Starbucks Employees Petition Company To Stop Slashing Hours After Raising Wages

Poverty has changed dramatically in America. Rather than admit that sweetening the business environment isn't trickling down to workers, we have shifted from a PR War on Poverty to a War on Poor People. Pitting those who are barely making it against those who aren't making it at all, while Wall Street and the top 1 percent soars. Economic policies that will help have been blocked by paid lobbyists and monied interests who can afford staff to watchdog the winner take all agenda.

Even education has become the next opportunity for predatory lending now that home values have been sucked dry.


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a reply to: TheRedneck

It's impossible to raise a family on 5k a year lets be honest here.

a reply to: onequestion

You wanna see my tax returns?

I DID IT.

Impossible is a word used by people who are either too lazy or too uneducated to do something.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

Well I'm happy for you, but you can't assume that your situation is how it works for everyone. Entry level jobs far surpass any other form of employment, so if you want to talk about supply and demand then you should apply the same logic with the job market. It's hard to find a job that pays a living wage, it's much easier to find a job that pays crap money. If you graduate college there is absolutely no guarantee that you will find a job that falls within your major.

I know several people who went to college and are now $20,000+ in debt that don't even work within the field they went to college for. A friend of mine got a degree in aeronautical engineering, is about $26,000 in debt and cannot find a job within his field of study for anything even with an Air Force base 30 minutes away. Good paying jobs are few and far between, crap paying jobs are in abundance. Talk about supply and demand? The job market is full of jobs that don't want to pay their employees a fair wage, but when you can't find a good paying job then you have to settle for minimum wage. Something is better than nothing but your life still suffers from it.

Like I said, you can't equate your situation with what is typical.

a reply to: Quantum12

It sounds like congratulations are in order for you too.

I think the proudest moment during that whole time was after the awards presentation. I was outside with my family and classmates talking and smoking, and a lady came up to me. She told me she had been in school long ago, but had never realized her dream, and had always found an excuse to not go back. She told me she couldn't find an excuse after listening to the faculty tell what I had done. She was going back to finish.

She might have been around 40?

I couldn't stop smiling. The award paled in significance after hearing her. I stopped one person from living inside that box of "I can't." It's too bad there are so many that will never see they really can. *sigh*

That's what I think about when I look up and see it now, hanging in my little shop. Not the accolades. Not the pomp and circumstance. Not the faculty beaming proudly at me. That woman, with hope and purpose outweighs it all.

TheRedneck

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

There's no guarantee I will wake up above the dirt tomorrow morning. You want guarantees? Go to Walmart.

I take that back. If you never try to do anything, you will never accomplish anything... guaranteed. Your friend apparently hasn't tried hard enough to get a job. It's not like you're going to be mobbed by employers when you walk out the university doors. You have to assemble a resume, apply, apply, apply until you get interviews, maybe take an internship or temporary position long enough to get it on your resume. You're competing with others no matter what you do.

I refuse to count the debt. That's a decision he made. I struggled through debt-free, because I saw the trap. He saw an easier way and took it. Several of my classmates graduated with high debt levels too. Their decision; their cross to bear.

It also depends on your major. You have to find your place. That part was easy for me; I have always wanted to be an engineer. Others might do better as a physicist, or a doctor, or a lawyer, or a businessman, or even a chef. The trick is to find something to do that you are passionate about, learn to do it better than anyone else, and find a way to market it.

Underwater Basket Weaving obviously doesn't count.

And I guess you're right... my situation isn't typical. It was harder than for most. But that's OK... keep sitting there telling yourself that it's too hard, that you aren't tough enough or good enough or whatever enough to do it, keep finding reasons to discredit those who have done it, and keep whining about how unfair it all is. That hasn't helped anyone change their life since caveman days, but maybe it'll work for you. Good luck.

TheRedneck

originally posted by: TheRedneck
a reply to: onequestion

You wanna see my tax returns?

I DID IT.

Impossible is a word used by people who are either too lazy or too uneducated to do something.

TheRedneck

5000 is not enough to pay rent and water bills for a year you got support somewhere else

I'm not knocking your successful attempt at education but your not telling the whole truth either

a reply to: TheRedneck

You changed her life too. Giving a person encouragement is a great gift! The best is knowing how hard you worked in school and it pays off.

For me I hit the bottom of life to be able to move up in this world.

a reply to: TheRedneck

When I was taking HVAC in college there were people who could and people who couldn't do the work. They washed out. For me it was straight forward, but God creates everyone differently, and skilled positions are scarce and you need the education. If you can't do the college you have to figure it out and make the $ somehow. I couldn't have made the $ with out HVAC schooling. But the world is about to change (5-10 years).

There are always going to be people who are down on their luck. The only thing we need to recognize is that there are going to be more and more people who are down. And there will be no job for them or a waiting list?

As employment becomes scarce due to automation we have to have a plan to handle the new economy. This economy is no longer based on scarcity but on automation and very little labor per unit. The changes to labor will be very disruptive, we can plan for the disruption and make it peaceful or....

a reply to: onequestion

Rent: $0. I own my old trailer and the land it sits on. It's not much, but it's mine.

Water bill: $0. I have a well.

I paid for electricity, gas back and forth to work/school (and made trips count extra whenever possible), and toiletries. Food stamps covered food. I also learned to "hyper-mile."

I do all my repairs myself. I probably spent about $200 on repairs during the last 3 years, for parts.

