txrattlesnake said:
I'll tell ya, the guy getting up driving an hour to work, having to be there 12 to 15 hours each day, unloading trucks, having to memorize all 800 items on those trucks, then going and cleaning the toliets, scrubbing the patios and sidewalks, and staircases, making sure that the grounds are spotless, then having to drive another hour back home at the end of their twelve hour day (that they have to work to stay in good standing with the bosses) five days a week with only two holidays off throughout the year for $8.00 an hour is doing much more work than some cpa with his feet up on a desk all afternoon. |
Typically, people who earn "low" wages (under about $15 an hour) are people with little education, little experience, who do unskilled jobs with little responsibility, and are easily replaced. At least locally, you can't hire a general labourer or warehouse worker for less than (about) $15 an hour who would show up to work on time and sober; of course, I live in one of the most conservative regions in Canada, where (even in the recession) there are more jobs than people because we don't try to punish business owners for making money and employing people, so it may be drastically different elsewhere.
Now, what people don't understand about the reason why office workers generally make more than their labourers is that the office worker is higher educated, has a much rarer skillet that is in much higher demand, has more responsibility, and makes many more decisions which have a far higher impact on the company as a whole. If the labourer you describe is a poor employee the trucks get unloaded a little too slowly and the place isn't that clean, while if the CPA you higher is a bad employee you're investigated by the SEC, your stock value plummets, and the brand you've spent 50 years developing is destroyed by a single employee.
