Desperate for workers, US restaurants and stores raise pay

Associated Press ^ | May 13, 2021 | Christopher Rugaber

[Pollard]

When my dad retired in the mid 80s, he was making $8/hr as a welder. When we moved here to rural MO ten years ago, if I had gone job hunting, the pay would have been $8/hr. My wife’s been working in nursing homes for that ten years and MO minimum wage was just bumped to $10.30 and her pay got bumped up a little due to that.

The place she works at has new ownership. When the last owners announced they were closing down, the letter they sent out had the names of over a half a dozen board members for a place with maybe two dozen employees spread across the three shifts.

Most every place I’ve worked has been top heavy in one way or another. Some family businesses are real bad. The lives of the whole family are a write off. Personal vehicles are company vehicles, cell phones and anything else they can get away with having the company pay for, they do.

Small restaurants truly are low profit margin but most other businesses are either top heavy or just poorly run.

[Robert DeLong]

In my earlier response: is inflation should have been: if inflation

8>)

Also think Zimbabwe & Venezuela where it adversely affects a large segment of the citizenry, because the currency has basically become totally worthless.

[central_va]

These are NOT union workers which can strike, unions are dead. This is a one time adjustment upwards in wages which IMO is LONG over due. I am surprised there has not been a communist revolution already - caused by Bushie globalism. Maybe this will prevent one for a little while longer...

[central_va]

So your dollar menu burger just went up to $1.50.

OMG were all going to die!!!!

[DoodleDawg]

Wouldn’t it make more sense to cut back on the so-called “Stimulus” and “unemployment” handouts?

Here's an idea. Have the government round up people on the unemployment roles and parcel them out to the employers looking for people, and require that they work there for no more than the federal minimum wage of $7.25. If they refuse then cut their benefits completely. Employers are happy and their profits are up. Unemployment roles are reduced to nothing. Win/win right?

[Adder]

It is worthless compared to ours since ours is the default standard whether others are tied to it or not. Its been our salvation thus far: if not ours, whose?

China is working real hard to make their yuan the world standard. When and if that happens ours is subject to the same pressures.

[Robert DeLong]

Exactly, but inflation will still impact our buying power, because it weakens our fiat money. Coupled with reduced production by citizens of this country, and out of control spending, other countries start questioning if our fiat currency is still sound or becoming worthless. China would be the logical country other countries would gravitate to, because they are the real competitors to this country.

You are correct, without our currency being the world's currency, it will all go south very fast if the world stopped depending on America for having sound currency.

[Adder]

Yessir.