Unemployment Insurance Plus $300 For Fast Food Workers

mark46

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Unemployment Insurance certainly has changed in past decades. Apparently, now one does not need to show that one is looking for work.

There is little question that fast food and other restaurants that pay low wages have lots of job openings. Paying $15 an hour won't make the dirrerence.

I have be a liberal for 60 years. I do NOT support unemployment payments for those who can work at the same job as before. Obviously, someone who has children at home may NOT be able to work.

So, the restaurants need workers. So, what do we say to these $10 ($400 a week) an hour workers? Hey, we'll pay you $200 a week unemployment plus $300 a week to stay home. Is it a surprise that many workers in this situation won't come back to work until September?
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I would note that this $300 is very needed for lots of workers, especially "gig" workers who aren't covered by unemployment insurance. As I said, it also critical for those with children at home, or where their workplace is still not open.
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Many states are taking the easy way out. Rather than checking to see where a person last worked (or his work history), it is easier for them to simply reject the federal money, greatly hurting many of the needy in their states.
 
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Fantine

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I think the governors who reject the federal money are worried about Biden and the Democrats.
When people struggle, they'll say "blame Biden." Things were better under (cough, choke, cough) Trump.
Trump set the bar so low that anyone would seem like a knight on a white charger. They are desperate to tarnish his armor.
 
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hislegacy

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Many states are taking the easy way out. Rather than checking to see where a person last worked (or his work history), it is easier for them to simply reject the federal money, greatly hurting many of the needy in their states.

I understand what you are saying. The issue is not just with fast food workers, but many in the service industry also.

I’m of the opinion one of the best way to ‘help the needy’ is getting them back to work. Not unlike precovid when the unemployment numbers were at historic lows. People (especially minorities) were coming off the welfare and SNAP in numbers we had not seen in a long time.
 
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Fantine

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I understand what you are saying. The issue is not just with fast food workers, but many in the service industry also.

I’m of the opinion one of the best way to ‘help the needy’ is getting them back to work. Not unlike precovid when the unemployment numbers were at historic lows. People (especially minorities) were coming off the welfare and SNAP in numbers we had not seen in a long time.
Obviously they are not getting paid enough. Some states don't even have minimum wage laws (Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and South Carolina). All southern red states whose voters vote against their self-interest...and, in this case, possibly even their survival. Sixteen other states on the wall of shame use the federal minimum wage law of $7.25.

A bunch of others have minimums in the 8 and 9 dollar range. A few others had upstart referendums and fought for their rights (like my state at $11--although the state legislature then tried to say small businesses, non-profits, government, etc. were exempt from following the minimum wage, and fortunately the governor intervened).

Even the states with higher minimum wages generally have higher costs of living. So maybe these workers got $300 from the federal government and were able to go to the used tire store to replace those bald tires with gently used ones.

Think back when you were young. Did you ever work minimum wage jobs? Did you bust your back? At your current age could you do that work now?

Physical work deserves respect, too. I know that I couldn't survive five minutes in the chicken plants in my city, where many people worked shoulder to shoulder and got COVID, and where some people died.

I support the $15 an hour minimum wage. Where on the wall of shame does your state sit? Check here:
Consolidated Minimum Wage Table | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov)
 
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mark46

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1) FL has passed a gradual change to go $15 in 5 years.

2) I'm not sure that the answer is for Wyoming fast food stores be forced to pay the same minimums as in NY. Federal workers will be paid $15 and hour.

3) As is often the case, the tension is between federal and state mandates. The answer is to work within state and local governments.

Obviously they are not getting paid enough. Some states don't even have minimum wage laws (Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, and South Carolina). All southern red states whose voters vote against their self-interest...and, in this case, possibly even their survival. Sixteen other states on the wall of shame use the federal minimum wage law of $7.25.

A bunch of others have minimums in the 8 and 9 dollar range. A few others had upstart referendums and fought for their rights (like my state at $11--although the state legislature then tried to say small businesses, non-profits, government, etc. were exempt from following the minimum wage, and fortunately the governor intervened).

