Unionize!

By Anonymous - 07/09/2013 04:37 - United States - West Hartford

Today, I found out the unionized cleaning people that empty the garbage and clean the toilets make $19/hr and have more paid time off than I do with my college degree. FML
I agree, your life sucks 52 359
You deserved it 7 336

Same thing different taste

Top comments

That sucks op, but if you go through your career focusing on what others are earning you'll never be satisfied

Go clean up someone else's crap and report back to us on whether or not you still believe they should be paid so little.

Comments

Beepbeep7 14

Why the hell are you complaining? They have a shitty job (no pun intended) they deserve it. How ungrateful you are to judge what they should make. They bust their asses doing a job that no one else wants to do.If you don't like your pay find another job and quit bitching.

thelaxersvlog 9

That is ridiculously high for unskilled labor

TheyCallMeDamien 17

The lower the pay, the higher the turnover. Being cheap costs money to because you're constantly having to hire and train people because you're anti-pay bump. $10/hr full time only keeps you alive. Nothing more.

And to think all they have to do is the job that no one else wants to do. They have to deal with disgusting smelly garbage all day. Those bags rip sometimes and they need to pick it all up by hand. then they go to a poop covered clogged toilet and need to clean/unclog it. That's disgusting. Do you really want to do that? Honestly?

icychil 13

And you in your college degree job and knowledge, what stops you from unionizing and asking better pay and longer vacations? Payroll does not reflect your skilles but demand and offer and your bargaining power.

Get a nonunion job; you might get more money.

I'm sorry, but I think $19/hr is terribly low for an adult doing any job. A couple of comments said that no one deserves that amount of money for any job. Here in Australia you couldn't feed a family with that wage for a 40 hour week. I am 21 and have what you would call a menial job (shift manager at an ice cream shop) whilst I complete my degree and my base rate is around that, with Saturdays being $25/hr and Sundays $33/hr. This is just above the average wage for an adult in, say, a cashiers role. I understand cost of living is extremely high here but I cannot fathom why you'd think these workers deserve less? They contribute to society and they most likely have families to support.

I've never been to Australia, so I can't comment on what cost of living is like there, but I can definitely say the cost of living in the states is MUCH cheaper than it is here in Canada. Clothes, food, gas, ect. are all cheaper. Buying/renting a house is cheaper for most areas. $19/hr full time you might not be able to buy a huge house with a pool, but you could definitely live comfortably.

Australia must be really expensive. Here in the UK it has been worked out that the minimum living wage for someone doing 40 hours a week is around £7.40 an hour (€11.57). Although in my opinion that wage is far to low (although i earn £6.40 an hour which is the most i have ever earnt so far). We are also recognised as one of the most expensive western countries to live in. For example, i just filled up a 1litre engined car for £40 (around $63). It's an absolute joke the state of the economy. When i was little, you could buy 10 freddo chocolate bars for a pound coin, now they are almost a pound coin each...

To fill up an average small car is around $65, but petrol is just getting higher. I can tell you America is cheap in terms of food and accommodation. I holidayed there for a month and when buying groceries I was amazed. And I often buy things like video games and blurays from the UK, not necessities I know, but most times that are half the price if not more. Australia gets a significant mark up for the same products because we are such a small country. Nearly all of our major cities are in the top 20 'most expensive cities'. I do not have any doubt that the UK is also expensive, but I hope your wages are as good as ours. People need to eat too.

But they also probably left him in huge debt

I know it may seem unfair but it's the way things are...it's actually a little hard to get a job there though...I have tried...

Love the people who say join a union and hack on right to work states. Right to work states are doing far better than forced union states. Unemployment is lower, college tuition is cheaper foreign investment is poring in. Ask Detroit how the unions are doing.

TheDrifter 23

The funny part is, right to work doesn't mean you can't unionize, only that you can't force employees to join, or require membership of new hires. The unions basically hate and demonize right to work states because their representation becomes voluntary and without forced membership, their profits drop massively, as a large portion of the work force chooses to represent itself come bargaining time.