It depends where you live. In the Puget Sound region of Washington you can't find a house to rent for under about $2500 a month, or one to buy for under $500K; most are much more. Gasoline is over $4 a gallon.
I'm sure some regions are much cheaper.

But a fair wage depends on the employers ability to earn a profit. If the employer can't make a profit the notion of a "fair wage" is irrelevent.

that was one of my Dad's favorite mantras. If I didn't get anything else from him, that was drilled into my very being.

do I LIKE it? No.

is it the Truth? without question.

Lots of people make enough money. They are broke because their money habits.

I think a fair wage depends on a few factors.
If you make enough money to pay the bill afford some hobby/it's and put money away that's typically a fair wage.
Depending on your occupation may have something to do with a fair wage.if your in a job where it's harmful to your health or a very physical demanding job you should be compensated accordingly.

Yep

If picking berries is similar to tying rebar, it wouldn't be cheap.

Today’s employees are often not work focused they are more concerned how little time they need to work to get paid. The problems that creates is the bigger issue. Looking for a few longer days to get more days off hurts coverage of shifts making overtime less likely because others are on either side of the shift that needs covering so the pool is tiny then.

Sick time is budgeted like vacation time so again more shifts need to be covered at the overtime rates making another employee needed as the costs and coverage are easier to manage with extra bodies around.

Shooting stars come and go they come in hot set the place on fire being #1 employee but burn out just as fast and then gone just as fast. When I started at the jail there was a sign up sheet for overtime at the end nobody wanted any overtime.

I think it's interesting that people say "Americans would line up to do this work if the pay was right", but yet, so far, only two people have actually said what sort of pay they'd do it for.

Perhaps the people that think Americans would line up to do these jobs, aren't willing to do these jobs themselves, even though they think other people will.

… put this in the other post … but gonna go on and stick it in here too

… here the Yankees and Californians come and take the higher paying jobs … while the mescins drive down wages on the rest

… I’m fortunate for the moment as I have a management position… but the writings on the wall when it comes to good ol boys like me

I'm too old to do the berry picking and the milking job is not well defined. Milk parlors are much different than what I used to do. Plus the question is about fairness, not what I would do the job for, depending on my other options this would change daily.

This is spot on in my experience, which is in industry. The union leadership works to minimize productivity to maximize the number of employees required to achieve the work because this maximizes union dues collected. I don't know about craft in construction.




Another accurate observation.

In the early 1900's, corporations treated their employees like indentured servants. The corporate heads made all the money and the workers had almost no upward mobility no matter how hard they worked. Now the unions want all the corporate profits. Both situations are wrong.
Without healthy profits corporations can't and don't invest in improvements and eventually loose business and close doors as they are out competed by others. Such is the outcome due to unions.

One of my sons works for Nucor Steel. Nucor profit shares with the employees, company and union. This maintains worker motivation for productivity and helps keep unions out. The better/smarter/harder working employees have the opportunity to advance. I think this is a good formula and Nucor has done well, so their employees have done well.

If one guys willing to work and give it his all and the guy next to him is just retired on the job putting out the minimum so what’s a fair wage then?

My Boss is giving me a raft of crap for picking up roadkill skunks. We may be parting ways. City boys....jeeze..