The folks getting paid so low should quit and work at the better paying fast food places. They don't even have to give up the satisfaction of seeing a car driving off their assembly line once every minute.
The huge number of immigrant kids here in the US getting maimed while working overnight to clean slaughterhouses should hopefully make any right thinking person a vegan
Same here. I worked for a nonprofit in the Carter years. The Executive Director made five times what I did. I now work for a nonprofit network of health care and adjacent services. The ED makes over 15 times what I do, and the CEO 20 times my meager and insufficient pay. When I need a laugh, I go to their job postings.
My union is about to start contract negotiations with my corporate overlords. The union is threatening a strike if we don't get "significant wage, paid time off, and benefits increases." Their statement is the are feeling emboldened by all the strikes or threatened strikes this year. The thing is, most of the time they roll over for corporate very quickly. The last "significant raise" they got us in June was to raise the top rate by 40 cents, spread out, if you work full time, roughly 2 years, more if you are part time. Or the year they got currently employed full time people slightly better health care coverage, but cut off part time or new employees from ever having affordable shitty insurance.So we will see. I would be very happy if they grew some big huge courage bits and actually got us a good contract.
Of you are able to, try to join your union negotiation team. Both my uncle and I did. He did so to be the union rep for health insurance. Before the ACA, the insurance companies claimed everything was a pre-existing condition PEC - which really sucked (especially since my cousin had muscular dystrophy). It really helped his union because they wouldn't even entertain insurance policies that didn't cover PEC. As for me, I just fought like hell for max telework and no home inspections. It's a lot of work but the benefits could really pay off.
I remember doing temp work in the 90's. I did it for about 6 years - though not all with the same temporary position. While I jumped around a lot (and it was fine for me), some things I noticed even then:
(1) while health insurance was 'available', our share would amount to about 25% of my monthly paycheck.
(2) while I jumped from position to position, I met some workers who had been in the same 'temp' position for _years_. No raises, no health insurance, no retirement. And no - they were afraid to ask for _anything_ for fear of losing their position - which, even for a week, would be a big blow to their income for the month.
And don't get me started on 'COBRA' - I first discovered that ripoff when I left the Army in 1989 - when I was offered the chance to sign up for COBRA at a cost of $3,000 a month - for up to 3 months - (remember, this was 1989 - that was an _enormous_ amount of money at the time), and while COBRA has gone down over the years (in part because private coverage absolutely sucks compared to what the Army provided). In general, no-one can really afford COBRA because you are between jobs, COBRA is still expensive, and you know - being between jobs means you have no income.
If only we had both medical care and retirement that did not depend on which job you have.
Note - I am not a fan of the 'Medicare for All' model - Medicare is largely mediated by the insurance companies as administrators, and leaves out a lot of coverage. I much prefer a 'VA for all' type of coverage - which is (1) cheaper than Medicare; and (2) just as well-liked by those who use it; and (3) does not involve insurance companies.
If it was actually Medicare it would be awesome. The problem is the Bush jr administration somehow was able to privatize over half of medicare, giving insurance companies a huge government subsidy. I swear to christ
Medicare Advantage existed before Bush - it was called Medicare Choice, and was added in 1997 under Clinton.
It did not particularly 'privatize' Medicare more than it already was 'privatized', and was not under Bush (or even a Republican administration). While initially a Republican sponsored bill, it did pass both houses with bipartisan support.
And I am not arguing that it is a good thing, but that you are incorrect about the history of it. Again - I would like to see a fully nationalized health care system.
Unfortunately Medicare under pays for tests, procedures, visits to doctors, and surgeries. So many doctors now will not take Medicare patients, and Medicaid is even worse. Hospitals have to take Medicare but lose money on some procedures. While Medicaid helps smaller, rural hospitals with a lot of uninsured patients because some money is better than no money, but both Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements are too low and are made up by higher rates on negotiated private insurance.
So long as I do not need much care, I try not to use my VA benefits to leave more for those who have greater need than I - but I wish everyone had the access I could have.
In the larger scheme of things, everything is temporary, but yeah, I've been a part-time, temporary, at-will worker at the same university for over 20 years. I'm paid like one and treated like one, and at the same time, I've been teaching a "core class" (research methods) for as long as I've been there, because the tenured and TT workers do not have the skills. I also regularly teach 16 units (15 is "full-time"). Yay, America!
Hot strike summer turns in hot strike fall.
Ta, Robyn. Horrific, just as I knew it would be.
True, but Haitians are here on temporary papers after 20 years. This one is not one where liberals have much going for them.
The folks getting paid so low should quit and work at the better paying fast food places. They don't even have to give up the satisfaction of seeing a car driving off their assembly line once every minute.
The huge number of immigrant kids here in the US getting maimed while working overnight to clean slaughterhouses should hopefully make any right thinking person a vegan
Gee, it seems as if our hodge-podge "health care" system is too big to fail. Where have we heard that before?
I am also employed by a "nonprofit" Healthcare company and they work very very hard at stretching that definition
Same here. I worked for a nonprofit in the Carter years. The Executive Director made five times what I did. I now work for a nonprofit network of health care and adjacent services. The ED makes over 15 times what I do, and the CEO 20 times my meager and insufficient pay. When I need a laugh, I go to their job postings.
Sometimes Katy Tur pisses me off.
