Dunkin' Donuts Worker's Death Reveals The True Cost Of Our Low-Wage, Part-Time Economy

a reply to: jonnywhite

Yeah they are living it up so good in China they have to erect suicide nets on the company dorms to keep those well paid and happy severely under worked employees from offing themselves. Taxes and regulations are not crippling these companies, if we didn't have them you most of us would end up living in highly polluted cesspools like the ones our manufacturers have also generously relocated to China. Yay toxic water give me more. Parasitic greed is what is crippling them and that is exactly what the investor class currently is a nest of parasites that will eventually eat and kill its host body the US.

a reply to: feverdreams

I went to work at a profession where I would feel better after work. Suit and tie and walking around free.

I was an auto worker. Good money but hard work.

I believe we should be going forward not backwards.

The reason that can’t happen easily now is that there are no jobs available like when I was coming up.

I got a job at GM where they even helped with the tuition to go to school becasue of the union

Since they have wrecked the unions there is not any more jobs like that in the UAW when I was there or hardley anywhere else

The elite rich have rent the evolution to advancement asunder, imo.

And that is because they have access to the macro economy through their wealth and influence on politicians.

Where we were evolving to a better life style( 35 hours a week) in the 80’s then all of a sudden we were going backwards.
That’s not an accident, it was by design

Having read the article that is mentioned the following can be stated:

There are questions that should be asked, and in particular, more about the person who died. What was requiring her to work 4 different jobs? What were her finances like? The next that should be asked, and this may seem cold and callous, but was she a legal citizen or an illegal immigrant? How long had she been working at the different jobs? And finally the most important one, why did she not let the employers that she had worked for, know that she was moonlighting at these other jobs? And why did she not qualify for any assistance programs out there?

Many programs are out there that can help a person, and woman qualify far more easier than men. And with a latino sounding name, should have more than easily qualified.

Working long time at the same job, the question should also be asked, how many promotions did she even try out for?

There are far too many questions, that should be asked and answers gotten, before we condemn.

a reply to: KeliOnyx

I worked in a Chinese restaurant once delivering food.

One week he didn’t do too well. And he said he couldn’t pay me!

I laughed...and said to him, I’m sorry but this is America.

He paid me but the job was over.

That’s all right as long as I got paid.

a reply to: Willtell

My previous job was working at a college, my position was paid for by a federal grant. Funny job, it required a college degree but still paid minimum wage. Anyways, it was mismanaged horribly and as part of the cost savings measures they would occasionally just not pay us. The option was either to just accept that you weren't getting a paycheck or be unemployed. Even when they did pay it was common to be expected to work off the clock. The standard approach was to assign 40 or 50 hours of work but say they were only paying you for 25. It was up to you to "find a way" to get it done.

That's just the way business in America is done these days. You always have the law on your side and have the option of suing for lost wages but if you do you're unemployed and and have a history that means no one is going to hire you again.

a reply to: Logarock

You have to tie the minimum wage to the rates of inflation and the costs of living. So automatic increases as they rise which then discourages practices that would normally artificially inflate them. That is the major problem with the minimum wage today that it wasn't tied to them when they made it. So now you have a large segment of the workforce that doesn't understand why someone they perceive as being lower than them should be able to survive on their own on that job. Because their perception is that is a part time job for teenagers, moms, bored old people that were retired and entry level workers. Raising the minimum wage isn't the problem you create a stable floor and the skilled positions will have to realign their pay rates back to an acceptable level and employers will then have compete with wages and benefits to attract the better workers.


This is the problem. And a large part of why that problem exists is it takes an act of Congress to raise the minimum wage. The low end worker hasn't been devaluing anyone's work the board room executives have been underpaying you for it for 4 decades. Because they have bought and paid for a Congress that won't raise the minimum wage when it needs to be and sets our trade policy to use as a club to bully their employees into compliance.

This is such a tragedy that words cannot even describe it. Those who defend their favorite political party and blame the other party are blinded by the classic divide and conquer strategy that the Banksters and the assorted sociopaths who seem to run everything employ, and who are the beneficiaries of these policies. Honestly, both parties have played an active role in destroying the ability of the average American to make a living wage. My parents were older when I was born. My father, a lowly high school graduate, made enough money to buy a house, two cars, and any boat he ever wanted. My mother did not have to work by choice and spent her time making sure my siblings and I were well raised.