Even the states with higher minimum wages generally have higher costs of living. So maybe these workers got $300 from the federal government and were able to go to the used tire store to replace those bald tires with gently used ones.

Think back when you were young. Did you ever work minimum wage jobs? Did you bust your back? At your current age could you do that work now?

Physical work deserves respect, too. I know that I couldn't survive five minutes in the chicken plants in my city, where many people worked shoulder to shoulder and got COVID, and where some people died.

I support the $15 an hour minimum wage. Where on the wall of shame does your state sit? Check here:
Consolidated Minimum Wage Table | U.S. Department of Labor (dol.gov)
 
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dqhall

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1) FL has passed a gradual change to go $15 in 5 years.

2) I'm not sure that the answer is for Wyoming fast food stores be forced to pay the same minimums as in NY. Federal workers will be paid $15 and hour.

3) As is often the case, the tension is between federal and state mandates. The answer is to work within state and local governments.
I was 15 in 1975 when I got a part time summer job working in a store for $2.10 an hour.

In 1970 my parents bought a new 3 br 2 ba house on .25 acre lot with a carport and basement in a suburb of DC for about $30,000.
 
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TLK Valentine

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I understand what you are saying. The issue is not just with fast food workers, but many in the service industry also.

I’m of the opinion one of the best way to ‘help the needy’ is getting them back to work. Not unlike precovid when the unemployment numbers were at historic lows. People (especially minorities) were coming off the welfare and SNAP in numbers we had not seen in a long time.

And then COVID hit, and people are (understandably) hesitant to dive back into the petri dish. Now the vaccines are out there, and thankfully, most people are getting them, but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel doesn't mean we're out of it yet.


It was the same thing (around here, anyway) regarding education -- everyone was chanting "Reopen the schools!" but very few people were talking about "vaccinate the staff," which has to come first, agreed?
 
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hislegacy

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Obviously they are not getting paid enough.

If a person’s wages are 60,000 a year, but can make 65,000 a year by staying home on unemployment, they would stay home.

It is NOT about not being paid enough, it is about making more money doing nothing.

everything else in your post directed to me is overly dramatic, including the ‘wall of shame’.

minimum wage jobs were never designed to be livable wages, they were always transitional jobs.

my first job was a dish washer. In 1975 I made a whopping 1.75 an hour. I held that job until I graduated high school and got my first full time job in 1977 making a whopping 3.75 an hour. I learned how to do basic body work and mechanics. Until Jimmy Carter killed jobs in our area.

That is when I went to college, worked full time and school full time to better myself.

what makes America the land of opportunity is just that. Opportunity. Not opportunity to live off the government, but the opportunity to better yourself through hard work.

This son of a legal immigrant has seen time after time the results of hard work and dedication to bettering themselves pay off. My family is not white and spoke no English when they came to the US. There was little to no social safety net for us.

We all came from lower income families (farmers). Two of my cousins are Pharmacists, one is a physicist in the nuclear field, one owns three restaurants (never went to college), and a couple are just like me, an ordinary Joe who makes middle class wages.

my families ‘wall of shame’ would have the pictures of those who settled for the easiest jobs.

Give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day,
Teach a man to fish, he will feed himself for a lifetime
 
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And then COVID hit, and people are (understandably) hesitant to dive back into the petri dish. Now the vaccines are out there, and thankfully, most people are getting them, but seeing the light at the end of the tunnel doesn't mean we're out of it yet.


It was the same thing (around here, anyway) regarding education -- everyone was chanting "Reopen the schools!" but very few people were talking about "vaccinate the staff," which has to come first, agreed?

no

Follow the science behind the infection rate of school age children

I have received the vaccine because I plan on traveling internationally again. Any adult who chooses to be vaccinated can be and that has been the case for quite a number of months now.


I have very little respect for people whose mantra is ‘follow the science’ until the science flies in the face of their political agenda.
 
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TLK Valentine

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I have received the vaccine because I plan on traveling internationally again. Any adult who chooses to be vaccinated can be and that has been the case for quite a number of months now.

The problem is we're dealing with 2 pandemics: COVID and disinformation.

