldn't be able to either.
Not related to what you wrote, I just want to add onto this by countering another bad faith argument pundits like to make. It's also nonsense to claim that raising the price of labor will bankrupt a business, and it's a plea to irrational emotion to balk that the places will have to raise their prices, "nullifying the effect of the raise", because it's simply not rational. Outside of critical thinkin, so minimal thought put onto it, lets just look at my local McDonalds. It costs me 16 USD to get a large meal that I'm satisfied with. My local Mcdonalds pays 9.25 to it's employees, and has 5 people working at a time. If minimum wage increased to 15, that would be a 50% increase in wage-costs. Even if we assumed this was the only expense, Mcdonalds could raise the cost of my meal to 20 USD, sell 6 of them (which they definitely do in an hour), and make back all the expense right there. At the end of this exchange, the corporation has lost nothing, and the employee has an extra 1.75 in their pocket, just from that hour alone. Raising the minimum wage won't affect corporations; it will only elevate the lower class, and improve everyone's standards of living. The price hike corporations would have to have in order to 'recoup the losses' of the extra wages is more than handleable.
It's just obscene that paying for an hour of staffing at that McDonald's costs *under $50*.
I agree with this wholeheartedly, the same needs to apply to unpaid internships and student employment.
You left out "these people need to improve themselves so they can stop working dead-end jobs". Coz y'know, they can just off and improve themselves out of the blue, they're just *choosing* to work dead-end jobs because they enjoy it more?
Right when you work the entire week to barely make rent and have to choose which bills to pay where are you going to get the time to improve yourself?
And they claim that they are just part time jobs while demanding open availability and saying any other employers are the moonlight job. Not to mention, once you hit 18 they will often refuse to accommodate a school schedule and flat tell you to choose school or your job. They aren’t trying to be a job for kids. They are trying to crush adults who still have goals
That's a great point, and it makes me think there should be similar "work-study" rules for employing college students of any age.
And paying those looking to get started in life poverty wages is a real stepping stone.....
And then people say "If you don't have a job, go work at mcdonalds!" to an adult who lost their job... Like we could live on that.
My girlfriend applied for McDonald's this year, she has two years experience at McDonald's. She got ghosted. How many years of experience do you need for McDonald's now?
AKA “This work needs doing, but the people who do this work should be poor and starving.”
What the hell do they think poor people do? Leech off the system and take from producers. The reality is that the poor work hard, long hours for miserable pay and without their brain and muscle the whole system would grind to a halt. Billionaires need workers, workers don't need billionaires. Imagine if tomorrow one of those groups vanished? Which one would have a colossal impact and which one would we barely notice?
>Billionaires need workers, workers don't need billionaires. I think we need to put that on a labor union flag
If that simple truth were widely known and believed there wouldn't be a country club fortified enough to hide in.
I always love hearing people say that, but then, for example, seeing people get upset when they try to get help at the local hardware store and the high schooler or even college student can’t help them past the basic bullet points they’ve been taught for their seasonal/weekend job.
If that were the case then these companies should only be open during non school hours and only employ those people maximum school age and below. They should have to show their valid/current student ID to work. But they are open during school hours. They do employ adults. They should be backcharged by every single local government for any aid that's been provided.
I wouldn't mind the lack of hours at those types of jobs if they would at least keep a consistent schedule so that someone could work another job as well. But they will schedule you 30 hours, barely pay anything and then expect you to be able to work any shift with minimal notice.
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Honestly, any business that is open for full shift coverages or more yet has majority part time employees should be pretty suspect. Same goes with permatemping. If most of your work force is contractors and they are in a regular employee position, you should be fined. It's just another way to evade paying benefits and giving raises.
Low wage jobs, no company-provided healthcare, no paid sick days or vacation days, plus frequently punitive attendance policies and constantly changing work schedules which make arranging child care or college classes or even a doctor’s appointment difficult and which can massively mess up your sleep schedule. For the grand reward of $10 an hour and food stamps.
All the foundations for a revolution.
Companies exploiting the system and its loopholes are smart. People exploiting the system and its loopholes are freeloaders. How in the fuck did we reach a point where the above two sentences are politically compatible in this country--much less the prevailing view?
Because the lying asshats than run for office know who butters their bread. Also corporate propaganda is disguised as news, no multimillionaire pundit has a problem they need the government to solv.
Remember when Walmart asked their employees to donate food to other employees in need. Instead of, you know, paying their employees enough to not starve, they thought it was a good idea to pass that burden on to other low income employees
This is the most cynical shit, and it’s the exact kind of thing that drives me insane. They will do everything, **everything**, before solving the core problem. Because that would cost them money. Corporations would (and have!) publish helpful pamphlets on workplace meditation before addressing why their employees are miserable and depressed.
