Minimum wage increase approved




Posted by Captain Cleanoff

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14074153/

Up to 7.25 per hour. Good news for most of the over-18 crowd on VGC :)




Posted by Ant

Although I make more then that ($7.75 woo). Hopefully I'll get a pay increase as well since I just started.

FINGERS CROSSED DADDY!




Posted by Xero

I'm payed at minimum salary at 7.75$ , but I'Ll soon have a +0.15$ per hour increase! OMG big deal :rolleyes:




Posted by Axis

I get payed 8 bucks an hour for running 5 laser printers. Whoo!


Anyways this is good news for most people.




Posted by Lord of Spam

I get comission. Chances are I wont see an increase:(




Posted by NES Queen

as of September 11th I will be making roughly $28.59/hr at job 1 and $38.75at job 2.

go me.




Posted by Boner

This affects me not. But, it is still long over due. When I started my fist job, minimum wage was only $4.35/hour. Now I have a job making $36/hour. With the price of oil going up with no signs of stopping, I don't see how this increase will be much of a help. But, I suppose it's better than nothing.




Posted by Arczu

EDIT: Being late sucks...

Not affected, but it could be a good thing I supose.




Posted by Xero


Quoting Arczu]
Job 1: Project Specialist - Blood Technologist at [URL="http://www.pall.com"]Pall Corporation[/URL]
I do special research projects on our medical devices, mostly filters for blood and blood products (red cells, platelets, stem cells...). Investigating why blood from certain donors doesn't filter properly despite being sickle trait negative, studies on apoptosis and its relationship with levels of hemolysis in filtered products, starting up a whole new lab to do work with prions (the proteins that cause mad cow disease). All sorts of interested stuff like that.

Job 2: Medical Technologist at [URL="http://winthrop.org/"]Winthrop U. Hospital[/URL]
Working in the hospital lab doing all the blood tests on the patients. I try to stay in the blood bank department the most since I find it most interesting (selecting units of blood for transfusion, antibody panel workups on the patients, investigating transfusion reactions...). Lately they have me doing double shifts on Sundays, hence the $38/hr. Its not as interesting as job 1 (which was why I left in the first place), but as a second job it's a great way to help me pay the bills. Plus I like the patient aspect. At Pall we lose touch of the big picture sometimes, that ultimately our products are being designed to help improve the safety of patients.



Posted by NeXidala


Quoting Opeth: This affects me not. But, it is still long over due. When I started my fist job, minimum wage was only $4.35/hour. Now I have a job making $36/hour. With the price of oil going up with no signs of stopping, I don't see how this increase will be much of a help. But, I suppose it's better than nothing.

Wow, what job do you have that you get paid $36/hour?



Posted by Boner


Quoting NeXidala: Wow, what job do you have that you get paid $36/hour?



I am a union sheet metal worker. The bulk of what I do and make deals with the HVAC industry (heating, ventelating, and air conditioning). I make duct work and custom fittings among many other things made of sheet metal. I am also trained to use a computed aided plasma cutting table at work as well as other pricey equipment. It's simple work if you know what you're doing.



Posted by loathing

it's too bad this only got approved by the house, and then only on the condition that an estate tax cut that would cost the nation $310 billion in revenue get added into the bill.

it's going to die in the senate. sorry guys, enjoy your $5.15.




Posted by LHoT


Quoting Opeth: I am a union sheet metal worker. The bulk of what I do and make deals with the HVAC industry (heating, ventelating, and air conditioning). I make duct work and custom fittings among many other things made of sheet metal. I am also trained to use a computed aided plasma cutting table at work as well as other pricey equipment. It's simple work if you know what you're doing.

That's how you can afford all the VB stuff. Dang that's a lot of money. How many hours do you work per week? (on average)



Posted by Prince Redon


Quoting NES Queen: Its not as interesting as job 1 (which was why I left in the first place), but as a second job it's a great way to help me pay the bills..


Is it just that you don't get good hours on one job or is the cost of living high there or what? That's pretty crazy that you have to have 2 jobs paying that well just to pay bills.