Vaccine Refusal May Put Herd Immunity At Risk, Researchers Warn

‘Disinformation Dozen’ Driving Anti-Vaccine Content

But let's face it: the service industry was treated lousy before the pandemic; a lst straw was inevitable.

Now businesses are fighting over yet another resource: human resources. And they're going to have to get competitive, because the price just went up.
 
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The problem is we're dealing with 2 pandemics: COVID and disinformation.

Vaccine Refusal May Put Herd Immunity At Risk, Researchers Warn

‘Disinformation Dozen’ Driving Anti-Vaccine Content

But let's face it: the service industry was treated lousy before the pandemic; a lst straw was inevitable.

Now businesses are fighting over yet another resource: human resources. And they're going to have to get competitive, because the price just went up.

horse hockey - want the schools opened tomorrow, stop paying the teachers for staying at home. They will open in a heartbeat.

Businesses are hurting for employees because people are being paid more money to stay home.

Pre COVID when unemployment was at historic lows, minority and lower income jobs were benefitting. Businesses were benefitting. The economy was expanding. People were coming off unemployment, SNAP programs and even welfare by the millions.
 
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TLK Valentine

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horse hockey - want the schools opened tomorrow, stop paying the teachers for staying at home. They will open in a heartbeat.

Unless the teachers go on strike for safer working conditions.

Then there are the parents who still don't feel secure. Fortunately, many school districts. (Including my own) have chosen a hybrid schedule, as well as an opt-out system, so that everyone is satisfied.

Businesses are hurting for employees because people are being paid more money to stay home.

Then the businesses need to get competitive. If you want the product, you pay for it.

Pre COVID when unemployment was at historic lows, minority and lower income jobs were benefitting. Businesses were benefitting. The economy was expanding. People were coming off unemployment, SNAP programs and even welfare by the millions.

...and then there was COVID. And disinformation aside, it's not over yet.
 
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Unless the teachers go on strike for safer working conditions.

If they followed the science, they couldn’t, because the science says the incidence is minimal.
 
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TLK Valentine

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If they followed the science, they couldn’t, because the science says the incidence is minimal.

If we all followed the science, hundreds of thousands of Americans might still be alive.

We have to deal with the real world, not the ideal one. People want reassurances, and "shut up and get back to work," isn't reassuring enough.
 
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If we all followed the science, hundreds of thousands of Americans might still be alive.

We have to deal with the real world, not the ideal one. People want reassurances, and "shut up and get back to work," isn't reassuring enough.

how is following the science saying “shut up and go back to work”?
 
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how is following the science saying “shut up and go back to work”?

Because after a year of saying "ignore the science, what about my freedoms?" Did you think it wasn't going to catch on?

Don't promote the product if you don't want people to start buying it.
 
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TLK Valentine

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Let's also keep in mind that COVID itself is only part of the paradigm shift... you spend a year referring to people as "essential workers," and they're going to get it into their heads that maybe they are essential workers... and they want to be treated -- and more specifically, paid -- as "essential workers" should be.

So if you're a business owner, and you don't feel like stepping up to the grill and flipping your own burgers, you might want to consider a pay raise... it's just good business.
 
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ArmenianJohn

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Unemployment Insurance certainly has changed in past decades. Apparently, now one does not need to show that one is looking for work.

There is little question that fast food and other restaurants that pay low wages have lots of job openings. Paying $15 an hour won't make the dirrerence.

I have be a liberal for 60 years. I do NOT support unemployment payments for those who can work at the same job as before. Obviously, someone who has children at home may NOT be able to work.

So, the restaurants need workers. So, what do we say to these $10 ($400 a week) an hour workers? Hey, we'll pay you $200 a week unemployment plus $300 a week to stay home. Is it a surprise that many workers in this situation won't come back to work until September?
====================
I would note that this $300 is very needed for lots of workers, especially "gig" workers who aren't covered by unemployment insurance. As I said, it also critical for those with children at home, or where their workplace is still not open.
====================
BOTTOM LINE
Many states are taking the easy way out. Rather than checking to see where a person last worked (or his work history), it is easier for them to simply reject the federal money, greatly hurting many of the needy in their states.
You say you're a liberal but you have a very conservative stance on this issue. That's the problem with the Democratic party today - it's no longer liberal, it's conservative. The entire nation has shifted so far to the right that many democrats felt it's necessary to become conservative.

