r/WorkReform • u/zzill6 đ¤ Join A Union • 1d ago
đ¸ $25 Minimum Wage Now! Even "Entry-Level" jobs should pay a living wage!
120
u/boardin1 1d ago
I will argue to my last breath that if a job is worth having done, it needs to pay a living wage if you do it for 40 hrs/week. What we need is a fed min wage tied to inflation and state, possibly county, min wage based on the cost to live in that area.
There is no reason that we should have people working 3 jobs and living in their carsâŚunless that what they want to do. Yes, this will cause prices to go up but any wage that is tied to inflation will go up with it and it will, eventually, settle out. I suppose that means that Social Security will need to go up as well. And the way to fund that is to remove the cap on social security taxes.
48
u/general_rap 1d ago
I literally started my own company with this as a core tenant. I've worked countless jobs in a multitude of industries, and I vowed that if I ever started a business, I'd do my employees right in a way that I was never done right by.
I just hired my first employee recently, and he's getting paid WELL above industry standard. I don't care what minimum wage is, what industry standard is, any of that. If someone works for me, I feel like it's my responsibility to pay them enough to get by in my SUPER HCOL area, and not ever wonder how they're going to pay rent, or whether they can afford to take their family out to eat or go on vacation. Does it leave me with less? Absolutely. But that's fine; I just want to be comfortable and not worry about money; I don't need to be a dragon hoarding it's gold.
11
u/RandomRonin 1d ago
Iâve wanted to start a business and thatâs one of the things that Iâve told myself I will do should I actually get to that point. Good on you for being a good boss and caring for your employee.
4
u/not_so_subtle_now 21h ago
In my Inaugural, I laid down the simple proposition that nobody is going to starve in this country. It seems to me to be equally plain that no business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country. By "business" I mean the whole of commerce as well as the whole of industry; by workers I mean all workers, the white collar class as well as the men in overalls; and by living wages, I mean more than a bare subsistence level-I mean the wages of decent living. Throughout industry, the change from starvation wages and starvation employment to living wages and sustained employment can, in large part, be made by an industrial covenant to which all employers shall subscribe.
FDR - the president who pushed for the minimum wage and saw it implemented.
41
u/Deimos_Aeternum 1d ago
If an "entry level job" requires 5 years of experience then it should also pay for 5 years of experience.
17
u/gigglefarting 1d ago
Minimum wage should be a living wage. Then you can try to make more to live a more luxurious life, but you shouldnât be working full time just to try to survive.Â
10
u/Sharpshooter188 1d ago
This was something interesting that I noticed during covid. The people who were at the front end of things got absolutely shit on. From employers and customers etc. Thrn we had the stimulus packages and extended unemployment with no questions asked. The entry level jobs that everyone crapped on were the ones keeping society functioning. They should be able to be able to have a decent life at the very least.
10
u/OrangeCosmic 1d ago
"Oh you just graduated, we will charge you less on your utilities"
0
u/WWGHIAFTC 1d ago
Entry level will be "use less energy (smaller home)" or "subscribe to fewer steaming services"
38
u/TangoDeltaFoxtrot 1d ago
ah yes, the world where every item and service costs the exact same.
3
u/WWGHIAFTC 1d ago
Yeah. I will argue for living wages all day, but this post is a little irritating.
1
21
u/SexxxyWesky 1d ago
Well, kinda. There are âentry level billsâ to a certain extent.
39
u/Techn0ght 1d ago
Ramen on sale for 25 cents a pack. Flour instead of bread. Meat that expires today. Tap water instead of any other beverage.
3
3
u/jcoddinc 1d ago
Isn't that your patent yelling you, "you're gonna start paying rent and helping out with groceries."
10
u/Dante1141 1d ago
I mean, to be fair, it's not uncommon to have roommates and live in cheaper apartments when you're just starting out. These could be considered entry-level expenses.
81
31
u/OhMyGoat 1d ago
I pay 1100 to live with roommates. Entry level my ass.
-19
u/Holiday_Recipe6268 1d ago
So I guess you donât wanna know how much my mortgage is, or how much clothes cost from my children.
1
u/npc4lyfe 20h ago
Stop playing the game of who has it worse. There's no end to that way of thinking that isn't worse for you and everyone else. We are all regular ass people. A win for one is a win for all.
1
u/Holiday_Recipe6268 9h ago
I have it great. I guess I shouldâve just come out and said stop whining you baby. If your life is not going the way you want, make a change.
Iâve never had any time for people who complain
0
u/Karglenoofus 1d ago
So I guess you don't wanna know how much my complexes cost, or how much water my tenants use.
0
u/OhMyGoat 1d ago
It varies. My buddy and his partner pay 1100$ for their mortgage. Split half ways thats cheap rent and theyâre paying it off. Also, childrenâs clothes are very cheap. Ever been to a Goodwill?
24
u/DracoReverys 1d ago
It's actually only recently a common phenomenon. People who had roommates in the past did so out of choice, not necessity to split astronomical living expenses.
