Former Labor Secretary Found What Work Is Like Now

Post by ashtonkem » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 12:49 AM UTC

0xffff2 wrote: post #409

alistairSH wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In most states (not sure if it's a federal law), tip-earners are guaranteed to be "topped up" or "made whole" if their tips don't bring them to the normal minimum wage. That minimum is still too low to be livable in many areas, Texas included, but that's a separate, albeit related, problem.

I only ever worked a tipped job in California, where there is no separate tipped minimum, but it's a very common refrain from service industry workers commenting online that this "top up" happens far less often than you would think.

Post by pbourke » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 1:24 AM UTC

JKCalhoun wrote: post #290

dollarsuck wrote: post #194

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An outcome of little to no consequences for actions. Come visit my local grocery store. Few replace carts at the store or in the stalls, there will be 2-6 vehicle using the clearly-marked "Fire Lane - No Parking" lane as their personal parking spots plainly blocking the doors of the foyer (and this is not drop-off, not pick-up, not having their spouse load up in a rain storm). Have "About 12 Items or Fewer" - well ha…

> Few replace carts at the store or in the stalls Self-checkout, bag-your-own groceries, return your cart... Can't help but think this is simply a means by which the grocery cartel can get rid of jobs that high school kids have traditionally benefited from. I guess I have never seen the "cart return" thing as something you do out of politeness. But if they're not going to pay the high school kids enough, maybe this i…

Post by bradleyjg » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 1:59 AM UTC

HWR_14 wrote: post #432

bradleyjg wrote: post #413

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That may well be the case, but in the restaurant industry it is potentially keeping in place a local maxima. No restaurant can experiment with spending less on front of house and more on back of house, ingredients, or space. That percentage of revenue (~25%) is locked in and untouchable.

Spending 25% on the front of the house? That's a huge amount - labor is probably less than 25% all in.

Post by DarylZero » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 2:28 AM UTC

sudosysgen wrote: post #421

dlp211 wrote: post #370

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Free markets are not about just the power to allocate, but also transparent knowledge in a decision. The labor purchaser almost always has an advantage over the labor provider in their transaction and don't actually represent a free market. Even in the tech industry this is true. People were shocked the other day when they found out that their income data was being reported and sold by the big credit companies in Ame…

Free markets are supposed to transmit information as prices. Access to information has nothing to do with a market being free or not, and the fact that participants with an information advantage have an advantage is a big part of why people think markets should be free.

Post by nebula8804 » Sat, Jan 22, 2022, 6:21 AM UTC

daveevad wrote: post #423

oramit wrote: post #383

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Another comment somewhere else in this thread mentioned 2008 and the bailouts for banks, bankruptcy for the public, as the place we should look at. With big society wide trends like this it's impossible to have a clear cause and effect. It's all a muddle which is why I've listed a few different ideas all of which contribute in their own way. Covid is such a unique situation though and I think it will serve as a clear…

I'm probably being naive but the assassination of JFK is the most interesting alternative history moment for me. Should he have finished his term and steered the US clear of Vietnam (I know very debatable) and seen man go to the "moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard," I think things would have gone much better.