Anyone who came here before 1882? You do know that also applies to central and South America too?

A wealth gap IS fair as long as it is NOT excessive. In the US in the 50s and 60s the gap was small. Then about 1975 employees started to get the short end of the economic stick. Today the US has the highest wealth gap in the world not counting 3rd world nations. That is NOT FAIR or sustainable into the future. The US will either narrow that gap or fall into a dictatorship. I am sure that no one wants that life for their grandkids! The US does not have FAIR capitalism today - it has corporate fascism for a system.

I personally know people that work in nursing homes. They themselves are afraid that as they get old they may end up there. They would prefer the quality of a Japanese nursing home to a US one. At night ours are very understaffed. The people doing the hands-on, daily work there are lacking in conscientiousness. I doubt that on a world list for quality of nursing homes that the US would place in the top 25. When you look at world lists, the US was at the top around 1950, but now is around 30th in most qualities. It was downhill for the US starting around1975. Sorry to burst bubbles of jingoism.

Yup. When we moved here almost 2 years ago I knew I'd need to still work part time. Up north, I wouldn't EVER work for minimum wage, I haven't worked for minimum wage since the 1980's. And - I've been working entry level customer service jobs for almost all of the years between then and now.

I was never a high-wage earner, always near the bottom. But no one dictated my pay. I negotiated it, or I found a different job that would.

Down here, you are dictated your pay. If they're paying minimum wage, it doesn't matter how much experience you have. You get minimum wage, or you get nothing until something better comes along.

Part-timers are affected most, because part-timers get no health insurance coverage, no life insurance coverage, no paid days off, no paid sick time in Florida.

In MOST other states in the country, you get paid sick time. So that you don't show up to work coughing and sneezing simply because you can't afford to take a day off to recover.

I worked for one place when I first got here, and it was a pretty unhealthy environment. Their employee turnover was pretty much weekly, with the exception of a few core folks who'd been there for years and were used to the somewhat hostile attitude of the owner. We didn't get breaks, even if it was a 7-hour shift. We had to close the store alone at night. But they paid $11/hour to start, so I took it. I lasted several months, and then Publix called me for an interview. I'd applied when I first moved, so this was out of the blue, for me.

Publix started me at $13/hour stocking shelves and doing freight intake. It was too hard for me physically so I took an intentional demotion to the front end, where I was doing mostly bagging and sanitizing shopping carts. THAT was at $10.75/hour. Plus mandatory breaks, gift-card bonuses (ranging from $50 to $100, every quarter), and I picked up their dental plan for just $20/month for myself and my spouse. Not bad in a state that has an $8.65/hour minimum wage.

I would have quit the first job anyway, but I would -not- have traded it in for anyone who only paid me minimum wage. I'd rather be unemployed with NO income (including no unemployment check), than employed for people who don't demonstrate respect and appreciation for their employees. Sadly, this state (Florida) favors the employer, providing absolutely NO protections for the employee. Florida has no fair labor board, and no state labor laws other than those that pertain to minors.

Employees CAN be treated horribly in this state, and they have no recourse. If they complain, they're out of a job and can be blacklisted, because the state has given employers the green light to do so.

You better believe I'd rather take unemployment checks and PEUC ad-ons for 51 weeks if it was available when I quit that first job when I moved here. I'm glad it wasn't though, because I actually LIKED working for Publix and am grateful that they called me for the interview when they did. They saved me from the frustration of wanting to still work, but not willing to give up my dignity for the paycheck.

Bahhh, not everyone lives in TV. I’ll agree there are some bad apples out there but methinks your brush is too wide.

Read BETWEEN the lines of my post and you will have your answer.

Employers need to pay a living wage to CITIZENS. The employers AVOID paying a living wage by hiring non-citizens. It is a race DOWN the economic ladder. US employers have KILLED unions and brought in non-citizen SCABS. It is history repeating itself. The rich want to stay rich. They do so by holding others back. People in TV Land long for the 50s, 60s, and 70s and wonder WHY? The quality of life was higher when the population was around 250 million. That was BEFORE the big immigration onslaught of the 90s and early 2000s. I could keep up my explanation - if only more were interested.

You state that “Part-timers are affected most, because part-timers get no health insurance coverage, no life insurance coverage, no paid days off, no paid sick time in Florida.”

I’ll tell you right now, if all those premium benefits were available in this country for part-time, why work full-time? Are people aware of the number of full time employees working in smaller businesses who lost insurance coverages because of Obama Care and forced to buy poorer coverage out of their own pocket?

Your “between the lines” is your political bias and that is not allowed on this forum. I’ll pass.

Yep.. Just like you know chefs that would go to competing restaurants to put a rubber glove in a salad. :ohdear:

Let me add another dimension to the argument. I believe in diversity. It is a numbers thing. Get a goldfish bowl and put 5 goldfish in. All are happy and well-fed. Put in 5 more. Then 5 more. Eventually, they will be fighting and dying because their QUALITY of LIFE has gone DOWN. Same for humans and the limiting resources of even a resource-rich country like the US. I believe that after about 250,000 people in the US, the quality of life started dropping. That is my theory. Immigrants are NOT bad people. Any kind, even blue-eyed Europeans are just non-citizens that are decreasing the quality of life. I would be happy if everyone were mixed. It is a population thing with me. Look at ALL PROBLEMS such as global warming - all problems are population problems in their most basic form. I don't expect agreement with my theory.

That was a joke, not to be taken literally.

The vast majority of businesses in the US are small businesses

Yes, about 75%, I believe. And the sky is blue. But neither one has anything to do with my post that was referred to??????

I find it amusing, sad and pathetic that those leaning in a certain direction believe that Florida is led so horrifically.

I know first hand of part timers in Maine (a state strongly leaning in the opposite direction from Florida) who work on a ferry boat. We're talking adults here. They receive minimum wage and they have but one benefit. They get to ride on the damn thing they work on for one time for every 40 hours of work. Woo whoo baby.

And guess what? The company is short staffed due to the stimulus benefits and they are cutting back on shifts. There goes certain services to customers. Fewer ferries available. That's a bummer when you're trying to make an important appointment.

Maine is fast becoming another Minnesota. You decide for yourself if that's for better or for worse.