Angela787
Robert ReichThank the workers who serve you. Appreciate the workers who care for you. Respect the workers who pick up your trash. Salute the workers who get you your mail. Honor the workers who teach your children.
Pay all workers a living wage.
Ambrose Ferber@rbreich All jobs are worthy of respect and the right to make a living.
beforewisdom 
For goodness sakes, do not hit on the service sector employees who are friendly.
Jeff GriggAnd tip well when you go out to eat!
Proxima
Afinial@JeffGrigg @rbreich shouldn’t have to. Pay staff a living wage, tip should be a bonus, not a means to survive!
And that's one of the big differences between "should be" and "is."
The legally mandated "minimum wage" is not sufficient to survive on, in most places. But where there is tipping, employers are allowed to *pay less than minimum wage,* as long as tips "typically" make up for it (for most workers).
So if you don't tip, the server may starve, and/or be unable to pay rent, and be out on the streets homeless.
Unfair, yes.
But those are the actual laws.
@JeffGrigg @rbreich the min wage in Australia is $23.30 per hour. This is considerably above the US min wage. If someone is a casual worker they get more. We still tip (a lot less than the US) but those tips will be divided between all the workers in the restaurant from the server to the dish hand. Our restaurants still manage to survive, possibly not with as much profit to the owners. The cost of our meal is a little more expensive but probably comparable to the US.
Indy Richard 🏴@rbreich You are correct. Workers deserve respect no matter what we might think of the jobs they do. I worked shifts for many years when the only people in the building were other shift workers including cleaners and the security guards. Saw many many people completely blank such workers as if they beneath consideration. Some folk just not very nice.
@rbreich Slavery and marginalized workforce is always the gop top agenda. Fascism is their credo.
pan_demonium@rbreich
If you work a full-time (or, call me crazy, any job) you deserve healthcare, education, and elderly/child care for that commitment. Committing to help support the biggest economy in the world. It should be reciprocal as every company person expects.
We should not have a "living wage" in America, we should have a "thriving wage". Why can't a worker prosper along with the economy that work supports? In short, capitalism.
We can do better, solutions exist, but we will need accountable reps
If you work a full-time (or, call me crazy, any job) you deserve healthcare, education, and elderly/child care for that commitment. Committing to help support the biggest economy in the world. It should be reciprocal as every company person expects.
We should not have a "living wage" in America, we should have a "thriving wage". Why can't a worker prosper along with the economy that work supports? In short, capitalism.
We can do better, solutions exist, but we will need accountable reps
@pan_demonium @rbreich You might be crazy, in that having healthcare shouldn’t be dependent on employment. A case could be made that the other things you listed should also not be dependent. In other words, you’re not wrong, we’ve just been conditioned to accept scraps and struggle for basic needs.
@julaun @rbreich
I agree, I see how I was unclear before.
I don't think ppls humanity/value comes from work, or that you have to work to have value. The right to life shouldn't be contingent on work. I support all the assistance I listed, and more, being provided without work requirements.
I wanted to make a case that, even in a neoliberal frame, things could drastically improve.
In the confines of neoliberal ideology based on "merit" and "competition", you still don't get your fair share.
I agree, I see how I was unclear before.
I don't think ppls humanity/value comes from work, or that you have to work to have value. The right to life shouldn't be contingent on work. I support all the assistance I listed, and more, being provided without work requirements.
I wanted to make a case that, even in a neoliberal frame, things could drastically improve.
In the confines of neoliberal ideology based on "merit" and "competition", you still don't get your fair share.
franklanguage@rbreich Also—and importantly—leave a generous tip, if you're in the USA.
AutisticMumTo3@rbreich
That we even need to campaign for a living wage is a stain on society. Giving workers a living wage should be the norm
That we even need to campaign for a living wage is a stain on society. Giving workers a living wage should be the norm
Ænðr E. Feldstraw@rbreich Agreed!
A few months ago I made the mistake of thinking I, a blue-collar worker, should be paid more than a garbage collector in NYC, because I'm better educated. I was very wrong. Here's why:
- I'm not in any danger from my work: garbage collectors are.
- My body doesn't wear out through my work: garbage collectors' bodies do.
- I don't get hurled verbal abuse at me all day by strangers: garbage collectors do.
May they always get paid and rewarded well.
PeachMcD@rbreich
A table grace I use regularly:
God, please bless everyone who works so we can eat. Grant us grace to ensure they have safe, decent working conditions, fair & livable wages, and the respect & dignity due their important place in our common life
Antonio Páez 🇲🇽🇨🇦
B.I.L.L. the AlienIf everyone had a living wage, won't corporations respond by raising prices across the board because of their inherent drive for profit? Seems like a catch 22.
Mike@Oneworldnot3 @rbreich I'm happy to see I wasn't alone in this frame of thought.
@rbreich …More than a “living wage”! Living on the edge is not LIVING!
ijenkins99@rbreich I’ll bet there was a group of people who nodded along with your post until the last line. Then they baulked and thought, “But that requires a sacrifice on my part”.