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..

Some of the best advice I ever got was back in 1983. (If you can't make a living on 40 hours a week, you better find a better job).

As far as I'm concerned the idiots that are on strike at Starbucks are part of the problem. To really think that making an overpriced cup of coffee is a career or to expect $20 to $30 an hour is what's wrong in this country. Get a REAL job !!!!!

I can't believe people pay that much for coffee. Those same people complain that wages are to low but spend 5 bucks day or more for a .75 cent cup of coffee ....stoooooopid.

My Bunn coffee maker makes the coffee I look forward to drinking every morning. I can’t choke down that Starbucks 90W swill makes my gut ache.

I guess, Cathryn, a fair wage is what a person decides they are willing to work for. Companies have a couple of choices. They can pay the least that they are able to pay and still find employees, or they can pay higher wages to attract more dedicated/educated/experienced employees. If a company's business is flipping burgers, or picking berries, it'll be the former, as literally anyone can do it. If a company produces state of the art semiconductor chips, or operates on human brains, they will certainly pay more for talented help.

Employees also have ample choices. They can choose to work for a wage they are dissatisfied with or they can find a job that pays more. That may involve furthering their education, either via college, or a trade. But burger flippers, and berry pickers, don't have to be that for life... they choose to. They can also choose to make themselves more marketable, and therefore worthy of a higher wage. Or, they can do as you do and hustle to make money with side gigs... you do right well in that respect!

It's kinda hard to say how much it would cost for me to pick berries or milk cows. I physically cannot pick strawberries, as I found out when I tried to a few years back, lol. I was making about $20/hr picking the berries, but the physical strain of crouching for 8 hours was more than I could handle. But berries I could pick standing up? Sure... it sounds fun. And I've never milked a cow but would give it a try. As for cost? Well, right now I make $18/hr so I wouldn't work for less than that. BUT if I NEEDED the money to survive? Well, then I guess I would work for any wage... while simultaneously trying to find a job with higher wages.

I think a lot of people just can't understand that certain jobs are just that.....jobs... not careers... Some jobs are best filled by high school/college students or retirees that just want to get out of the house. They are not meant to raise a family on.

Regarding illegal immigration... again, companies that just need warm bodies will want to pay as little for that as they are able. And when illegal immigrants are willing to work for wages no American would, well, they are the ones that get the job, and as Savell said, bring down the wages for low income American workers. Because if the illegals weren't there, companies would have no choice but to raise wages to a point that Americans will work for.

Interesting concept....

I liked milking cows, it was easy put some smarts

Got payed 20 bucks a milking 30 years ago, took about 1 and a half hours

not counting drive time, good money for me at the time

Fast forward 30 years, I worked residential and government

I wouldn't get out of bed for the government for less than 100.00 per hour

Sometimes residential I charged nothing, it was my way of helping

There is no such thing as a fair wage, it's all what you wish to do

Don't believe snaring beaver in sensitive areas will be included in that