‘No Business Which Depends for Existence on Paying Less Than Living Wages to Its Workers Has Any Right to Continue in This Country’
Franklin D. Roosevelt.
this post was submitted on 01 Oct 2026
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Work Reform
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A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.
Our Philosophies:
- All workers must be paid a living wage for their labor.
- Income inequality is the main cause of lower living standards.
- Workers must join together and fight back for what is rightfully theirs.
- We must not be divided and conquered. Workers gain the most when they focus on unifying issues.
Our Goals
- Higher wages for underpaid workers.
- Better worker representation, including but not limited to unions.
- Better and fewer working hours.
- Stimulating a massive wave of worker organizing in the United States and beyond.
- Organizing and supporting political causes and campaigns that put workers first.
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“I used to work at McDonald's making minimum wage. You know what that means when someone pays you minimum wage? You know what your boss was trying to say? "Hey if I could pay you less, I would, but it's against the law.” ― Chris Rock
McDonald's are the folks that presented a budget on how to live on the wage they give. . Step 1 was to get a second job.
Are they partnered with Walmart? They teach you how to get food stamps
Which is a roundabout way to say "Walmart subsidizes its payroll with tax dollars".
And where do those foodstamps get spent?
We've re-invented the company store with way too many extra steps.
Honestly I feel like Walmart is being less insulting with that, at least that can help and isn't just a straight up statement that someone should quite if they can.
Good to know that things ultimately haven't changed in the last 100 years or so... The rich and powerful have always been selfish pricjs.
Minimum wage is your boss yelling you that he'd like to pay you less, but it's AGAINST THE LAW!
Every ten years like clockwork, for about the last one hundred years, we complain about the fact that minimum wage is not enough to live on. Every ten years, like clockwork, nothing changes and the rich get richer. Is anything "for the people" anymore?*
Don’t people complain about it every day?
10 years. Every day. Are they so different? :)
If a given company is paying workers so little that they need to go on government assistance, it should categorically disqualify that company from claiming any deductions whatsoever on their tax bill. Yes, any. No, no exceptions, in any category.
Yes, that will be absolutely crippling to exploitative businesses, some of whom are very large. That is by design. This, if enacted, would be the “find out” part for those corps.
Discussion on the floor before the bill was passed (1938) clearly defined what a "minimum wage" would be... enough for a family of four to stay out of poverty (with one parent at home). It was supposed to be raised to that minimum in perpetuity.
You could "flip hamburgers" and feed your wife and two kids.
Now, the minimum wage isn't enough to feed yourself, let alone a pet. Unless that pet is a rat. One of the many infesting your squalid apartment. Which is actually a shed in someone's back yard.
Imagine being a conservative, being on the wrong side of history and virtually every issue, and never catching a clue. Pathetic
Well, they never get punished for it, so what's the downside?
Minimum wage hasn't been raised since 2009.
Minimum wage in the UK is getting close to the living wage. The living wage foundation calculate what the a living wage actually is, some employers use that to base the minimum rate they will pay staff instead of the minimum wage. Its voluntary so they don't have to but employers that do usually like to show it off.
Living wage £13.45 and minimum wage £12.71, there is also a separate £14.80 living wage for those in London.
If the worker cannot live on the wages they are payed, that means that someone else has to cover the rest.
That someone else is often the government (e.g. Walmart employees needing food stamps)
These companies are getting labor subsidized by taxpayer money.
This is one of those "I'm 16 and this is deep" moments.
Like no shit. Also when the sun rises, the temperature does too!
Federal minimum wage is $7.50/hr and that change was going on 20 years ago… July 24th, 2009 to be exact…
Thanks Obama!
No fucking shit. It has been like that since the 90s at least, 1971 was the genesis of the devolution/
Preaching to the choir.