I had two kids work at Mickey D's, one at KFC, and one at WalMart. My kids all worked during their school days, to help put themselves through college.
So I'm no stranger to the need for fair wages. I worked at the school library during college (part time, of course).
All those jobs paid what we might call a "child's wage," or a wage that was designed to help, not fully provide. Those kinds of wages have been legal for a long time (as long as I've been around), and they do what they are designed to do.
Fast forward to the current situation, and the demands for a $15/hour minimum wage. Now we have people trying to support families on a McDonald's or WalMart wage.
Why is that?
Can you say, "Too few good jobs in the US?"
This is really the endgame after decades of support, both governmental and societal, for sending good jobs overseas, and importing foreign workers under H-1B visas.
Now that we have too few good jobs, government and otherwise, people have to try to make ends meet in a difficult environment, and they have nowhere to go except to the fast food restaurant or Target in order to make enough money to feed their families.
In other words, this is a crisis created by the very corporate icons and government folks we are hoping will solve the problem.
So what's the answer?
More good jobs. The idea that a man and / or woman can support themselves or a family on a Mickey D's salary is simply crazy.
We need better jobs in the US. We need to stop exporting jobs. We need to end the H-1B Visa program.
If we don't do this, we'll all be working at WalMart, and retiring at 95.
So I'm no stranger to the need for fair wages. I worked at the school library during college (part time, of course).
All those jobs paid what we might call a "child's wage," or a wage that was designed to help, not fully provide. Those kinds of wages have been legal for a long time (as long as I've been around), and they do what they are designed to do.
Fast forward to the current situation, and the demands for a $15/hour minimum wage. Now we have people trying to support families on a McDonald's or WalMart wage.
Why is that?
Can you say, "Too few good jobs in the US?"
This is really the endgame after decades of support, both governmental and societal, for sending good jobs overseas, and importing foreign workers under H-1B visas.
Now that we have too few good jobs, government and otherwise, people have to try to make ends meet in a difficult environment, and they have nowhere to go except to the fast food restaurant or Target in order to make enough money to feed their families.
In other words, this is a crisis created by the very corporate icons and government folks we are hoping will solve the problem.
So what's the answer?
More good jobs. The idea that a man and / or woman can support themselves or a family on a Mickey D's salary is simply crazy.
We need better jobs in the US. We need to stop exporting jobs. We need to end the H-1B Visa program.
If we don't do this, we'll all be working at WalMart, and retiring at 95.
No comments:
Post a Comment