Hamburgers or minimum wage

[Omaha Steve]

Just came in an email from a former friend and retired union member!


Edit to say yes this is against raising the minimum wage etc.


I back the $15 an hour for workers.


For those fast food employees striking for $15 an hour, let's do some math.

At $15 an hour Johnny Fry-Boy working 40 hours per week would make $30,000
annually.

An E1 (Private) in the military makes $18,378 annually.

An E5 (Sergeant) with 8 years of service only makes $35,067 annually.

So you're telling me, Sally McBurgerflipper, that you deserve as much as
those kids getting shot at, deploying for months in hostile environments,
and putting themselves on the line every day protecting your unskilled
butt!?

Here's the deal Sweetheart Baconator, you are working in a job designed for
a kid in high school who is actually supposed to be learning how to work and
earning enough for gas, movies , and hanging out with their equally goofy
high school pals. If you have chosen this as your life long profession, you
have failed.

If you don't want minimum wage, don't have minimum skills!

If you can read this, thank a teacher.

If it's in English, thank a Veteran.

[benz380]

1. No hamburger here but I got..

[Sopkoviak]

2. Thank you for this Steve.

It needs to be shouted from the rooftops!

Finally a Union guy with some sense.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

3. I am confused, how does that SUPPORT $15 an hour, i am reading this wrong I think

looks like the person talking doesnt support higher wages

[Omaha Steve]

7. Correct the mail is against the Mc Workers

He is against it. He is former Air force so I'm sure that struck him. He is a retired union worker.

This email is right out right wingnut think tank #7.

I back the burger flippers.

OS

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

9. That is what I figured...when you read these hate emails, they almost make sense, dont they.

They sound reasonable to your average idiot teaparty asshole who believes everybody is out to get him.

[phil89]

4. The burger flipper

Isn't signing up to kill people in a pointless conflict. I see No problem giving them more money, at least theyre productive. Will we ever drop the mindless military worship?

[dilby]

5. If you want to pay high school wages.

Then only hire high school students and only be open when high school students are available. If you want to run your business during school hours and late into the evening you need adults who will work at those times and if you need adults you need to pay adult wages which is around $15 an hour.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

6. I know Steve is a supporter of higher wages, so I was confused

There is no reason to EVER race to the bottom.

If hamburger people make $15 an hour then so will hotel and motel service people or housekeepers and so will


... ... ...

Everybody makes more this way

[sharp_stick]

8. The Private and Sergeant

get full health care including vision and dental for him/her and the entire family.

Tax-Free Housing & Food Allowances, or Free Room & Board.

30 Days of Vacation per Year or more based on grade.

Pension

Below is an example of the annual Regular Military pay for a servicemember at the E-4 pay level, with three years of military service.

Recent Example of Annual Military Pay:
Unmarried Married with 2 children
Basic Pay $24,300.00 $24,300.00
Cash for Meals $3,886.44 $3,886.44
Cash or (Equivalent) for Housing* $10,548.00 $13,932.00
Cash Total $38734.44 $42,118.44
Federal Tax Advantage $4,421.00 $5,412.00
Regular Military Compensation $43,155.44 $47,530.44

[Omaha Steve]

10. Thank you

How much is combat pay when they are getting shot at as described?

[sharp_stick]

17. I'm no expert

it doesn't look like a lot..

from: http://www.arcent.army.mil/about-us/fact-sheets/deployment-entitlements-fact-sheet

Hostile Fire Pay/ Imminent Danger Pay (HFP/IDP): HFP/IDP is payable to Service Members (SM) subjected to hostile fire or imminent danger while on official duty in an imminent danger area designated in DoD Financial Management Regulation (DFMR) Vol. 7A, Chapter 10. SMs are paid for only the actual days served in an IDP area. IDP is prorated at $7.50 per day for a maximum amount payable not to exceed $225 a month. SMs exposed to hostile fire receive HFP in the full amount of $225. As of June 2014, only Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, Pakistan, Syria, Yemen and Egypt qualify for IDP in the US CENTCOM AO.

There are also other allowances that can be earned:

Hardship Duty Pay-Location (HDP-L): HDP is additional compensation paid to SMs temporary/ deployed/ attached/ or assigned for duty over 30 days duration in designated locations. Rates payable vary by location from $50 to $150 monthly. SMs receiving HFP/IDP may receive a maximum of $100 for HDP.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

11. Classic class warfare, pit the $20 an hour guy against the $!0 an hour guy

while the $450,000 an hour guy runs away with all the fucking money

We are stupid if we let this continue ONE more day

[joshcryer]

13. Wait until robots are flipping burgers.

Oh, wait, they already are... people just assemble the burger at this point, everything else is done by automated processes.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

15. One of the reasons you need birth control, effective and world wide.

Personally I think once we have automated everything there is no reason most people cant live comfortable lives doing very little work

This concept however drives RIGHTY COMPLETELY OUT OF THEIR MINDS, they INSIST that you work, you work all day everyday and until you die.

