SuperMom’s drivers locked out in labor dispute
August 24, 2012 at 2:29 pm in South Washington County Bulletin
Lockout comes as union representing bakery’s delivery drivers, owner Northern Tier Energy negotiate new labor contract. Company says wages “not competitive;” while union says company not negotiating in good faith. Continue Reading
The same company that charges more and more for gas the CLOSER you are to their refinery. I will not support his company until they support their own, and the communities they are in. Unbelievable.
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You think it’s bad now, wait until they lock out the refinery workers next year!
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Being around in the 2006 strike was enough. I do not want to go see or go through anything similar again.
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2006 was nothing compared to what it’s going to be like!
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I gas up at Duffy’s and if I want good donuts, I buy them at Holiday.
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Brad Slawson, Jr., president of the Teamsters Local 120, disputed that assertion in a phone interview, saying “a company that’s making billions” is proposing to drive wages for SuperMom’s drivers below the level of the state’s median earners.
I am not sure why Mr. Slawson wants to compare SuperMom’s drivers to the states median wage. To be intellectually honest he needs to compare their wages to that of similar jobs. Furthermore it is irrelevant that the parent company is making billions of dollars. You pay the employee for the value of the job they are performing. I would say $16 per hour is a very good wage for this job.
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I agree with Mr. Ramey that pay needs to reflect the value of the job. If there are similar jobs that are paying a higher wage, I would encourage the drivers to seek out those jobs/companies.
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A good example why this country is so torn apart. Have either of you two folks tryed to live on $16.00 per hour. A little over $33,000 a year. Folks you need to come to the real world.
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Yes David I have lived, and quite well on that income, even when adjusting for inflation. I was single and shared an apartment with a roommate. I knew what my income was and lived accordingly.
Usually when this discussion arises the person I am discussing the topic with asks, “well, what about the person with children?” What about them? Is an employer supposed to pay somebody more for the same job because they have children? If so will I pay a high school student minimum wage for flipping burgers, a single dad with one kid $10 per hour for the same job if they live at home, or a primary income earner for a family of four $30 per hour for the same job? Of course not, that would be silly.
David, there is something called equilibrium wage. Equilibrium wages are higher for jobs that require greater amounts of skills and/or education. Wages are established based on the supply of workers available to perform a job and the amount of jobs available. The jobs in this article will have a greater supply of workers able to perform them because of the skills required therefore the wages will be lower than that of many other jobs. Nothing sinister or heartless, just economics 101.
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Well Bob, no disrespect. What year was that. Not today with four dollar gas prices. The Education card doesn’t stand up today either. Just because a person makes a living using his or her hands doesn’t mean he is not education. Just two examples I have a friend who has a masters, he drives a truck over the road for his company. I have a brother in law who has a masters and four other degrees and he now paints. I could go on. twenty bucks is a living wage today in this country and thats still watching your pennies family or not.
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David, I was very clear that I lived on that wage when adjusting for inflation.
I did not say that people making a living using their hands do not have an education. But most of those working with their hands have job specific skills, not a higher degree. Even so, they get paid handsomely. For example, I cannot mud and tape drywall. Guess what? I bet the person that does makes more per hour than I do. As does the plumber and electrician. Why? Because they have skills I do not. The examples you cite are irrelevant however because their education is not in the current field they work in.
But lets not get sidetracked. Lets focus. We are talking about a job (Super Moms delivery) that requires skills that all of us possess. You do not need a degree of any sort, job specific skills, etc. Are you saying that this job should pay $20 per hour? Are you saying that we are entitled to a living wage? If so what is a living wage? I previously gave you an example of three different people working the same job. Each had different life circumstances. Are each entitled to a living wage according to their circumstance? Please stop avoiding the questions and address them.
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