Mainly for the OG's

Lets just face it boys. Manufacturing pays $ H ! T

Yeah, I don't think any of us are getting rich doing this. What concerns me is that I haven't really seen wages go up much in this line of work. Minimum wage in my state has gone up almost 50% in the past 5 years. I can't say I have seen any increase in my earning potential over that same time period.

Lets just face it boys. Manufacturing pays $ H ! T

Yeah, I don't think any of us are getting rich doing this. What concerns me is that I haven't really seen wages go up much in this line of work. Minimum wage in my state has gone up almost 50% in the past 5 years. I can't say I have seen any increase in my earning potential over that same time period.

You never will. THOSE of us that are 'skilled' workers are being screwed by any increase in the minimum wage since we are making more than minimum, we see no increase.
(bogus numbers used in this example)
If minimum wage was $10/hour and we made $20/hour due to our willingness to WORK at learning more to earn more, and they raise minimum wage to $15/hour, then we have LOST a substantial amount of our buying power as the cost of goods & services WILL go up with that increase in minimum wage, thus taking a bigger bite out of OUR paychecks when we need those goods or services. Every time they increase minimum wage, we lose.

Or, hear me out here, the rich people could just be a little less rich. Work is work. Go ahead and take that $15/hr burger flipping job if it is so easy. Just think of all the extra time off you get working part time. Oh, wait you're on call 24/7 because management can't be bothered to staff effectively and you will be fired if you can't fill in for someone calling in sick.

Prices have gone up whether minimum wage was increased or not.

Ah, ok, so, since I've busted my hump to learn to earn (more) than burger flippers, just exactly how much of my 'richness' does Mr. Burger Flipper deserve?

Look at the left coast, places that have instituted higher minimum wages have actually increase unemployment and have a higher (much higher) cost of living increase than places that haven't.

You'll not get much liberal sympathy on working-mens (and womens) internet sites.

Hate to break it to you hump buster, but you're not the kind of rich I'm talking about. To the actual rich class you are no different from the burger flipper. You are just another worker to be exploited. And the rich class's greatest victory was convincing you that paying the poor person more money would hurt you. They are paying you both less than what you are worth. Congratulations on being a pawn so that the truly rich can be even richer.

congrats on being the worst kind of liberal! You a friend of Pelosi? Biden? Clinton?

Do you think our situations will improve by attacking each other's character? You need to realize that poor people fighting amongst themselves is what the rich people want. And yes, to them you are poor.

No, they are not my friends. They are some of the rich people I'm talking about.

BUT what about the 'rich people' that EARN the riches? Not those that stole it (the 3 I mentioned)

Henry Ford is a great example. He had and now his heirs have lots of money, but Ford went bankrupt TWICE before getting his 'empire' working, and he is responsible for the 40/hr work week, some of the highest pay rates in his time. BUT, like all liberals, you want him to give his money that he worked for to people that don't want to work (Mr. Burger Flipper) or who don't want to learn to earn. Flipping burgers isn't a living wage for a reason, that is the kind of job high school kids get to learn to work in the workplace. Should Mr. Burger Flipper make as much as Le Cordon Bleu chefs? They both cook food, don't they? ONE busted their butt to learn to earn, Mr. Burger Flipper just wants someone to give him (MAXIMUM) money for (MINIMAL) effort. THAT is all that $15/hr minimum wage would do. And, no matter what you want to think, THAT will ruin my buying power that I learned to earn. But, the liberals don't want the actually learn-to-earn workers to see this, their rhetoric is what you are espousing here.

Just a side note, you can actually make a decent living as a "Burger Flipper" if you really want to. I worked at a McDonald's during and a few years after high school. Upon graduation, I was promoted to a shift manager. The store manager tried to talk me into advancing through the management ranks. Assistant store managers, store managers, and district managers apparently make a decent wage. I of course had learned by then that I was not a people person and left to start my career in the glorious world of quality. Now I use my lack of people skills on machinists that swear the CMM is wrong.