I will say anyone that works four part time jobs does not lack work ethic.

Seriously, I say it's past time for both Republicans and Democrats to take control of their respective political organizations away from the Corporatist hacks that seem to call all the shots in both parties and force them to redirect their energies to the betterment of this Country and its people.

a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

Wow honey, i am in the same boat with you being a film maker, but have little to no prospects (i live in bugfck nowhere) also unemployed, looking for work but have disability in the meantime. I've started out doing a series on Youtube, but my popularity isn't really shooting up

a reply to: KeliOnyx
Don't forget many of the chinese workers would be in terrible situations without many of these jobs. They pay ver well. Conditions in China aren ot pretty outside the cities. There're lots of bad practices. On the whole, when an international company is in China, they're actually helping hte people htere, not making things worse. STandard of living in China is going up because of OUR presence there. Eventually you'll see international business go elsewhere, like maybe Vietnam or south AFrica.

China isn't be eexploited, it's being employed. You keep blaming businesses for doing what business does. Start thinking about what the US can do to get itself into a position where low skill jobs aren't necessary. So ya I'm saying more engineers, more researchers, more business creators, financial advisors, electricians, healthcare workers, c osntruction (the US infrastructure will be rebuilt in sections), etc. We need brains, not muscle. Ther's an abdundance of low skill laborers in the world. That's 1 00 years too late. Even plumbers these days need to know a lot

a reply to: Willtell

It’s a metaphor for a poor and tired person working so hard they fall asleep and kill themselves accidentally

The metaphor points to our sick macro economy where people today are forced to overwork….Or in a sense work themselves to death

This really got to me - what you're saying here

Well said

a reply to: jonnywhite

Yep, factories you're not allowed to leave that put their workers into debt slavery, where suicide nets have to be installed to prevent the loss of workers.

We in America could only be so lucky.

originally posted by: Aazadan
a reply to: jonnywhite

Yep, factories you're not allowed to leave that put their workers into debt slavery, where suicide nets have to be installed to prevent the loss of workers.

We in America could only be so lucky.

We were that lucky once, we were even blessed enough they gave us little company towns. And then gave us little company stores where all the goods were marked up way above every other store around and that was the only place that would take the company script that half of your paycheck consisted of. Damn gets me all misty eyed thinking about it.

originally posted by: jonnywhite

yep and the reason for outsourcing...more profit and that just related back to greed

Well if you have people who can do the same work in another country for less, why not try to hire them? Restricing trade or preventing companies from going over there to employ them is isolation or protectionism isn't it? If peoiple in our own country cannot compete with someone elsewhere the answer isn't to shut ourselves off from them but gently nudge our own population in a better direction.

Companies should have the freedom to go where ever they please in the world and they can sell their $150 Ipods to the Chinese that make a dollar a day. What they do not have the right to do is sell their stuff back here from China or where ever to us if enough citizens had the power over our government like the corporations do. It is our country too.

Now either we develop tax payer funded lobbying and ban private lobbying so everyone has a say in our government, or we go back to being a Constitutional Republic and boot out the corporate and banking citizens from our government that have stolen our country for their on Greed

The bailouts, Nafta, TPP, Open Borders for Illegals and so on would never had passed if the citizens of this country had a say in it.

a reply to: feverdreams

Fatigue and exhaustion can make you careless.

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: Logarock
Speaking of economics, if someone waved a magic wand tomorrow and minimum wage went up to 20$ an hour nation wide we would have the problem of prices, cost of living rising. Give it a while and the differential would be the same as it is now.

This is a common argument but it's flawed. When wages go up, spending also goes up which means companies do a greater volume of business. Just as Walmart offers lower prices due to having a higher sales volume, ordinary companies also get to take advantage of scale when their customers have more money to spend. With increased spending revenue also goes up.

You can see a real world example of this in Australia which has a minimum wage twice that of the US but only has a cost of goods about 10% higher.

What about Australia's regressive type taxes? The government in this country just couldn't help itself but to raise those if the masses had more disposable income.

