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Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

theguardian.com

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Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#351

Post by deegles »

rhizome wrote: post #233
redorb wrote: post #179

They have been priced out of their own neighborhood and that is really unfortunate. Theoretically they should move to a place with a cheaper cost of living. People move all the time for wages and cost of living; I would guess its the number one reason people move. They don't work for Facebook they work for a contractor; I would say they need to find a better job or a less expensive place to live (cost of living).

Theoretically they should move to a place with a cheaper cost of living. Theoretically the entire company could do that.

I mean, they slowly are... Seattle is booming. Google, Facebook, et al. are all massively expanding their presence.

Admittedly, the COL is going up rapidly there too, but at least there's a huge amount of construction happening.

I wish the large tech companies would experiment with more remote-only teams, it would be great to eliminate the commute and live anywhere I want.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#352

Post by dragonwriter »

lostcolony wrote: post #202
sidlls wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you describe is called fraud, and the anti-poor people in this country would go after them for it, just like they went after "welfare queens" and the like.

No. If they both declared the children as dependents, THAT would be fraud. But choosing not to be married is perfectly legal. It's called a divorce, is legal in all 50 states, and in California doesn't even require a reason. I'm not sure you actually thought about what you typed.

The proposed covert transfer of funds (pooling resources, but not on paper) from the working ex-husband to the non-working ex-wife while the ex-wife claims public benefits is straight-out, textbook public benefits fraud by concealing income (it probably also involves tax fraud by concealing income, otherwise it's going to get discovered in less than a year.)

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#353

Post by ardyjay »

angersock wrote: post #320
sushid wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever worked in food services or retail? If not, you don't know what you're talking about, because this kind of thing happens all the time because people abuse the system. The parent commenter is not even the one making up the reason. She/he is simply explaining the reason why such a policy commonly exists. FWIW, most places also allow the workers to eat the food before/during/after they work there.

The idea was "herp derp they'll save all the good sandwiches for themselves". Which is dumb . Your observation even confirms as much--and friends who've worked at places like Panera and Starbucks (bringing home extra baked goods) somehow manaage to not hoard everything to the detriment of the business.

have worked at Panera in highschool, and you're wrong.

1. there are rules about how much stuff you can take home at close to prevent abuse

2. people still abused it

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#354

Post by Houshalter »

FLUX-YOU wrote: post #276
kevmo wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently good money does not translate into a liveable wage. "Stop grandstanding and take care of your own house first" is more of the message of this article, I'd say.

"$x is a 'good wage'" has always been a simple and loaded statement, but with the media highlighting economic inequality (esp. around tech and silicon valley) for so long, news & people now commonly discuss cost-of-living with wages and now look at the net value as the talking point.

It's not a loaded statement. No one is making you live a the place with the highest cost of living in the US.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#355

Post by tyingq »

kafkaesq wrote: post #329
tyingq wrote: post #314

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Let's please not try to compare the "plight" of contract tech workers I don't personally see a difference other than the average wage for what I do. Companies contract other companies for many things. Janitorial, security guards, software work, etc. They shouldn't be involved in the salary of some other company's workers. If there's a wage issue in this case, it's not Facebook's issue to sort it out.

I don't personally see a difference other than the average wage for what I do. There's this "respect" part, which is one of the major points of the article. And the fact that you apparently don't even see it as an issue -- while those on the other side of the coin insist that it is, in fact, quite a huge issue -- is a great part of what makes it such a huge issue. If there's a wage issue in this case, it's not Facebo…

>There's this "respect" part

My experiences as an on site contract worker don't always line up with that.

I do get your point in cases where companies are misclassifying actual workers as contract help. I think we just disagree that this is the case here. It seems obvious to me that they are employees of the food service company, and should be.

Fwiw, I have been a low paid factory worker in the past. It's not a matter where I don't empathize.

Are there notable companies that staff their in house cafeteria with actual employees?

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#356

Post by khuey »

astrange wrote: post #249
dopamean wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plenty of people consider it a serious flaw. It's just that very few of them are in government.

Single-payer in California is currently blocked by just one guy (CA speaker of the house) because the people haven't bribed him as well as the health insurance lobby has.

No single payer in California is blocked by 40 years worth of voter approved laws and constitutional amendments that tie the state's hands in ways that make it impossible for the state to raise the revenue necessary and direct it solely to healthcare.

https://theintercept.com/2017/06/30/california-single-payer-...

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#357

Post by kafkaesq »

humanrebar wrote: post #327
kafkaesq wrote: post #317

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yep, it's best not to confuse reality with pipe dreams, generally.

I'm not sure what way that sarcasm is cutting. I'll say the "design the problem away" impulse is partly what causes corporatism and monopolies. For example, regulatory capture in which the regulated industries more or less control the regulators. So I'll say the regulate-the-problem-away impulse is a pipe dream in the long run.

So I'll say the regulate-the-problem-away impulse is a pipe dream in the long run.

I'll call it "the lesser of nightmares".

Being as we've seen where "just let property owners do whatever they want" has lead us to in the past.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#358

Post by ThrustVectoring »

redorb wrote: post #179

They have been priced out of their own neighborhood and that is really unfortunate. Theoretically they should move to a place with a cheaper cost of living. People move all the time for wages and cost of living; I would guess its the number one reason people move. They don't work for Facebook they work for a contractor; I would say they need to find a better job or a less expensive place to live (cost of living).

Unfortunately, rent controls and frozen property taxes prevent this sort of thing - changes in living situations reset the ratchet, which means that the terms of trade are going to be extremely unfavorable.

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#359

Post by taysic »

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #17
princekolt wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sad part is that California, being the largest state in the US, should be the last one to have this sort of housing problems...

It has been attempted, and the only thing to show for it is perhaps America's most over-hyped ghost town[0]. Few Californians or transplants to California want to live anywhere but near the coastline. California's climate is not as pleasant once you go further inland. Also, the coastline is seismically active, and does not pose as a great location for Manhattan-style skyscrapers. (For that reason, I have always found…

>Few Californians or transplants to California want to live anywhere but near the coastline. California's climate is not as pleasant once you go further inland.

That's so untrue. If some of the large open areas in the South Bay or east bay were turned into suburbs people would happily move in

Re: Cafeteria workers at Facebook struggle to make ends meet

#360

Post by jimmyk »

mgbmtl wrote: post #341
koolba wrote: post #174

> They earn too much to qualify for state healthcare, but not enough to afford the health insurance offered by their employer. They frequently struggle to find enough money for basics like food and clothes for their children. Victor recently borrowed money from his mother to hold a birthday party for one of his daughters, and from a friend to pay for a dentist appointment. They might want to look into not being marri…

And some people still say that "single payer healthcare" is non-sense. Amazing..

Is this sarcasm, or are you suggesting that the same institution which set up these perverse rules has done such a great job that it should be given control over the funding of health care for 99% of the population?
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