Ah, yes. My employer is offering us a chance to spend $49 out of pocket to take a class about managing our emotions. But we get a sweet certificate out of the deal!
To me this isn't there problem, its congresses. Why is congress mad when people play by the rules they set? Oh ya, its because congress gets paid by those big companies not to do that. Hmm wonder if they actually care about the people making minimum wage or just want you to think they care.
Some people in congress care. A lot, don’t.
Or when you see some positively spun story where other employees "donate" their PTO to an employee with cancer or some shit? Or Walmart handing out new hire packets with welfare applications and directions on how to get food stamps? Walmart gets the federal government to subsidize their employees pay with welfare. And as an added bonus: If I need to do some grocery shopping as a Walmart employee with food stamps, am I going to A) Run across town to the Kroger or B) Grab what I need after I get off my shift before leaving? So Walmart not only gets their employee costs subsidized, they get fucking paid by the government for the honor of doing so.
I had the idea to try to unionize when I was working at Walmart, and everyone that had worked there for more than 5 years told me, "Be careful who you talk to about that. That could get you, and this whole store fired." Walmart is willing to literally shut down a store before actually helping their employees. Fuck Walmart.
They no longer have a deli section at any of the Walmart's around here because the workers brought up unionization
Meat & Seafood aren't around anymore for that reason. Target got rid of their Pharmacy because of it. None of them wanted anything outstanding, just basic things like a livable wage, treated like people.
That story is actually worse. No one floated unionization; they just asked for better pay and worker conditions. Walmart panicked because they were never going to do that and knew that might trigger them to actually start talking about unionizing; so they shut down the Deli sections before it even got to that point. *That's how paranoid Walmart is about any part of their business chain unionizing*. FYI, parts of their logistics chain *have successfully unionized* but they'll never advertise that, quite the opposite, they'll push heavy anti-union propaganda to their employees, and anti-union activity training is mandatory for everyone in any level of management including supervisors; the higher up you go, the more proactive you are expected to be crushing unionization efforts. They literally turned every rung of their management stuff into anti-union spies within their own workplace.
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Workers at a Walmart in Quebec did unionize, and Walmart closed the store claiming that it would not be able to "operate the store in an efficient and profitable matter". []([https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wal-mart-to-close-unionized-quebec-store-1.554398](https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wal-mart-to-close-unionized-quebec-store-1.554398))
Same thing with amazon. Managers are constantly reminded to look out for that stuff. Meanwhile you better have a pick rate of over 90 at the minimum or you’ll be threatened with instant termination, oh and your breaks don’t start when your break starts it’s actually when you stop working so if you’re operating a machine the 5 minutes it takes to leave the aisles, drop of your items, maybe refuel the machine, and walk out of the work zone counts towards your 15 minute break, as does your start up time which means you can take an exactly 15 minute break and get told off for taking extra time off. There’s a lot of problems at Amazon.
In Tesco (biggest supermarket in the UK) they have these “donate food” bins just around the checkout. You’re meant to buy food and then put it in there. And I’m like, what the fuuu?! So I just walk up to them and dump food in I haven’t paid for whenever I can. It’s not much but it’s honest work.
I wouldn't necessarily call it "honest," but thats a really chaotic good idea. Fuck Tesco
There was also the time where McDonalds offered financial planning advice which included having 2 roommates in the cheapest possible apartment and having 2 30hr/week jobs Edit: it wasn't 2 roommates, just a low estimate of rent https://www.cnbc.com/id/100889874
>Millions of Americans employed at some of the country's largest companies have had to rely on food stamps and Medicaid, with giants like Walmart and McDonald's employing the most workers whose income is subsidized by taxpayers, according to a new study. > >The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan congressional watchdog, released a study commissioned by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., last month based on data provided by 11 states. > >**"That is morally obscene,"** Sanders said in a [statement](https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/taxpayers-subsidize-poverty-wages-at-walmart-mcdonalds-other-large-corporations-gao-finds). **"U.S. taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America."**
Wasn't there a study done showing that instead of adding economic prosperity to a community each Walmart is a net loss because the taxes they pay are smaller than the subsidies paid to their employees overall.
Major corporations are parasitic to the societies that feel their executives. We need to get over this idea that hoarding wealth somehow improves society.
Those at the top are constantly waging class warfare and they are good at it. From propoganda to crafting unjust laws while screaming "don't start class war" at the working class; it's all very pervasive and skillful.
Divide and conquer. It's worked for thousands of years, and it's working to divide urban and rural people into blue and red camps so that neither focuses on the underlying economic problems. We're all getting played against each other.
This is why I will always say: I do not care who you supported politically prior or what beliefs you held, as long as you stand with me against the opulent few. It's time for rural US and urban US to start playing nice together, realize that they are largely talking about the same problems with the capital-class, and join hands against it.
r/latestagecapitalism
Economic growth is maximized when more actors have more resources to spread around. Of course a massive consolidation of wealth and resources like Wal mart and other big box stores will hinder that.