Posted by Random

So minimum wage went up.. Great just great *Sarcasim*

Does anyone understand what that'll do? The average business man who doesn't make a lot of extra money doesn't want to pay more than what he has to. If they go to an increase in pay, they'll have to raise the price in the products they sell and other prices will raise aswell really offsetting the wage increase. I've seen it before in jobs i've had where everyone would get a better wage only for prices of the products to increase shortly after.

It really ends up being offset.

I've heard of people talking it over before but whats really to gain? Sure you make more money but if everything goes up in price then your not really gaining.. Its just making our value of the dollar less.

Please correct me if i'm wrong?




Posted by Shin-Ra

^ Yeah, the price of some products (especially rent) will go up, but this is increase is mainly due to increases in gas prices.

Cool. Rent's going up a lot around here (because of hurricanes), insurance has gotten insanely high (because of hurricanes), we no long have hurricane coverage from Allstate in my area (because of hurricanes), and the price of gas is crazy expensive (partically due to hurricanes). I'm only making $6.00 an hour at my part-time job, but I have that job PURELY for buying cds, going out to eat or an occassional date, and paying for college books. I'm happy with what I'm getting paid, as it's a lot better than the $5.15 I was getting in high school working at a fast food place (working full-time and going to hs). Plus, this is just temporary pay; once I graduate and finish all my RN stuff it's going to be really nice. Cool though, maybe I'll get a few extra dollar bucks.




Posted by Random

so wait.. Where I Live Minimum wage is $5.25 an hour. Is it going up $2 an hour here too??

Sadly I make comission so I don't know how that'll affect me. I make $5.90 base pay but with comission ontop of it I make roughly anywhere between $9 to $20 an hour. That won't help me will it...?




Posted by Aioros

[COLOR="Yellow"]I make $300 a day, and that's after paying my employees. So pwn.[/COLOR]




Posted by Sapphire Rose

The $ goes in front of the 300.

And it won't affect me at all.

I could have used it last year, though. :mad:




Posted by NES Queen


Quoting Prince Redon:

Is it just that you don't get good hours on one job or is the cost of living high there or what? That's pretty crazy that you have to have 2 jobs paying that well just to pay bills.



Job 1 is full time, Monday - Friday, 8:30am - 5pm. Cost of living here on Long Island is beyond insane. I'm paying over $1200/month for my 1 bedroom apartment and gas has just gone back up to $2.45/gallon. Public transportation is weak, at best, and everything is miles apart from everything else meaning you have to drive everywhere.

I'm looking to buy a house, but the ones relatively close to my job start at $400K for a decent 3 bedroom/1 bathroom house. And then the taxes are roughly $6-12K/year in addition to that. So yeah, I need 2 jobs just to get by. (or a suga daddy)



Posted by Boner

I'm guessing you plans of moving into Chicago fell through, eh?




Posted by NES Queen

the offer is still there, and I know my sister would love to have me paying her mortgage. but I don't like, nor approve of, her new husband so that would make things a bit.... odd.




Posted by Slade


Quoting Aioros: [COLOR="Yellow"]I make $300 a day, and that's after paying my employees. So pwn.[/COLOR]

So what do you do?


It varies from job to job but I guess anywhere from $7-25 an hour is normal. I usually end up splitting wood, roofing buildings, building fences, or taking care of livestock.

Next summer I'm getting a "real" job, and then minimum wage will most likely affect me.



Posted by Random

WOW... NES Queen do you live in "NYC"?? Paying that much for rent is rediculous... Around here I can find a 3 bedroom apartment and is literally half a house for $300. Granted its not inside of a city but not too far from a couple diff cities. $1200 seems rediculous to me.. But i'm sure your making more money. Good ol' Pennsylvania.. Cheap as hell to live in.




Posted by Lord of Spam

Florida is expensive as hell, thanks to all teh ****ing retarded northerners who move down here, only to complain about how much better it is up north. THEN ****ING GO BACK. Retards.

