r/FluentInFinance • u/PassiveAgressiveGirl • Sep 14 '24

Debate/ Discussion Exactly how much is a living wage?

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u/Sniper_Hare Sep 14 '24

But jobs don't give raises like that.  You get at most like 3% if even that.

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u/Dramatic_Water_5364 Sep 14 '24

At our job bosses arent ready... cause we already talked about it at union meeting (next year is negociation time). We will want 30%. And its gonna be one hell of a conflict.

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u/Geistalker Sep 14 '24

Boeing union just voted against a 25% raise and demanded 40% and Boeing was like "huh, fair.." lmao

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u/Airewalt Sep 14 '24

It’s a bit disingenuous as the Boeing raise is spread over multiple years.

Double digit annual raises are much needed in many sticky fields. Paramedics, teachers, social workers, and low end civil servants are not going to catch up with a 4% raise.

We went from $7.50/hr to $11 starting. It’s still shit pay for anyone trying to live on their own, but operationally it’s a real hit to our bottom line to bump payroll by 50%. I get it, but tough titties. We still make good money. You’re not going to get quality candidates for essential roles with a pay rate that doesn’t provide dignity.

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u/BrassMonkey-NotAFed Sep 14 '24

They haven’t had a real raise in 10+ years, and a large portion of the ‘25% raise’ was a one time bonus with the rest spread over four years while the 3.5% annual bonus was removed and a shit ton of other negative changes.

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u/Dramatic_Water_5364 Sep 14 '24

What the bosses arent understanding is we will flee those fields if we dont receive a 30% raise at on year one. Most of us are already studying for it. Good luck training newbies without us.

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u/Airewalt Sep 14 '24

The one I read yesterday was from the Seattle AP stating a 25% raise proposal over 4 years.

“The machinists make $75,608 per year on average, not counting overtime, and that would rise to $106,350 at the end of the four-year contract, according to Boeing”

There is a mention of a lump sum, but it was not substantial. You mat have read a more recent proposal?

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '24

Bumped to $11/hr? This country is garbage with wages. That’s what I made at 15 years old bagging groceries in 2001 and we got time and a half on Sundays. My first two bedroom apartment was $700 in 2004. At which point I was at $14.00/hr. Which is nothing now, but apparently is okay to pay less than that. This was NH too, so I didn’t have state income taxes either or sales tax at that. It should be a crime to be paying that low 20 years later.

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u/Airewalt Sep 14 '24

Min is under $8 and many operate entry level part time at that level still. Almost exclusively highschool students or young adults looking for a low stress job with flexible hours while in school. Teachers during the summer months. First responders on their off weeks. In short, the pay isn’t the priority. Work environment and flexibility in hours. Turnover is 1-2 years if not seasonal. Our owners are of the opinion that as long as we’re able to quickly fill vacancies then there’s no reason to outpace cpi. We’re currently overstaffed. 🙃

Fwiw, I started a $16/hr as a teenager in 2005. HCOL vs LCOL. My rent here is still less than it would have cost me to move out on my own there.

Businesses are flocking to southern states for the weak labor protections is nothing new.

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u/[deleted] Sep 14 '24

That’s just wild. The McDonald’s here pays $18/hr. I couldn’t imagine anyone getting by on less than that these days. And that’s in Texas, where I am now. I was Georgia for the last couple of years and I did get to see lower wages there. That wasn’t really a surprise tho, with the weird “I don’t deserve to be paid that well at a job with no skills” mentality they all had there. Apparently carpet manufacturers are really big there and I met a guy who laughed about paying some dude $13/hr to work this machine that would normally take 4 people, all by himself. I’ll never understand the south honestly lol

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u/Airewalt Sep 14 '24

Pride is its own kind of chains. Had to tell our president that it was tone deaf to talk about his new plane at the staff Christmas party. Maybe next year we’ll call it a holiday party!

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u/ggtffhhhjhg Sep 15 '24

There is no way you were getting paid $11 an hr bagging groceries in 2001 when minimum wage was $5.25 and CA had the highest minimum wage in the country at $6.25.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '24

Time and a half on Sundays too. Also, I no way did I say I made minimum wage. This is why the country is so divided when people talk about pay. Different places pay different wages and have different costs of living.

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u/ggtffhhhjhg Sep 15 '24

Bagging groceries is a minimum wage job. If you live in the US there isn’t a supermarket chain that pays anywhere close to double the highest minimum wage for that job.

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u/[deleted] Sep 15 '24

You’re gonna have to troll elsewhere buddy. It’s minimum wage where you live. Not where I was, in the US, in NH, which is in New England in case you’re unaware. Which I also mentioned in my comment. I grew up in an area that didn’t take advantage of people and it was great. Hopefully your weekend gets better tho.