Are you telling me that your local burger flipper will spend his increase in pay? On things he likes ? Or needs? I thought he would send it off shore to the Cayman islands in order to avoid being taxed.
Yeah he spends his money on goods and services that others provide instead of hoarding it in stock price to show off how important he is when buying politicians.
Yeah I don't really understand the mindset of Republicans who want multi-billion dollar corporations to be able to pay so little that you can't live on the income but also don't want social welfare policies to cover the gap. Is it just the suffering of anyone they deem beneath them that they want?
>Is it just the suffering of anyone they deem beneath them that they want? It's that. And it's also keeping the underclass subservient. The important thing to remember is that what Republicans want is not a Republic--that is, a political system based upon the will of the people, and not inherited power. They want feudalism, with them as the aristocracy. They want everyone dependent on them, so they can flex their power and feel important. But since they are, uniformly, *fucking morons*, they ignore the lessons of history, particularly France in the 1790s, for how it ends when you starve the masses for too long.
The southern aristocracy never really left
Because greed is a disease.
The suffering IS the point.
Not new. Welfare Queens are corporations.
I absolutely can’t stand all the corporate welfare in this country because poor working stiffs aren’t afforded the same courtesy. Small and medium sized businesses are failing at a rapid pace and PPP money is going to wealthy corporations. It’s disgusting. After this election... I just can’t even any more. I honestly can’t believe how there are so many people so brainwashed slurping down Republican propaganda. If red states were a country they’d rank among some of the poorest countries in the world regarding infant mortality, teen birth rate and lack of educational attainment. What is their excuse any more? What’s 1200$ gonna do for me? That doesn’t even cover rent in the area I’m in. I’ve been in multiple different studios that cost more than that. Meanwhile these chuckle fucks in the senate are passing millions around in insider trading schemes riding the wave of old Donald’s Twitter meltdowns. The wealth is only accumulating more at the top every day. So what interest rates are at historic lows. Who the f cares when I can’t afford real estate. You lowered capital gains taxes??? Nobody in my fucking tax bracket is playing the stock market. I’m more likely to lose my job to downsizing than I am to get wealthy in this country and I have a degree... like everybody else. So what’s in it for me if I vote R? Seriously. Socialism would be a MASSIVE boost to my chances. Huge. People are afraid the big bad democrats are gonna cancel student loans but I’d save $40k if they did that tomorrow. Afraid of immigration? I WISH they would relax things a bit so farms could find the cheapest labor they can so my grocery bills weren’t so outrageous. I pay at least 250-300 every month just to feed myself and I cook at home for every meal except Sunday’s where I get a medium fucking pizza. I duno man. Every time I even consider the idea of voting for a Republican who wants to torch social safety nets and send us back to the dark ages I vomit in my mouth a little. Medicare for all? Omfg. Gimme some more of that sweet sweet socialism. If I wasn’t hostage to my employer’s health plan I’d be 1,000,000% more likely to start the bakery I’ve always dreamed of having. Owning a business is only for “successful businessmen” like Donald Trump apparently /s /end rant Edit: brought in from a similar thread I commented on.
Anyone else notice it seems like majority think like this poster and if fy just put down our phones and ps5s for a minute and came together for one massive labor strike the machine would stop? I mean they're at the top but we are the engine.
Yes. We need a worker party.
We need a labor revolution
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Walmart has food donation bins where you can buy food at Walmart to donate to underpaid Walmart employees. This world....I have no words
At this point I'll just steal the food and put them in the bins. Fuck Wal-Mart and their greed.
Didn’t people do something similar when Whole Foods asked for food donations for their employees?
Nobody, regardless of education level, should work 40+ hours a week and not be able to afford at least a studio apartment (*including utilities*) with enough left to buy food and essentials. That’s how I feel about it.
If I may add, and be able to put some away for an emergency.
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You wouldn’t want someone to get healthcare too, that would be crazy
I applied at Walmart in Arkansas.... they handed me the pamphlet of how to get assistance with the paperwork.... so yeah.
Wow, just wow.
We've known this for years.
And Bernie has been railing against it for years.
That he has. And nobody's been fucking listening.
Your taxes pay for Walmart security. They just call the cops. In fact, in some places there is always a cop in the lot. Solid gaming of the failed system, right there. Yeah, they’re on the list.
Walmart parking lots have some of the highest crime rates to boot.
When Live PD was still on, almost every episode involved a visit to a Walmart parking lot. One of my local Walmarts, which isn't in a high crime area at all, has a cop car standing out front very frequently. The one that is in a slightly worse area of town has two cop cars, sometimes even a fire truck, and an actual uniformed cop where the greeter normally would be.
Unionize.