I'm pulling down like 300 a week after taxes. Not good, but good enough for now.




Posted by The underground

WHere im origanaly from (Joysey) the min. wage has oine up to $7.15/hr. But where i live now (Florida) the min. wage is $6.15/hr. but i got a an easy going job in the service industry making an easy $8.00/hr.




Posted by NES Queen


Quoting Random: WOW... NES Queen do you live in "NYC"?? Paying that much for rent is rediculous... Around here I can find a 3 bedroom apartment and is literally half a house for $300. Granted its not inside of a city but not too far from a couple diff cities. $1200 seems rediculous to me.. But i'm sure your making more money. Good ol' Pennsylvania.. Cheap as hell to live in.


I'm out on Long Island (the suburbs), roughly a 40min train ride into Manhatten. The apartments in actual "NYC" are beyond rediculous. $2000 for a 650 sqft studio apartment, up to $8,000 for a 3 bedroom.



Posted by Random

If I saved up money and worked my *** off here and tried to move to NYC without having a job lined up... I'd last probably 30 seconds.

Now I think I realize why there are a lot of rich people that have Mansions here. Probably work 6 months in NYC and bust your *** off, move somewhere like around here and you could probably buy a house or two =P




Posted by Aioros


Quoting Slade: So what do you do?

[COLOR="Yellow"]I own a landscaping/house cleaning company. Besides paying my employees and making sure they are doing their work by keeping and eye on them from time to time, i don't do much, other than overlook the business. I basically spend my mornings and afternoons driving around and talking on the phone.[/COLOR]



Posted by NES Queen


Quoting Random: If I saved up money and worked my *** off here and tried to move to NYC without having a job lined up... I'd last probably 30 seconds.

Now I think I realize why there are a lot of rich people that have Mansions here. Probably work 6 months in NYC and bust your *** off, move somewhere like around here and you could probably buy a house or two =P


Majority of people who work in NYC don't actually live there. People either live on the island, Jersey, CT, PA, or Westchester county and commute into the city each morning. It's not fun. If you ever visit Manhatten though, hang around Penn Station at 5:30pm and watch all the commuters running to their trains as the tracks are called out. Funny stuff (unless you're one of them fighting for a seat).



Posted by The Judge

After getting a job at Burger King, I promised myself never to work for minimum wage again. And lo, I'm not.




Posted by Arwon


Quoting Random: So minimum wage went up.. Great just great *Sarcasim*

Does anyone understand what that'll do? The average business man who doesn't make a lot of extra money doesn't want to pay more than what he has to. If they go to an increase in pay, they'll have to raise the price in the products they sell and other prices will raise aswell really offsetting the wage increase. I've seen it before in jobs i've had where everyone would get a better wage only for prices of the products to increase shortly after.

It really ends up being offset.

I've heard of people talking it over before but whats really to gain? Sure you make more money but if everything goes up in price then your not really gaining.. Its just making our value of the dollar less.

Please correct me if i'm wrong?


You're wrong. In the 1970s you would have been mostly right since that's what happened in most of the western world. Things have changed though. These days, it's very doubtful that the response to a small rise in minimum wage from "pathetic" to "marginally less pathetic" will raise prices so much that there'll be net loss in buying power at the bottom end.

You're talking about a wage-price spiral, where wages try to raise to keep up with rising prices, whch in turn keep rising to acommodate rises in prices (and prices usually win since the workers aren't exactly in charge). This cycle requires a couple of things that don't exist in all situations, and don't exist in modern America. Both the prices and wages need the ability to rise in unison for this spiral to take effect and for prices to rise beyond wage rises and keep going.

On the price side: Competitive markets are a constraint on businesses raising their prices en masse, so in an era where we no longer have much in the way of government regulation and price controls and so forth, it's much harder for this to happen. Some businesses might raise their prices, but not everyone will. Competition will keep prices relatively steady.

On the labour side: you need strong labour bargaining power to continue to gain wage rises in the face of this spiral in prices. In America, the power of organised labour and worker lobbies is pitiful even by general 21st century western standards and they simply don't have the power to keep gaining these rises (which may be why real wages haven't really risen since the 1970s).

