Quote:Maybe instead of minimum wage increases, we should be talking about expanding corporate development and training programs, bringing trade school tuitions down to funnel more people through them and introducing tax penalties for companies that ship more than a certain percentage of their jobs out of the country. Honest question: would you support a program like that?
Sure I'd support it. I believe the USA has a responsibility to protect our markets from unjust competitive practices by foreign or multi-national organizations.
Quote:I agree with you in every single market outside of NYC. If you've ever been to Manhattan, particularly lower Manhattan, you know that there just aren't any kids around to man the McD's counters. I'm not sure how to say this next part without sounding like I'm stereotyping, so I'll tread lightly: in a lot of places, you can tell that the adults flipping burgers are there for a reason. That assertion has nothing to do with skin color or perceived economic status. It has everything to do with adult males looking like they haven't shaved in days (but are not in the process of growing a beard), members of both sexes wearing wrinkled, stained clothes, not showing any sense of urgency, etc., and just generally being outclassed and outperformed by the high school kids who are clean, clean-shaven, wearing ironed shirts and hustling between stations to get stuff done. That's not always the case, and there are certainly high-school slobs and adults on a mission behind the counter, but I see it more often than you might think.
That's not been my experience in Manhattan at all, particularly lower Manhattan, where stores are staffed almost exclusively by adults, and those adults are on top of their game 100% of the time. $15/hr. is hardly a living wage in Manhattan (or any NYC borough), but if there's any market in the country where the staff is composed of demographics that should be making considerably more--and not just in fast food--NYC is it.
Maybe instead of minimum wage increases, we should be talking about expanding corporate development and training programs, bringing trade school tuitions down to funnel more people through them and introducing tax penalties for companies that ship more than a certain percentage of their jobs out of the country. Honest question: would you support a program like that?
I am more than for it. I have stated before that I believe we need to abolish these free trade agreements and instill tariffs to bring jobs back to America. We simply cannot compete with all of the regulations, minimum wage requirements and unions in this country with nations that have no such things.