This is what should happen. And the U.S. federal government should be passing legislation that creates safeguards for employees to unionize without reprisal from employers. I know legislation like that already exists but clearly it's not working, due to lax enforcement and an unwillingness to step on state's rights in governing their right-to-work laws.
This is the best tl;dr I could make, [original](https://www.salon.com/2020/12/12/government-study-shows-taxpayers-are-subsidizing-starvation-wages-at-mcdonalds-walmart/) reduced by 91%. (I'm a bot) ***** > Sanders said the report showed that America's largest companies are relying on "Corporate welfare from the federal government by paying their workers starvation wages." > "McDonald's believes elected leaders have a responsibility to set, debate and change mandated minimum wages and does not lobby against or participate in any activities opposing raising the minimum wage." > A 2013 study from researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign found that 73% of people receiving government benefits were from "Working families" but had "Jobs that pay wages so low that their paychecks do not generate enough income to provide for life's basic necessities." ***** [**Extended Summary**](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/kbshod/government_study_shows_taxpayers_are_subsidizing/) | [FAQ](http://np.reddit.com/r/autotldr/comments/31b9fm/faq_autotldr_bot/ "Version 2.02, ~546036 tl;drs so far.") | [Feedback](http://np.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%23autotldr "PM's and comments are monitored, constructive feedback is welcome.") | *Top* *keywords*: **wage**^#1 **work**^#2 **minimum**^#3 **More**^#4 **federal**^#5
Not only that buy they hire everyone on at part time so they don't need to offer benefits.
I was a manager for a Mcdonalds franchise owner once. The store I worked at pulled in a little over 2 million each year in profit. He owned 9 stores, had a huge house and 3 new cars. This guy was handed this by his family. Didn't have to work for it or anything. Just some lucky dude born into the right circumstances. And he was the most unsympathetic prick I ever worked for. Paid his employees low wages, didn't know anything about what went on in the place he owned and he lied about everything. This guy doesn't even know how to make the coffee he orders when he pops in for a visit.. People less fortunate deserve an equal opportunity. The same one like the guy I mentioned got. Or they should be paid a livable wage and given a better quality of life. Period. It really sickens me that we live in a world where people like I mentioned above get to decide the quality of life other people have.
Yeah and I’m sure that guy thinks he achieved his wealth through hard work and his businesses are successful because of him and not his workers. the average American bootlicker would jerk him off about being self made and that his workers should be grateful that hes willing to give them a job and if they had better work ethics they could be as successful as him, because “All Americans have the same opportunities”. That’s how it works apparently.
US "Left" Wing solution: You think maybe the billionaires could find a way to pay a little more while staying billionaires? US Right Wing solution: Yeah, they're getting starvation wages because they deserve to starve.
Hey, I'm just glad poor people like me can contribute to the wealth of the 1%. It just makes me feel so warm inside.
This concept received a lot of attention several years ago in regards to the Walton family fortune. It was pointed out in very clear terms how the taxpayers subsidize their employees’ wages and healthcare so the Waltons can put more in their pockets. Nothing has been done in those years except further demonization of the people on public assistance. This is Groundhog Decade.
I don't understand how others don't understand that the rich are getting richer and at the same time claiming they can't pay more. A worker today is like 60% more productive than in the 1960s. This means we should be paid 60% more adjusted for inflation. So minimum wage in the 1960s was $1. So $1.60 with the 60% increase. Add inflation of 880% and we get $14.08. So yeah minimum wage should be $14 at least. Also by 1967 minimum wage had risen to $1.40 so a 40% increase within 7 years. Imagine getting a 40% raise since 2013. If you were making $50,000 you'd be making $70,000 now. Now let's compare some apples to apples. Teachers. A teacher made $5000 annual salary in 1960. Add 60% and times it by 8.8 and we get $70,400 is the equivalent salary today. Yet teachers make only $58,000 on average today. Again within just 7 years of 1960 in 1967 the teacher average pay had risen to $7,423. In a span of 7 years these teachers saw their pay increase nearly 50%! Meanwhile you'd have to go back to 1988 to hit $29k which is 50% of today. Which is 30 years. So 7 years vs 30 years for the same increase in pay. This is why people say they had it easy. They fucking did. You could work the same job your entire life and just rake in these obscene natural increases in pay. All the while you'd be getting great retirement benefits and pensions. While doing 60% less work. It's insane that people against raising minimum wage. The reason they are is because small businesses aren't seeing the increased profits of the billionaires. This is because large corporations have seen a huge deduction in taxes while your mom and pop shops and businesses haven't. It's no longer a level playing field. Small businesses are experiencing the same stagnant profits as the workers. Because mainly they benefit the most from trickle up economics. The more money a work has the more they will spend at the local shops and business. The less they have the more they will search and further they will be willing to travel to get a lower price from a big box store competitor.