So no, a small hike in wages won't automatically push prices up to the extent that the raise in real wages is obliterated and even rolled-back.



Posted by Axis

**** it's pretty expensive to live in New York. Out here in Oklahoma you can buy a 5,000 Sq. Ft. house for about $400,000 dollars. We got a 4500 sq. ft. house for $250,000.




Posted by cas

Minimum wage is just that, the minimum they have to pay you. It wont mean people making more than $10 will get a raise. It shifts the value of a dollar a little bit, but not too far. If you were skilled enough to make a few bucks over the old minimum, you could ask for a raise and have a good chance at getting it. Why should you make not much more than the new guy who starts at a little less than what your hard work and loyalty have earned you?
In a field where people make double digits, a minimum has no effect at all. No one earns it and they probably don't deal directly with too many that do either.

cas only makes $13.75/hr USD. I should ask for a raise soon.




Posted by Vampiro V. Empire

What the ****? Is it now higher than the canadian minimum wage? If it is, that's almost retarded.




Posted by cas

http://canadaonline.about.com/library/bl/blminwage.htm

This is what the canadian minimums are. At current exchange rates, only NWT, Nunavut and Yukon would be making "more".

Its still all about how much that dollar buys you and how much you need to spend to live on. I pity the fool trying to live on minimum wage.




Posted by Hammered On

I'm glad it's going up. $5.75 an hour SUCKS. Not minimum wage here, but it still sucks.




Posted by Lord of Spam

You do realize that it got killed, right? Conservatives tied it to a repeal of the estate tax, and dems didnt want to give the rich another handjob, so they blocked it. Granted, they also ****ed over a lot of lower income people in the process, but at least they arent taking it in the pooper for rich people.




Posted by cas

Here's an insensitive question. Who are these poor people that try to 'live' on minimum wage? What job are they doing that pays only minimum wage and why don't they try and get a better job. Even panhandling pays better than minimum wage.

IMO, the only people that have any business working at minimum wage are teens who are just working to make spending money for their various bling blings while still in school/living at home and not paying rent. Or someone who works for tips.




Posted by Pit


Quoting NES Queen: I'm out on Long Island (the suburbs), roughly a 40min train ride into Manhatten. The apartments in actual "NYC" are beyond rediculous. $2000 for a 650 sqft studio apartment, up to $8,000 for a 3 bedroom.



My sister snagged an apartment lower east side for 600 bucks, wrote it under grandmothers name, booyaka, utilities included.

However, my parens pay 1700+ rent, and we're in bay ridge, so cheay



Posted by NES Queen


Quoting cas: Here's an insensitive question. Who are these poor people that try to 'live' on minimum wage? What job are they doing that pays only minimum wage and why don't they try and get a better job. Even panhandling pays better than minimum wage.


they're the uneducated people who dropped out of HS or didn't/couldn't go to college, or people who aren't driven if life and just settle for what's easy or convenient. When I worked at the supermarket during college there was quite a few older people there full-time (40-50s) who had been there for over 15 years. They probably started when they were in the "acceptable age/group" to be working at a place like that, and just got used to it and stayed. I could have very easily dropped out of college and started working there full-time, but I had bigger and better plans for myself ;)

or they're people like my friend J who can't keep a job for whatever reason of the month it is. So from bouncing between job to job, they technically have no skills or experience because they're never stayed with one job for more than a year. Even though she's done some sort of customer service type job for the last 5yrs, she has zero years experience (at least in the eyes of the employers) because that was accumlated between about 15 different jobs in those years.

Pit: your sister's one lucky b*tch. my last apartment was $650 all included (not Manhatten though, still LI) and it was the complete full enourmous basement of a house. The bedroom even had a hooker dance pole in it. I'm still kicking myself in the nutsack for giving that one up.

My cousin on the other hand snagged one of the new condos they're building over in Battery Park. She won't tell me how much they paid, but has hinted that just for the down payment/deposit they've already laid out close to half a million.... for the down payment! G0d I hate rich people, since I'm not one of them.



