Dock strike/Toilet paper shortage??

[BackRoad]

Capitalism as it is now, with very little morality, is evil.

In 30 yrs in the work force I've learned that my loyalty goes so far as my paycheck. It's an exchange of services so don't expect me to be a cheerleader for mission statements and buzz words.

Your comments are consistent. Thanks for contributing.

Actually capitalism is an idea. It is neither moral nor amoral.

 

[D&D]

You sound like a LinkedIn advertisement.

Capitalism as it is now, with very little morality, is evil. It's a fact that unions created a balanced work life with 40 hr work weeks, vacation, benefits.

Still in states that have a right to hire/right to fire it doesn't matter how productive you are if you don't tow the company line your job will be eliminated, unless you are union member.

Good thing with the Federal Government is that there are rules in place to fire someone. It takes work but it can be done.

In 30 yrs in the work force I've learned that my loyalty goes so far as my paycheck. It's an exchange of services so don't expect me to be a cheerleader for mission statements and buzz words.

A servant of/to the government, that explains a lot.

 

[paulsharvey]

I'm not a fan at all of Unions, but at one point, they did serve a purpose. It probably was a good idea to get 8-12 year Olds out of the mines. In this day, I think most unions are bad for workers, and for the companies. Now, as I have gotten in arguments with many people who love unions, there Are different types of unions, with some serving kinda like a Skilled staffing agency. I have Never liked that most ban cross training, and normally block any merit based raises for across the board stuff.

At the same time, I also do know that Many companies (it's normally specific supervisors, not broad company policy, but often entire offices/yards) that will want everyone to come in 30 mins early every day for the safety meeting (unpaid), and similar. Most unions locally actually can't get anything done productive. They might negotiate a 6% over 3 year raise, and get a the boot allowance upped from $50 to $75; but for a hard working, ambitious person, they are better without the union.

 

[Oaktree]

Actually capitalism is an idea. It is neither moral nor amoral.

Capitalism, communism & socialism all work great on paper. It's when human nature gets involved that things go sideways. Pick your poison.

 

[WinterDeere]

I always want to re-attribute Churchill's famous democracy quote to Capitalism. He said something like, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others."

There are a myriad of problems with unbridled capitalism, but at least it's fundamental principles align with human nature... unlike all the others.

 

[Torvy]

Often the employee doesn’t look at total employer package when griping about their pay. SS, vacation pay, sick leave, profit sharing, 401K matching, bonuses, company vehicle are all things that aren’t free. Now, in Md., they just mandated FAMLI (family and medical leave insurance) which will cost the employer between 0.45% and 0.90% of wages for all employees. FAMLI gives up to 24 weeks of paid leave per year.

When I first started working in a role where I was aware of the cost of "fringe" benefits (the term for the collective outlay the employer makes to pay for various benefit packages), the rate was 35% of the employee pay. (1984ish) This does not include the employer portion of payroll taxes. (For those who don't know, your employer pays the same for social security and Medicare on your behalf as you pay in. In reality, you are paying over 15% of your pay.

While I eventually moved out of roles that dealt with that level of detail, SWMBO stayed in that type of role until her retirement (8 months ago). By then, the fringe rate was exceeding 55%. In other words, for every dollar you get paid, your employer is paying 55 cents for the other benefits you get...and this is in Texas where we have fewer mandates than some states. In some states it will be even more.

 

[newbury]

When I first started working in a role where I was aware of the cost of "fringe" benefits (the term for the collective outlay the employer makes to pay for various benefit packages), the rate was 35% of the employee pay. (1984ish) This does not include the employer portion of payroll taxes. (For those who don't know, your employer pays the same for social security and Medicare on your behalf as you pay in. In reality, you are paying over 15% of your pay.

While I eventually moved out of roles that dealt with that level of detail, SWMBO stayed in that type of role until her retirement (8 months ago). By then, the fringe rate was exceeding 55%. In other words, for every dollar you get paid, your employer is paying 55 cents for the other benefits you get...and this is in Texas where we have fewer mandates than some states. In some states it will be even more.

When (pre 2012) I was doing cost estimates for hiring contractors for work on Army projects the general rule was plan on the "overhead" rate being equal to the salary.

 

[paulsharvey]

So, the number has moved, but the general role of thumb used to be, under $62,000 per year, the Only thing matters is money. Dental plan, PTO, holidays, stock options, all useless. Once you get over $62,000 per year, (that's pay, not labor burden), then employees start caring more about pto, health insurance, holidays, company events, feeling fulfilled, ect

If I remember right, that $62,000 number was about 5 years ago

I would guess the number is probably $85,000 now?

 

[Snobdds]

You sound like a LinkedIn advertisement.

Capitalism as it is now, with very little morality, is evil. It's a fact that unions created a balanced work life with 40 hr work weeks, vacation, benefits.

Still in states that have a right to hire/right to fire it doesn't matter how productive you are if you don't tow the company line your job will be eliminated, unless you are union member.

Good thing with the Federal Government is that there are rules in place to fire someone. It takes work but it can be done.

In 30 yrs in the work force I've learned that my loyalty goes so far as my paycheck. It's an exchange of services so don't expect me to be a cheerleader for mission statements and buzz words.

I don't think you have a good grasp on what Capitalism is.

Capitalism is about proper alignment of resources...not labor issues...

 

[WinterDeere]

When (pre 2012) I was doing cost estimates for hiring contractors for work on Army projects the general rule was plan on the "overhead" rate being equal to the salary.

Same here, and PA is generally one of the cheaper east-coast states in which to do business.