$15/hour minimum wage is necessary - in fact it should be $20 or higher to be truly fair. It is proven to boost the economy where it has been implemented. The trickle-down myths of the conservatives are atrocious and way too many Democrats fall for those myths and become conservative.

In NY, a $15/hour worker would qualify for $300 a week, which is half their regular $600 a week gross. On top of that, they would not have whatever benefits they would have had, and if that is medical then they are looking at minimum of $1,000 more a month just to COBRA their medical and upwards of that for getting something on the healthcare marketplace (another botched garbage shortfall from Obamacare ,aka Romneycare). Or, of course, they can get on (or in many/most cases remain on) Medicaid, which we pay for out of our taxes anyway.

The Federal $300 unemployment is absolutely necessary for the unemployed at every level, ESPECIALLY the lowest levels. Or we can do the conservative plan of let the chips fall where they may and let people go bankrupt, lose their homes, etc. and then prop them up after they've lost everything with more social safety nets which then would be a bandage on a bullet wound.

Of course, the same Democratic Party is largely to blame for the healthcare problem to begin with by continuing to object to universal healthcare in order to protect their wealthy ,corporate healthcare special-interest donors and lobbyists - something else they have in common with their conservative counterparts.

I'm perfectly fine with everyone having their own opinions and you having your opinion on this issue - I can agree to disagree. But your stance is not that of a liberal, it's that of a conservative.

As for the unemployment, the low wages permitted by the low minimum wage are now catching up with the labor market and affecting the economy. The $15 minimum wage was meant to pre-empt this from happening but it's too late. It's not even adequate if it were to go through, at this point. If Wendy's and other notorious under-payers want to have people work for them they will need to pay more.

Funny how In-N-Out burger and other far more successful fast-food places that destroy Wendy's and McDonald's are having no problem retaining and attracting employees, delivering a better product at a much lower price, and still paying $17 to $19 an hour PLUS benefits...

Conservatives need to stop blaming the workers who are overworked and underpaid and start blaming the garbage businesses who have only survived by cheating their workers with insultingly unfair and predatory low wages. As a Christian, this is a moral issue for me as well - I wouldn't want to prey on someone for their weakness and I wouldn't pay someone less than what they are truly worth and owed, nor do I want to live in a society that practices such immorality.
 
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Because after a year of saying "ignore the science, what about my freedoms?" Did you think it wasn't going to catch on?

Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris did just as much harm as any of the anti vax crowd.

Going on national television repeatedly saying they did not trust the vaccine sure didn’t help.

Anti-vaxxers feed off Democrats' skepticism of COVID vaccine
Democratic politicians raising concerns about how quickly coronavirus vaccines could be rolled out to the public appear to be bolstering anti-vax groups. By highlighting issues around the vaccine development process, politicians on the left may be inadvertently increasing skepticism among the wider public.

On September 24, New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the state will independently review all vaccines authorized by the federal government. "Frankly, I'm not going to trust the federal government's opinion and I wouldn't recommend to New Yorkers based on the federal government's opinion," he said in a statement.


At the start of September, Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harrissaid she would not trust President Donald Trump's word alone that any vaccine developed is safe and efficient.

A week later, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made similar remarks during a speech in Delaware, saying, "I trust vaccines, I trust scientists, but I don't trust Donald Trump."

Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi, Democratic speaker of the United States House of Representatives, has said any vaccine must meet safety standards before being released if it is to be accepted by the public.



They carry a portion of the blame also.
 
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TLK Valentine

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Nancy Pelosi and Kamala Harris did just as much harm as any of the anti vax crowd.

...except the right never listened to them, and never encouraged anyone else to, either. Why pretend to start now?

They carry a portion of the blame also.

Careful... saying "also" means that the anti-vaxxers have some responsibility for their actions... you sure you want to go that route?

The purpose of an excuse is to excuse bad behavior... try harder.
 
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