Eye opening article about Orlando wages.

[tvguy]

Alright then. So if all these “non-skilled” jobs are for high school students looking to make some extra cash, then why aren’t these businesses closed during school hours? I’m not seeing grocery stores, restaurants, and shopping centers closed from 7AM-3PM Monday through Friday. So they need “regular” people to work? Great, pay them a living wage.

College students who work around their class schedules, and retirees too. Let's get real, people need these jobs, and these jobs can never ever pay a living wage. Although if they stick with this career path at McDonalds, and learn management skills, they can earn a living wage.

 

[EveDallas]

Do people really not understand that their are those who are simply unable for whatever reason to perform more than an "unskilled" job? Anyone working an honest job deserves to be able to support themselves. It really shows a person's character when they're willing to say that some people don't deserve a living wage just because of their job.

 

[EveDallas]

Everyone who works deserves a living wage.

Who is going to stock your grocery shelves, ring up all your purchases at Target, pave your roads, deliver your Amazon packages, get you on and off the rides at WDW, bus your tables at a restaurant, drive your kid's school bus, clean the bathrooms at their schools or at your work place if folks weren't doing these jobs for pay and to earn their living?

Good luck finding enough kids with after school jobs and retirees looking for a little extra cash to work all the hours in a 24 hour day, doing all the things that make your life (and mine) more convenient, healthy or enjoyable and that give you time to work your own job, more "skilled" though it may be. I repeat: everyone who works deserves. a living wage that allows them to live safely, eat securely, and pay for the basic necessities of life.

I completely agree. My post was intended to be sarcastic but may not have come across. I just hear the same refrain all the time from those lucky enough to be financially comfortable - that anyone can get ahead if they aren't lazy.

 

[dhardawa]

Nobody, frankly. Everyone deserves a job that pays them based on their skill. These are jobs for High School students looking for a little money (or retirees looking for a little extra cash). In our society you are supposed to learn a skill to improve your wages.

How are you going to pay for that education to become skilled when you are making so little that you can’t make basic ends meet? Take out student loans and then be saddled with insane interest rates and huge monthly payments for the rest of your life? If we expect people to educate themselves, we need to either pay them better so they can afford that education or provide the education them.

 

[EveDallas]

How are you going to pay for that education to become skilled when you are making so little that you can’t make basic ends meet? Take out student loans and then be saddled with insane interest rates and huge monthly payments for the rest of your life? If we expect people to educate themselves, we need to either pay them better so they can afford that education or provide the education them.

This is a question that those who chant "go to college, get an education" never answer. Or they say that they worked and put themselves through college and by gosh, the lazy people just need to pull up the bootstraps.

 

[tvguy]

How are you going to pay for that education to become skilled when you are making so little that you can’t make basic ends meet? Take out student loans and then be saddled with insane interest rates and huge monthly payments for the rest of your life? If we expect people to educate themselves, we need to either pay them better so they can afford that education or provide the education them.

People do it all the time. So it is entirely possible if you are willing to do the work. Fast food places offer promotions into management programs. And fast food managers make a living wage. WE DON'T need to pay them better so they can afford a better education, they need to do the work.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

Disney pays for college for cast members through their aspire program.

 

[Hikergirl]

Do people really not understand that their are those who are simply unable for whatever reason to perform more than an "unskilled" job? Anyone working an honest job deserves to be able to support themselves. It really shows a person's character when they're willing to say that some people don't deserve a living wage just because of their job.

That isn't how it works, it just isn't. You may not like the truth but the truth is you are paid for what you are worth to the company. If you want to be worth more, you need skills, education, training.
We have all been there at one time or another, if you choose to stay there that is on you, not your employer, not society. If there are circumstances where you truly can't (and none of that it's hard BS, but real reasons ) then there is help out there for you.

And really what is a "living wage"? The woman in the OP makes just under $15 and still has a bank account of $-500. So is it $20, $25, $50 an hour?

 

[EveDallas]

That isn't how it works, it just isn't. You may not like the truth but the truth is you are paid for what you are worth to the company. If you want to be worth more, you need skills, education, training.
We have all been there at one time or another, if you choose to stay there that is on you, not your employer, not society. If there are circumstances where you truly can't (and none of that it's hard BS, but real reasons ) then there is help out there for you.

You believe what you want. I chose to have empathy and compassion for my fellow man.

 

[Hikergirl]

You believe what you want. I chose to have empathy and compassion for my fellow man.

You have no idea where I have come from or why I believe what I do. But sure you can assume whatever you want, just remember what that makes you.

 

[kandb]

Yeah - I mean who deserves a living wage for unskilled labor?

