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i was recently talking to a small business owner on kauai. he said tourism had reached a critical mass for citizens there. as soon as homes went up for sale they became rentals for tourists driving out the people who lived there. he said he pays his staff (gardening) over $20 an hour and they still cannot afford to rent a place to live so they can come to work in a reasonable fashion. as the tourists need a lot of minimum wage workers to support the industry, where will these folks live?. kauai also just raised its GET. for honolulu rail? he did not know. interesting look at the island and what just went on with our own rental situation.
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he pays his staff (gardening) over $20 an hour and they still cannot afford to rent a place to live
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Unless an employer is willing to add 90 cents in charity to the $2.00 that the person’s services are worth, the teenager will not be employed.
Let's take the large resorts on Kona side as an example and look at the current state of entry level pay in Hawaii. The maids, gardeners, cleaners, etc earn about $10-$15 an hour. Many of them get on a bus in Hilo at 3 AM for a ride to their jobs, so round trip their 8 hour day is 11-12 hours.
1) Do they make enough to pay rent or buy a house?
2) Would you consider their paycheck part "charity" as one Nobel Price winning economist described the wages of lower paid workers?
3) Would the hotel and management pay even less if they could find anyone who would accept a lower wage?
4) Do the CEO's make 8 figure salaries, and management 6 figure salaries?
The workers barely earn enough to cover basic necessities. One unexpected doctor bill or other emergency and they won't even manage that. The CEO's and management earn far more than they can ever spend, although I know, some of them sure seem to make a good run at it with private jets, multiple homes, lengthy vacations, designer everything, and much much more.
So in the case of our Kona resorts, would you say the executives include even a penny of "charity" in their workers weekly checks? Or are the hotel staff supplementing their bosses inflated pay package with blood, sweat, tears, and restless sleep on long bus rides through the night, while the CEO, CFO, or CIO glides somewhere high above them in a comfortable spacious plane, for a meeting with the manager at one of their international branches, family in tow because the discussions might last a week if the weather and golf are good?
"I'm at that stage in life where I stay out of discussions. Even if you say 1+1=5, you're right - have fun." - Keanu Reeves
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Why are people getting up at 3AM to ride a bus from Hilo to Kona for a $10/hour job? The Taco Bell or Jack in the Box in Hilo (I forget which) has a big sign out front saying they are hiring for starting wage of $11/hour. I'm not suggesting that these people have to work at a fast food place if they don't want to, but it is an indicator that the minimum wage based on the labor shortage is already above the one set by legislation- and no 4 hour commute necessary.
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legislators who push their leftist agendas have unpaid interns
I am still curious, what leftist agendas, and who, pray tell, has unpaid interns?
I am sorry but this sounds more like a rant than anything of substance. Though, because I have always thought of terracore as a pretty level headed guy I wonder what happened? All of a sudden his posts are as if he got bit by the Trump bug. Gone off the deep end and is now subscribing to infowars, Rush Limbaugh and all the other Russian propaganda rags. Leftist agendas? Yeah right.
As those entry-level positions are lost..
And there is the crux of the matter. This discussion, as geochem points out, is not a part of the old paradigm, but rather the beginning of the new. One in which there will not even be enough jobs to go around. All those entry level jobs are soon to be automated, and as such the term, living wage, is way bigger, way more meaningful, than minimum wage. There will be a whole lot of people, already born today, that never subscribe to the old modality.
How will that pan out here? We have all sorts of jobs that are going to go away soon. Are we going to change our attitudes? Are those that belittle and demean folks (like terrace is seemingly ready to do) that don't have the same work ethic as they think they should going to lighten up and allow for this new norm to take shape? Or are those with their staunch criticism going to keep driving the discussion, and everything else, into the ground?
Obviously this is a bigger deal than how much McDucks pays their counter help. This is a bigger deal than how we expect folks to fall in line. This is going to have to be addressed from the education system on up. We can no longer expect the hamburger joints to be the first stepping stone in our youth's learning to show up on time, show up every day, do what the boss tells you, work well with a team, etc.
And still the immediate question is, what is a fair minimum wage? Is it one in which the employee can be expected to pay for their living, or are we really going to stay stuck in this model where people have to work two and three jobs just to get by? I suspect the greedy, those that would take all they can get without concern for others, will hold onto their model of I got mine and f*ck the rest of you. Whereas I am grateful we live in a more realistic, and compassionate, state, where we at least are trying to recognize and deal with our shortcomings, and prepare for our future.
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"who, pray tell, has unpaid interns?"
Monica Lewinsky, for one, started as an unpaid intern and we know how she was treated ( https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/po...rofile.htm , https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hous...ip_Program ) but now that socialism is gaining ground in that party, the darling of that movement does support paying legislative interns: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congres...ns-n943776
"And still the immediate question is, what is a fair minimum wage?"
Bringing this back to Hawaii, I believe you are confusing the Hawaii "minimum wage" with a yet unexisting "living wage". Unfortunately the two are getting confused. Your question is a good one, and I don't know how to establish the two.
ETA: "legislative"
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quote:
Originally posted by terracore
"who, pray tell, has unpaid interns?"
Monica Lewinsky
hahahaha! Dude, wake up, we're talking Hawaii here. Always have been. How in the.. did you ever get off on that track?
Bringing this back to Hawaii
Yes, lets. So, how much is a minimum cost of living, as you know it, in Hawaii? And, how many people should have to work full time to earn that much? One? Two? Three?
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ya got a lot of questions and not a single suggestion g linda...lay it on us...what do you propose?...
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Federal laws trump state laws. The Federal minimum wage is the law of the land, including Hawaii. Hawaii can go above it (under current federal law), but not below it.
"how much is a minimum cost of living, as you know it"
It does not appear that you've understood anything that I've posted. Not everybody who seeks employment needs a "living wage". Some people just want experience. I certainly didn't need to make $15/hour when I got my first job as an agricultural worker at age 10 (but it would have been AWESOME if I did, though I doubt anybody, anywhere, could have afforded strawberries).
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ya got a lot of questions and not a single suggestion g linda...lay it on us...what do you propose?...
Me? I believe in a living wage for all. Period.
Give every single human being enough to live on. Unquestionable. Give everyone Universal Healthcare.
And, I believe, strongly, this would be cheaper than the way we do our social programs now.
I also believe in a flat tax. Figure out how much all this is going to cost and how much our GDP is and subtract the one from the other and be done with it.
And no, I do not think that is any more socialist than what we have now. But damn I believe we'd be a much healthier society with these adjustments.
Oh, and since you are asking, I think our military should get 10% max, not the 50% they suck up now.
As to the short term. I am proud with the folks in Honolulu actually asking these questions, and suggesting solutions that are realistic.
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terracore.. I'll put it another way.. how much is YOUR cost of living now?
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