You add those on top of the 10% increase on goods and other rises like what we have here in Social Security ect. Whats the % of fuel cost in taxes?

originally posted by: jonnywhite


China isn't be eexploited, it's being employed. You keep blaming businesses for doing what business does. Start thinking about what the US can do to get itself into a position where low skill jobs aren't necessary. So ya I'm saying more engineers, more researchers, more business creators, financial advisors, electricians, healthcare workers, c osntruction (the US infrastructure will be rebuilt in sections), etc. We need brains, not muscle. Ther's an abdundance of low skill laborers in the world. That's 1 00 years too late. Even plumbers these days need to know a lot

There is this thing called putting the best interest of ones country first over others.
Perhaps the Neocon Corporate Globalists are happy with the arrangement but citizens on the receiving end are not.

Like I said, lets have the US Companies in China sell strictly to Chinese then that make their stuff. Not too Americans if they like it so much over there.

a reply to: jonnywhite

I alos am very skeptical the wealthy are robbing the poor or middle-class and making off so much more money tha they used to. I've heard some people say the rich have increased their income some 900% and the rest of us are just sittin at 10% with head just above water. I don't beleive thise, but moreso, I think there's ag agenda going on just to tax Tax TAX. Sheeple like it and gulp it up because they don't have to do anything to earn it. Robbing from the rich. I'd rather look into the stats myself and look at the broader conditions in hte wolrd before making a judgmental.

so you dont believe it or is you refuse to open your eyes to see it ?....there is plenty of info available on the growing divide .....greed is at epidemic levels and unless there is change soon the whole house of cards will come tumbling down and it will affect everyone

originally posted by: Logarock
What about Australia's regressive type taxes? The government in this country just couldn't help itself but to raise those if the masses had more disposable income.

What do taxes have to do with anything? That aside, if you make Australia's minimum wage of $16.87 you bring in $35,089.6 per year. Of that you pay 0 on the first $18,200 and 9.7% on the rest for a total tax of $1638.29 an effective rate of 4.67% on a minimum wage earner. In the US at federal levels you get $7.25/hour, if you're lucky enough to get 40 hours at that you bring in $15,080. The first $8,925 is paid at 10% and the remainder is paid at 15% for a total of $1815.75, an effective rate of 12.04%.

There's other taxes of course too, but our tax system is more regressive than Australias. Also, there is no need to increase taxes in the US if people have more money, because more wealth generates more spending throughout the economy which increases tax revenues on it's own. They don't have to touch the rates at all.

You add those on top of the 10% increase on goods and other rises like what we have here in Social Security ect. Whats the % of fuel cost in taxes?

Australia pays $0.38143 per liter on fuel which comes to about $1.44/gallon compared to the US 37.5 cents/gallon or so. That doesn't tell the whole story though because you have to look at total prices. They pay about $5.49 per gallon with all taxes included compared to the US 3.30/gallon or so. So with a minimum wage that is more than double ours the price of fuel is only 67% higher.

Most goods have less of a difference than this.

originally posted by: TheToastmanCometh
a reply to: GogoVicMorrow

Wow honey, i am in the same boat with you being a film maker, but have little to no prospects (i live in bugfck nowhere) also unemployed, looking for work but have disability in the meantime. I've started out doing a series on Youtube, but my popularity isn't really shooting up

Send me a link. I'd be glad to give you a view or two and share it with people I know. Every little bit helps.

originally posted by: Logarock

What about Australia's regressive type taxes? The government in this country just couldn't help itself but to raise those if the masses had more disposable income.

You add those on top of the 10% increase on goods and other rises like what we have here in Social Security ect. Whats the % of fuel cost in taxes?

You make good points and taxes are going to be needed to be addressed. The current tax laws are a bit unfair, but the focus can't be on taxes right now. Tax cuts have no appreciable long term effect on economic growth or domestic reinvestment of capital, the cuts passed under a certain administration proved that. They were sold as sunshine and rainbows for all, and a rebirth of the Reagan boom and it went bust. We have to look first at the long term problem of growing wage inequality, an investor class gone wild and poorly structured trade agreements and fix them. Then we can sit down and figure out what to do about short term issues like taxes and the social safety nets.

Illegals in the workforce is a problem that solves itself all you have to do is levy devastating fines and prison terms to the companies and company officers that knowingly hire them. That takes care of a big chunk of our border issues right there leaving more money to broaden patrols to catch the rest. Instead we get the out for blood crowd wanting to build a damn fence complete with missiles and turrets. Because it is always a good idea to gun down people who only really want a fair shot at providing for their families. Don't go after the guy who just simply wants better. You go after the guy who is willing exploit the guy who wants better, cheat the guy who deserves better and betray his own country because he just simply wants more.