[joshcryer]

18. The times are interesting.

A guaranteed minimum wage like the democrats wanted to pass in the 90s (Kennedy and Wyden's plan), living wage, or negative income tax, something has to be done.

Guys like OPs ex friend seem to think that since they "got theirs" everyone else can screw off.

[joshcryer]

12. People want cheap tasty food.

At whatever cost.

[KG]

14. 'If it's in English, thank a Veteran.'

[OnionPatch]

16. Unfortunately some people think this way.

Even my normally liberal-minded (but apolitical) sister commented that she'll hardly be making more than minimum wage if it's raised.

Aside from the fact that this email is misleading regarding military compensation, what I find appalling is that that certain segments of the business world feel that they should not be not subject to employment standards and have a right to hire people at non-living wages. Just what does it mean "designed for a kid in high school", anyway? I know these businesses didn't open in order to provide jobs for high school kids. Why should fast food companies get a pass on labor standards? If you're working 8 hours a day, you deserve to be compensated with a living wage.

[HughBeaumont]

19. Sigh.

1. Maybe they unintentionally pointed out the main problem of America's economy . . . EVERYONE needs to be paid better.

2. "putting themselves on the line every day protecting your unskilled butt!?" Goddamn it, I'm so tired of hearing this canard. How long has it been since America had or has a military involvement that had ANYthing to do with domestic defense WHATsoever?

What, did the DRV have this massive armada? Was Saddam going to take his million man army over to Washington and burn the National Archive down? What about Qaddafi, or however you spelled his name? Let's go one better in the CIA-created false trail known as The Cold War (thanks, Gehlen!): Was a financially depleted Soviet Union REALLY going to blow up the universe or was Kennedy's military brass fanatically thinking that a limited nuclear strike would actually be successful (who watches the Watchmen?)?

It took a Democratic Administration's military to finally avenge 9-11, but a War on an Abstract Concept will never end. It's not meant to. How exactly is it "protection" when America has over 1,000 bases across the Earth in over 100 countries? We're the only goddamned superpower LEFT. Who needs the protection from WHOM?

This isn't meant to insult anyone who's served or currently serving, but the hyperbole of defending mainly corporate energy interests disguised as "defending you fast food workers!" isn't helping. COME on.

3. Can't exactly "Supersize yer skillset, haw haw" on even $9.00 an hour. This isn't 1983 you live in, Mr. Jokey Jokemaker.

4. Native tonges are almost entirely accidents of history, not due to troops "DEFENDIN YER FREEDUMS!"

5. Maybe . . . just MAYBE . . . you all should have just said NO to politicians who gave the keys to Corporate America so they could become a law unto themselves??? Maybe that's WHY the low-paying service industry is the new "blue collar work", since you let the Martin Feldstien/Milton Friedman-educated bean counters outsource and automate everything not nailed down without taxing them???

[Algernon Moncrieff]

20. This is a pretty good rebuttal

It is true that an E-1 base pay is relatively low. However they also receive housing and food, either directly or through a tax free allowance called BAH and BAS. BAH varies by region with the cost of housing. In San Diego, an expensive market that has a high military presence, an unmarried E-1 Marine fresh out of boot camp will receive at BAH of $1713 per month, tax free, plus about $350 a month for food, tax free. That's an additional $25000 a year, tax free, and it goes up every year and every promotion. So the real "pay" for our hypothetical E-1 is closer to $43000 a year, with more than half of that exempt from taxation.

There are other benefits too: full medical and dental, tax free shopping, GI bill for college, etc.

Maybe this is not enough to pay our men and women in uniform. If you think so, ask yourself why it's so low? Answer: because their compensation package must compete with other opportunities, including minimum wage jobs. A low minimum wage means you can pay recruits less (not to mention other private sector workers). Raise the former and the latter will have to rise to be competitive.

There's also a sad (and cliche) helping of class on class warfare in this post, the same attitude that allows things like slavery and Jim Crow to exist. Too many people are happy to get shafted so long as they have someone else they can look down on.

http://myrightwingdad.blogspot.com/2015/06/fwd-fw-hamburgers-and-minimum-wage.html