Posted by Cruxis

:D Well, unfortunately kiddies (no offence Republicans), Gas is amazingly high, due to stupid President Bush and Haliburton, so don't expect to pay less anytime soon. Yet, fortunately Democrats have finally gotten what they wanted, a raise in minimum wage. Sadly enough Bush has raised the American financial Deficit, meaning that Eventually when we DO get a democratic president, He is going to HAVE to raise taxes (nationally) to pay it off. Other wise we could eventually end up bankrupt. And trust me, then we will see a Depression like No other. Even far surpassing "THE GREAT DEPRESSION".


[quote=NES Queen]I have big girl, "real" jobs.

Job 1: Project Specialist - Blood Technologist at [URL="http://www.pall.com"]Pall Corporation[/URL]
I do special research projects on our medical devices, mostly filters for blood and blood products (red cells, platelets, stem cells...). Investigating why blood from certain donors doesn't filter properly despite being sickle trait negative, studies on apoptosis and its relationship with levels of hemolysis in filtered products, starting up a whole new lab to do work with prions (the proteins that cause mad cow disease). All sorts of interested stuff like that.

Job 2: Medical Technologist at [URL="http://winthrop.org/"]Winthrop U. Hospital[/URL]
Working in the hospital lab doing all the blood tests on the patients. I try to stay in the blood bank department the most since I find it most interesting (selecting units of blood for transfusion, antibody panel workups on the patients, investigating transfusion reactions...). Lately they have me doing double shifts on Sundays, hence the $38/hr. Its not as interesting as job 1 (which was why I left in the first place), but as a second job it's a great way to help me pay the bills. Plus I like the patient aspect. At Pall we lose touch of the big picture sometimes, that ultimately our products are being designed to help improve the safety of patients.


:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(:(

I make $12.58 a hour as a part-time telemarketer,
[SIZE=1]$781.00 monthly from S.S.I (Social Security), and about $120 (in revenue) monthly, from my website :(. Finally my Band Tours each summer and we make couple thousand in shows, but after we pay for gas, living expenses and then split the actual cash, I only make zilch.[/SIZE]
Otherwise I am a part-time writer and manage to publish a new book about once every year so that’s some extra cash and every now (once in a blue moon) and then they let me teach a class at the local American Karate Dojo(I graduated there as a black belt), but only for a measly 3.20 a hour. I also mow graveyards in the spring for about $20-50.
I make a lot compared to other people where I live...but no where near that much:(
On the other hand I'm in collage as we speak taking a part-time data encoding classes and 2D animation. Next summer I want to quit most my working and devote full time to collage. I'm planning on taking 3D animation, character design and game development classes.
Ultimately I want to be a game designer or Lead Graphics Coordinator for a game branch.
Those jobs pay anywhere between $125,000-250,000 dollars a year. Unfortunately it requires 5 years of collage and a PhD (or masters) to get a career in the upmost sectors of game development....so I'm not going anywhere for some while
:(




Posted by darkwhispers

I worked at a camp for about 2 days a week for about 4 weeks and made about $200. NE 1 know how much the tax deductions are for VT? (if it matters I'm 15):cursor:




Posted by Lord of Spam

"Yet, fortunately Democrats have finally gotten what they wanted, a raise in minimum wage."

You do realize that democrats teamed up with fiscal conservatives to kill this measure, right? I mean, are you ENTIRELY retarded, or are you just not bothering to read anything?