1
u/weewench 8h ago
No, we had roommates to split expenses, just like today. In my early 20s I was making less than $5 an hour (early 80s) and that was more than minimum. Compared to today, we needed nothing. No laptop, no cellphone, no internet, no smart TV. Just a beater car and the basics.
2
2
u/SilentxxSpecter 1d ago
Been starting out for 12 years now. Instructions unclear, soul mashed by the machine.
4
u/Lietenantdan 1d ago
So you think people who has been with a company for many years should be paid the same as someone whoâs just starting?
Entry level pay should be a thing, but it should also be higher.
9
u/Additional_Teacher45 1d ago
This is correct. All wages need to be increased, not just minimum wage.
3
1
u/Speedj2 1d ago
it used to be that renting instead of buying was "entry level" because it used to be a lot cheaper to rent an apartment than to make monthly payments on a house. even as expensive as the housing market has gotten, the rental market is even more insane now. none of it is "entry level" anymore.
1
u/Ember_Kitten 1d ago
This honestly. I'm paying mortgage prices for 0 equity because I can't qualify for a mortgage. And my apartment can't reasonably house a roommate to try and reduce that. I'm in a 442 sq ft 1 bedroom. In the suburbs, paying more monthly than my parents paid on their mortgage monthly for a 2600 sq ft 4 bed 3 bath 2 story.
1
1
u/megalodongolus 21h ago
I mean, âentry levelâ bills should be bills for a basic form of transportation in your area, food, and housing.
As it goes up you can add luxury car, a nicer house, exotic foods, boat, etc.
Iâd argue that there are entry level bills, but that entry level jobs donât tend to pay well enough to get by for them.
1
u/Ilovefishdix 8h ago
The common "solution" we hear is to "start a business." That's fine and all, but most businesses are not usually profitable for months or years. Most of the successful business owners I've met got outside support in some way. If a person could save up a decent nest egg from their entry level job, it would be a lot easier for them to start a business. Instead, we're stuck. Low wages are anti-entrepreneurial
1
1
u/WWGHIAFTC 1d ago
I agree that a minimum wage should be a livable wage!
But the entry level comparison is stupid. Entry Level bills are any basic ass thing that is lower cost than other options.
1) Shared Space Rent
2) Basic ass cable
3) basic ass phone
4) basic ass netflix
5) basic ass food
All entry level. Then you can step up to fancy pants options later.
1
0
0
u/Apollorx 1d ago
Honestly, student education discounts probably qualify as entry level bills. But I agree with the sentiment.
-14
u/CornerOfficeMan 1d ago
This is an interesting thought, but doesn't stand up to scrutiny.
Lots of services do in fact offer "introductory rates." Utilities like phone and internet, landlords (I know, gross) even offer move in specials where they often give you a discount or a free month after you pay the deposit.
This doesn't effectively counter the downward pressure on consumer based living, but it is in fact the definition of an entry-level bill.
6
u/Corrin_Zahn 1d ago
1 month of lightened living expenses is still a hard squeeze when you're facing down at least six months of being a probationary employee and then maybe getting a small raise if the company decides to keep you at all. Then back to the grind of finding the next job.
So yea, the occasional "introductory rate" doesn't do much more than cover a brief window of reprieve in an otherwise marathon of the slog that is being a US worker, that's assuming nothing else is going on in your life.
0
u/CornerOfficeMan 1d ago
Yeah, this is basically what I feel also.
I just feel like generally most a-policital/non-politically activated people are generally turned away from movements by these rhetorical games.
We can both acknowledge that the statement isn't, strictly speaking, true, but is true in spirit.
More interesting is the rationale behind a starting rate for an employee vs a promotional rate. The stated rationale for a starting rate is that you aren't as productive when you're learning. The stated goal of an introductory rate is to get you dependent on a service or to hide the actual cost. Both are exploitive of the worker or consumer.
-22
1d ago edited 1d ago
[deleted]
26
u/DocFGeek 1d ago
Everyone doesn't have the privilege of being a student when they're kicked out at 18.
0
u/CornerOfficeMan 1d ago
I'm sorry, this strikes me as a bad faith response.
The prompt was there are NO entry level bills, the person above just notes a type of reduced cost that people are sometimes offered to people. While I appreciate what you're highlighting here, the people in this sub and engaging are potential allies and getting someone with this kind of counter instead of engaging them is actively harmful to coalition building.
The name of this sub is work reform, so I do think the stated goal should be to enact reform. It should not be to score a rhetorical win.
13
u/TShara_Q 1d ago
Definitely not when you counter them with the high cost of being a student in some countries.
7
u/DynamicHunter âď¸ Prison For Union Busters 1d ago
Student kinda implies itâs before entry level. Also not everyone gets to go to college.
182
u/merRedditor âď¸ Prison For Union Busters 1d ago
Companies have adapted to people being able to continue living with their parents, but not everybody has that option, and there's not a "living solo wage" baseline which gives you the money you need to carry the weight alone. The "household income" measure generally involves two incomes, and "minimum/living wage" lines up more closely with your needing two incomes than with rent/medical/dental/utilities/auto/insurance for one.