That is all.
KatTurd!
Stellantis is doing this here because they wouldn't get away with it in the EU. corporate cynicism at its finest.
My union is about to start contract negotiations with my corporate overlords. The union is threatening a strike if we don't get "significant wage, paid time off, and benefits increases." Their statement is the are feeling emboldened by all the strikes or threatened strikes this year. The thing is, most of the time they roll over for corporate very quickly. The last "significant raise" they got us in June was to raise the top rate by 40 cents, spread out, if you work full time, roughly 2 years, more if you are part time. Or the year they got currently employed full time people slightly better health care coverage, but cut off part time or new employees from ever having affordable shitty insurance.So we will see. I would be very happy if they grew some big huge courage bits and actually got us a good contract.
Of you are able to, try to join your union negotiation team. Both my uncle and I did. He did so to be the union rep for health insurance. Before the ACA, the insurance companies claimed everything was a pre-existing condition PEC - which really sucked (especially since my cousin had muscular dystrophy). It really helped his union because they wouldn't even entertain insurance policies that didn't cover PEC. As for me, I just fought like hell for max telework and no home inspections. It's a lot of work but the benefits could really pay off.
Awesome!! Hoping for your sake your union finds the brass "bits" they need
"Migrant children from Laos and Burma are particularly vulnerable"
Add Cambodia to this list, please....
Bangladesh, too?
Why not?
dammit it's impossible to keep up with these child slave companies. As soon as I figure out which one to avoid five more pop up.
Thank the gods that we in the land of freedom are rolling back our child labor laws so we can compete with Thialand!
https://www.npr.org/2023/04/27/1172544561/new-state-laws-are-rolling-back-regulations-on-child-labor
Shorpy Higgenbotham had it made!
Thighland. The Trump pronunciation.
Ronnie from Floriduh like to eat thigh food, too.
I remember doing temp work in the 90's. I did it for about 6 years - though not all with the same temporary position. While I jumped around a lot (and it was fine for me), some things I noticed even then:
(1) while health insurance was 'available', our share would amount to about 25% of my monthly paycheck.
(2) while I jumped from position to position, I met some workers who had been in the same 'temp' position for _years_. No raises, no health insurance, no retirement. And no - they were afraid to ask for _anything_ for fear of losing their position - which, even for a week, would be a big blow to their income for the month.
And don't get me started on 'COBRA' - I first discovered that ripoff when I left the Army in 1989 - when I was offered the chance to sign up for COBRA at a cost of $3,000 a month - for up to 3 months - (remember, this was 1989 - that was an _enormous_ amount of money at the time), and while COBRA has gone down over the years (in part because private coverage absolutely sucks compared to what the Army provided). In general, no-one can really afford COBRA because you are between jobs, COBRA is still expensive, and you know - being between jobs means you have no income.
If only we had both medical care and retirement that did not depend on which job you have.
Note - I am not a fan of the 'Medicare for All' model - Medicare is largely mediated by the insurance companies as administrators, and leaves out a lot of coverage. I much prefer a 'VA for all' type of coverage - which is (1) cheaper than Medicare; and (2) just as well-liked by those who use it; and (3) does not involve insurance companies.
If it was actually Medicare it would be awesome. The problem is the Bush jr administration somehow was able to privatize over half of medicare, giving insurance companies a huge government subsidy. I swear to christ
Private insurance has been a part of Medicare from its beginning in 1966.
It didn't start with Bush jr, nor even bush sr, nor even Reagan.
Come on. Advantage is a billon dollar scam and you know it.
Medicare Advantage existed before Bush - it was called Medicare Choice, and was added in 1997 under Clinton.
It did not particularly 'privatize' Medicare more than it already was 'privatized', and was not under Bush (or even a Republican administration). While initially a Republican sponsored bill, it did pass both houses with bipartisan support.
And I am not arguing that it is a good thing, but that you are incorrect about the history of it. Again - I would like to see a fully nationalized health care system.
Unfortunately Medicare under pays for tests, procedures, visits to doctors, and surgeries. So many doctors now will not take Medicare patients, and Medicaid is even worse. Hospitals have to take Medicare but lose money on some procedures. While Medicaid helps smaller, rural hospitals with a lot of uninsured patients because some money is better than no money, but both Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements are too low and are made up by higher rates on negotiated private insurance.
many doctors now will not take Medicare patients...
Which I always wonder why that is even legal... The government absolutely can control licensing for medical practitioners...
I'm staying on VA. I've watched Ms. O's travails with Medicare.
She's a vet, too, so she's going on VA.
So long as I do not need much care, I try not to use my VA benefits to leave more for those who have greater need than I - but I wish everyone had the access I could have.
In the larger scheme of things, everything is temporary, but yeah, I've been a part-time, temporary, at-will worker at the same university for over 20 years. I'm paid like one and treated like one, and at the same time, I've been teaching a "core class" (research methods) for as long as I've been there, because the tenured and TT workers do not have the skills. I also regularly teach 16 units (15 is "full-time"). Yay, America!
Things turned around pretty quick for us PT and NTT faculty at my Uni once we unionized.
NY Gov Kathy Hochul (D, of course) showed up at a UAW picket line in Rockland County today...
https://midhudsonnews.com/2023/10/05/governor-joins-uaw-rockland-county-picket-line-video/