Posted by Cruxis

...I think I will go with the second one. Must be mis-informed:(

Although to be fair, the democratic party has had to make some rather stupid decisions regarding policies recently. It all boils down to the 2008 elections. The democratic party must win over that enormous population in the RED states and to do so they must appear somewhat conservative, even proving that they can be unbias and work with the republicans.
Yet, if they win the new elections, I forsee a major change in the way the are letting them selves be seen in the public today....rather Liberal action will be taking and laws passed (or aided more so) by them now, will be revoked in a democratic senate and replaced with traditional liberal incentive such as (raised taxes, cheaper if not free health care, lower gas prices, tougher laws and restrictions on environmental hazards and pollution, grants for poor people to attend schools for free or on scholarship, International diplomacy and strengthening foreign affairs, mass amounts of investment in our country...not another (the middle east), a major little scientific break through I call Stem cell research & a flood of grants, loans and money for the research of alternative fuels to gas. These to name a few)

...I guess I just havent been paying as close attention to things as you have huh?:(

No body want's a second canada I guess....wait, Democrates do?




[Back to UFO conspiracies....]




Posted by Lord of Spam

Yeah, I mean, who would want to live in a country that like, takes care of it citizens, and has lower cime rates and an overall higher staisfaction of living? Man, not me, thats for sure.




Posted by Cruxis

[quote=cas]Here's an insensitive question. Who are these poor people that try to 'live' on minimum wage? What job are they doing that pays only minimum wage and why don't they try and get a better job. Even panhandling pays better than minimum wage.

IMO, the only people that have any business working at minimum wage are teens who are just working to make spending money for their various bling blings while still in school/living at home and not paying rent. Or someone who works for tips.


-----
Well, These poor people who make minimum wage are the people who where less fortunate than many of us, they where forced into there simple yet stressful lives. A example if I may. IN the appalachian moutains (North-eastern TN, Southwest VA, Eastern KY, & North western North Carolina) there exists people who have lived in the moutains and hollows since there greatest grand parents (most irish settlers) settled in to there in the late 1700's. These people has horrible educations and even with there free comunity collages, the greates of classes are only but nursing and welding. Because of where they live, they use massive amounts of gas to get around and use a lot of heating oil in the winters, because of the cold climates. The appalacain moutains are so undeveloped that there are places that still do not have plumbing, water or a phone line. Even more so, almost everyone who lives in this massive area, have to live without things you and I take for granted everyday, such as cable, DSL or Broad band (Think how bad it would suck if you couldnt play any games online!?), healthy foods, nice clothing, a proper eductation, housing and stores and restarants. See in these places the best jobs you can get are fast food (as they are some of the only places to work), there are NO reserants, malls or variety of stores. Only fast food, the dollar store and a couple walmarts. Imagion what it would be like to end up spending your whole weeks worth pay check on the gas it took to actually get to the job and food? The problem even exists that because of this lack of jobs teens must do with out computures, games, phones, nice clothing and such (most hunt, fish or resort to drugs, bacause of the abundance in pot and lack of cash).

Parents are left, without health care, a fighting for miniumn wage jobs. I used to live in a small town in Va, we had a polutation of 97 people in my town, no Internet, a Hardiees and a Pizzahut, a foodlion, payless and dollar store & 1 Shell gas station. Life sucked, even more there where literally NO jobs.

......We later moved.

Sader is the fact that in places like this the law getts bent for sexuality, such is the fact that almost no place will hire a man. See, because of the lack of jobs, it is the norm to assume that because wemen can't work in the Coal mines and the men can, that all men be regected for any job other then mining and the wemon be left to bicker and ergue over who gets what job where.

Mining is one of the most dangerous and hazardous jobs in north america, most people who work in them later die early of black lung and suffer through 13 hour days.

The appalacian moutains account for over 89% of the coal produced in america. So if these people left we would not have enough fuel, so unfortunatly they are orced to make a mezzly amount.

I lived hear for a while so let me tell you the Bar of Wages here-

(Yearly)

Upperclass- $18,000-$25,000 (Doctors and Lawyers)
U-Middle Wage- $12,000-$18,000
Middle Wage- $3,000-$12,000
L-Middle Wage- $1,000-$3,000
Poor-Poverty- $0-$1,000 (This is what range me and my family where in for 8 years)

As you can see there is very little money cerculating about here, so even high paying jobs like lawyers and doctors (even though making massively more than others here) still receive far to little compare to the counterparts else where.


-----
This was an example. There are many more places and worse situations.
:)