by Chris Black
The problem with American manufacturing is that you can earn the same $17-20 per hour pay you get stamping parts, stocking shelves at Target or Home Depot. You can even make $17 an hour flipping burgers at McDonald’s.
Nobody wants to work in a factory all day when you can make the same or more doing something that takes almost zero effort.
However, if manufacturing wages rise to a normal rate compared to Walmart shelf stockers, nothing could be made in the USA.
The biggest problem we have is that someone can make $17 an hour working at Target. This has caused massive inflation that has decimated the take home pay of jobs that used to supply a decent lifestyle.
The guy making $30 an hour didn’t get his pay increased to $60 an hour, when the person on the floor at Target went from $8 an hour to $17.
After John Deere workers went on strike, the company:
*Doubled pay raise offer to 10%
*Restored pensions for new hires
*Increased pension payouts by up to $150/month
*Added retirement bonuses of up to $50,000 plus $2,000 per year of servicehttps://t.co/8lUjLi4Yvl— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) November 1, 2021
After Rejecting Proposed Contract with Management, John Deere Workers Continue Strike https://t.co/HRyB9ZFZyT
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) November 4, 2021