We have kerosene heat, barely enough to keep the water pipes from freezing in the dead of winter. We dress warm and sit under blankets most of the winter. We have no AC; we have a window fan and cold showers during the summer. We plan trips to town during the heat of the day in summer, so we have a little AC from the car during that time, and in the early morning/evening during the winter to get heat from the car heater. We have been to one movie in the last 15 years, and my son (now grown) used that as a birthday present for my wife. We do not eat out; we cook at home. I wore the same clothes for 5 years while we went through this; I just last week bought some new clothes. My wife typically gets clothes for her birthday from her family.

My nice flat screen TV was given to me because it didn't work. I shopped around online, found the bad chip and installed it. Now we have a 73" DSP Samsung TV sitting in the living room, which I got for less than $50.

The things you take for granted, we did not have. The things you work for, we couldn't even dream about. Is that enough details for you?

TheRedneck

a reply to: onequestion

No no, they don't invest time and effort. They exchange tine and effort for compensation. Massive difference. An investment is a gamble, a risk. Employment is a contractual agreement to pay the employee X dollars per hour. Investors aren't guaranteed a thing.

BUT...people who share your viewpoint will never agree. This us one of those "be careful what you wish for" scenario.

a reply to: seasonal

That's all very true. The people who are down on their luck will fall into one of three categories: those who have a bad run of luck, those who are unable to work to better themselves, and those who don't know how to work to better themselves.

We can't change the bad luck part. That's always going to be with us.

We can't change the ones unable for physical or mental reasons to help themselves. That's what welfare and assistance programs are for.

We can change those who don't know how to help themselves. That's what I have been trying to get across in this thread. The vast majority of our present poor population are sitting around trying to figure out what happened instead of trying to get back up. They need a hand up, a brush off, and a direction. We can give them the first two, but the last need is something they have to decide for themselves.

As long as they think about all the reasons they can't, they can't think of all the reasons they can. That "can't" monster will see you broke in your grave if given the chance. I know (and it is evidenced by responses in this very thread) that not everyone will hear; many will sit angrily crying louder because the message isn't what they wanted it to be. Very well; I tried. But some will hear, even if they just read and never say a word in here. If I can help one more person to pull themselves out of their situation, then all I went through will be more than worthwhile.

TheRedneck

a reply to: Quantum12

Sometimes the best view of the path you need to take is from below.

TheRedneck

a reply to: TheRedneck

Your friend apparently hasn't tried hard enough to get a job.

Therein lies the problem, you assume people who are struggling are lazy. My friend has been consistently putting in applications over the past 2 years and nothing. I think he's had 2 interviews and neither have went through. I'm not sure what else he can do honestly, he has his degree and is looking but no one wants to hire him. He is now looking to join the military, how convenient for the warmongers.

You can't assume things about other people's situations. Your situation is not a reflection of everyone else's, you are trying to make it so much simpler than it actually is. Since you succeeded that means everyone else should too. That's not how it works.

a reply to: xuenchen

Oh well. These people will be jobless in 20 years anyway when automatons have all the sales and manufacturing jobs.
Infact, we'll all be jobless.
It has the potential to turn Earth into a utopia, but we're humans, let's be realistic, we're heading to a dystopia.

a reply to: TheRedneck
Hi again,

Here's the rub though, the number one credit issue in this country is medical judgements. Living on the edge only works so long as nothing else goes wrong. Sadly for most, the other shoe is more likely to drop than not. People get sick, become disabled, and the system bankrupts them.

Also, there are many jobs that are essential to our health, our security (food, shelter, clothing and civil services) and our representative democracy that must be valued for our society to work. Not every needed job produces a return on investment. The market doesn't always work, hence the need for the non profit sector. Many of those jobs don't pay living wages, when they once did. We are sliding backwards as workers while the demand for ever escalating profit margins wins the arm wrestling contests.

I find it so disturbing that all the things we say we want as a society like strong families, involved communities, etc., have near zero economic value in our societal structure, while the distractions and games are supported with advanced distribution systems and stratospheric salaries.

America is indeed getting what it values. The condition of our political future and what those who can't feed those one in five children at night, will eventually give up on, is following the rules, when the rules lead to poverty and hunger for millions upon millions.

Peace and glad you are well.

a reply to: TheRedneck

Just an aside, I have worked with many electrical and mechanical engineers, and electrical engineers have the driest sense of humor of any group (and i love it). Does this hold true for you? How about other engineers you work with?

The leadership of tax evader companies like Starbucks should face criminal charges

a reply to: Ohanka

I take it you have actual evidence of tax evasion by them? Or, is it just a rant because you are unhappy someone that serves coffee (and regularly gets the customers name wrong) doesn't earn the "big bucks?

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Has your friend had people look over his resume? Has he contacted the departments to try and find out why he wasn't hired? Has he contacted the employment office in his school? Has he sought out people who could help him... employees, professors with contacts, heck, started a linked-in account to try and find people who can help him?

There's always something else one can do to reach a goal.

Since you succeeded that means everyone else should too.

Since I was able to try and succeed, others who want to succeed should try, too.

Have you ever read a self-help or how-to book? Why? Because you wanted to exercise your eyes? No, because you wanted or needed to learn something new. You went to people who had already gone through and learned what you needed to know. I haven't written a book (although I have had that suggested to me), but I can tell you how something worked for me. I had plenty of opportunity to quit, throw up my hands and say "It's too hard!", settle for something less, make do with what little I had. I could have quit. I could have complained. I could have cried out about the injustice that it's just too hard.

I didn't. You did.

TheRedneck