No one said that. If someone is making $15/hr, that is around $30K a year. Is that a living wage??? Well, it depends on what you spend your money on. Maybe someone with that wage may have to be careful with how much money they spend on cell phone, cigarettes, cable TV, entertainment etc.

 

[kandb]

Do people really not understand that their are those who are simply unable for whatever reason to perform more than an "unskilled" job? Anyone working an honest job deserves to be able to support themselves. It really shows a person's character when they're willing to say that some people don't deserve a living wage just because of their job.

I am glad they are raising the minimum wage to $15/hr. I think it is a decent amount of money to pay someone for an entry level job. A lot of people getting out of college start at around $40K a year and a lot of those people have a lot of college loans to pay back.

 

[FQLover]

Well, 30K a year also depends on where in the country you are living and how many people you are supporting. The article is partly about that very thing. Workers cannot afford to live in the towns where there is higher employment, so they must live pretty far away, hence the need for gas. It is not a livable wage if one must sleep in a parking lot overnight because there is not enough gas in the tank to get the 45 minutes back home and then return the next morning for work.

The argument that the poor could indeed have a fine enough life if they just stopped buying cell phones, cable TV, entertainment, and whatever else is listed as over-the-top expenditures is coming from such a place of privilege. And it is completely stereotyping and generalizing the lower economic class in our country.

 

[kymom99]

I guess it doesn’t make sense to me that companies pay poorly at the entry level and have high turn over in those jobs. If they would reward longevity people would stick around. It has to cost a lot to train people who end up quitting in 6 months. Also those hourly people are often the face of the company. The people the public sees. Hiring quality workers at every level benefits the company and their bottom line.

 

[MillauFr]

As is always the case, unskilled labor will be paid more when there is no one left to do the work at the 1st price.

Foreign labor is not used to a US standard of living, so when they come here, they are almost always willing to work at a price lower than an American would believe would support an American standard of living.

Teens and retirees don't need to support a US standard of living b/c they are supported (by SS or parents), but as mentioned, they are hours or task limited.

So, to raise the wages of unskilled, you tighten the market of who would work it at a substandard wage, and then miraculously, the wage will rise b/c the work still needs to get done...

Many of the agricultural workers in Washington State are foreigners here on H-2A visas. Yes they do pay them less. Some people say we should get rid of that program but they have tried to hire Americans for those jobs and have had little success in getting enough people to apply. It is really hard work and very few Americans are willing to do it for the wages they pay. Some people say just raise the pay and you will get more American applicants. The owners of the farms say that if I paid people $30 - $40 an hour to pick apples I could not compete with cheaper prices of imported apples.

I can see both sides of the issue.

 

[MillauFr]

I guess it doesn’t make sense to me that companies pay poorly at the entry level and have high turn over in those jobs. If they would reward longevity people would stick around. It has to cost a lot to train people who end up quitting in 6 months. Also those hourly people are often the face of the company. The people the public sees. Hiring quality workers at every level benefits the company and their bottom line.

Agreed. I disagree with people that say Disney workers are unskilled labor. They need to have excellent people skills. Since we are playing premium prices to go to Disney I expect them to hire and reward people with excellent people skills. They are an integral part of what makes Disney a much better experience than a park like Six Flags.

 

[MillauFr]

You may not like the truth but the truth is you are paid for what you are worth to the company.

Is Bob Iger worth $66m per year?

 

[kymom99]

Agreed. I disagree with people that say Disney workers are unskilled labor. They need to have excellent people skills. Since we are playing premium prices to go to Disney I expect them to hire and reward people with excellent people skills. They are an integral part of what makes Disney a much better experience than a park like Six Flags.

Exactly, and many skills are acquired while on the job. Maybe initially people make a lower wage but as they prove themselves, they should be rewarded. They are making money for the company.

 

[Searc]

Is Bob Iger worth $66m per year?

No one is worth $66 million a year.

 

[Rory607]

Well, 30K a year also depends on where in the country you are living and how many people you are supporting. The article is partly about that very thing. Workers cannot afford to live in the towns where there is higher employment, so they must live pretty far away, hence the need for gas. It is not a livable wage if one must sleep in a parking lot overnight because there is not enough gas in the tank to get the 45 minutes back home and then return the next morning for work.

The argument that the poor could indeed have a fine enough life if they just stopped buying cell phones, cable TV, entertainment, and whatever else is listed as over-the-top expenditures is coming from such a place of privilege. And it is completely stereotyping and generalizing the lower economic class in our country.

Agree. And God forbid they have any health issues that require medication and doctor visits. The cost of healthcare in this country can be crippling.