Worker Wages: Wendy's vs. Wal-Mart vs. Costco
- Thread starter Bluce Ree
- Start date
Their business model of Costco is more honest and much less greedy than Walmart. Wendy's has no excuse whatsoever...appalling.
Rac80
The Belle of the Ball
are they all in the position? is the guy making more a manager or a specialized job? if you looked at the company (Big Pharma) my hubby works for you could also find jobs at those different pay amounts- three different jobs requiring different levels of education. have they all been working for their respective companies the same amount of time? are we comparing the same job or apples and oranges? Give us some facts not just cute pics. as to the chick working at wendy's at least she makes minimum wage- most restaurant jobs pay below that because of "tips" which I think is BS!
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ok checked this out- a few more "facts"- the guy at costco :
as to the "huge line that dissappears in minutes" at my local costco...
yeah RIIIIIIIIIIGHT!
--- merged: Aug 11, 2013 at 4:47 PM ---
ok checked this out- a few more "facts"- the guy at costco :
no background on the other two- and neither one looks old enough to have been at the same place 19 years. apples and oranges people! the guy at costco has made it a career- doubt the other two plan to - and if they do...yahoo said:
as to the "huge line that dissappears in minutes" at my local costco...
yeah RIIIIIIIIIIGHT!Gatefan1976
Well Known GateFan
Yes, it's apples and oranges Rac.
"LOOK THIS DUDE WORKS AT COSTO AND HE MAKES 22 BUCKS AN HOUR, OVERPAID BUM, WHAT ARE THESE SO-CALLED POOR CRYING ABOUT"!!!!
"LOOK THIS DUDE WORKS AT COSTO AND HE MAKES 22 BUCKS AN HOUR, OVERPAID BUM, WHAT ARE THESE SO-CALLED POOR CRYING ABOUT"!!!!
Rac80
The Belle of the Ball
let's put it this way gatefans- do you expect a guy who has worked for a company as a "trivet pusher" (made up job ya know) for 3 years to be paid the same as a guy (i.e. person- not being sexist here) who began as a "trivet pusher" 19 YEARS ago and now supervises all of the "trivet pushers" on the day shift? the minimum wage in the USA is considered a basic starting wage for those who have no skills/job experience. if a person has been employed for many years for the same company one would expect him to earn more and have better benefits. maybe it doesn't work that way in oz.
I found the articel guido cited to be very misleading. tons of info about the one costco employee (age, yrs. working, job description) but nothing said about the other two who were cited for comparison- obviously this article was to be pro- Costco and not impartial at all.
I totally agree with this. Nobody is talking about COLA increases (cost of living). Its how persons with the same job can make different salaries. And like you said, senority belongs to those in the same job who have been doing that job for the longest in that company. They are first to be promoted and they make the highest salaries. Having said that, I think that somebody driving a forklift for 19 years and only making $22.80 is rather pathetic.
Gatefan1976
Well Known GateFan
Of course not.
That is not entirely true. One social construct of the US throws that way out of whack, and that is the notion of "tipping" good service. I can pay a "social employee" (such as a waiter, publican) less because they will make the difference up in tips if they are good. "Joe server" or "Joe Shelf-stacker" has NO recourse to tips to supplement their wage. This very idea is what lead to us here pretty much "socially abolishing" the notion of tips and forcing employers to pay a decent starting wage. We still give tips, but that tip is for actual great service, done in cash, and told to put it in your pocket and damn the employer. It falls apart when you pay the dude slogging his guts out for bugger all and has no chance to recieve such "gratuity". In effect, you use impossible standards to justify creating a slave caste.
Nope, works the same way, but within different paramaters Rac.
Yes, it was misleading, agreed.
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I totally agree with this. Nobody is talking about COLA increases (cost of living). Its how persons with the same job can make different salaries. And like you said, senority belongs to those in the same job who have been doing that job for the longest in that company. They are first to be promoted and they make the highest salaries. Having said that, I think that somebody driving a forklift for 19 years and only making $22.80 is rather pathetic.
Our unions enforce C.O.L. increases, in fact that is the main purpose of our unions. The secondary purpose of them is to deal with unfair treatment.
As we have established however, US unions and Aus unions are worlds apart.
Rac80
The Belle of the Ball
if you read all of my earlier comment, you would have seen that I disaprove of the lower wage for waiteresses/waiters because of tips- they don't even make the basic minimum wage in the USA. :
Rac80 said:
@OM1- the guy lives in NC- that is a very good wage for the area.
not everywhere is as expensive as california is! 
Gatefan1976
Well Known GateFan
I saw it, guess what, your opinion will change nothing, nor will mine.
All I was noting that under the "tip" system "frontline workers" can actually make more than the minimum wage, and people on the minimum wage only are screwed.
Um, hate to rain on this Gatefan, but "tips" are collected from the employees by the employers in almost every establishment that takes tips. They are shared by all employees and a cut is taken by the establishment itself. Joe server is going to share his tips with Joe shelf-stacker even if he does not want to. The penalty for not giving up tips is usually termination.
It was misleading, but informative. It tells me that Wendy's is greedy and selfish, Walmart is greedy and not as selfish, and that Costco is run by people who have principles.
In the US, this needs to be taken away from unions and made into employment regulations. There needs to be a standard beyong just minimum wages...minimum benefits is being established by the AHC Act.
Illiterati
Council Member & Author
A court recently decided that a Starbucks manager can have a cut of the tips. I have issues with that.
Me too. I dont think that gratuities for service are a "shared" commodity. Employers see it as income! That is totally wrong. Not only that, the IRS taxes tips too.
Gatefan1976
Well Known GateFan
Actually, I hate to rain on your parade, but such systems are not universal.
Here is an example:
http://www.snagajob.com/resources/how-restaurant-tips-work
By the by, Joe shelf stacker and Joe server are two separate industries and tend not to meet, so don't try to compare them.
Did it tell you what baseline Costco workers make?
Nope?
Useless marketing crap then.
Wendy's in this case is paying the base wage, WHY are they "ebil" for doing so??
Who the hell do you think's job it is to make these regulations and fight for the workers?? HINT: it is NOT the employers.
The US does not need to demolish unions, it needs to limit them to doing their goddamn job!!
No, you need to take healthcare out of the equation all togeather. It is NOT the role of an employer to pay for your healthcare crap UNLESS it was a workplace induced issue. Why the HELL should my employer pay for the broken leg I got on holidays??
BULLSHIT!!!
Minimum healthcare should be a public issue, not a private one.
PAY ME 15 bucks an hour so I can afford my tax, and pay my private health fund!!
Gatefan1976
Well Known GateFan
They are not, but your system see's them as such. 30% gratuity is the standard in the US.
Employers under such a system have NO RIGHT to deal with, monitor or take from employees. It's double dipping of the worst order.
[/quote]Not only that, the IRS taxes tips too.
The IRS taxes income, if tips are a accepted part of income, then it is taxable. If you get a "tip" here, it's yours tax free because someone has chosen to give it to you, not been expected to do it.
FYI restaurants of Wendy's type typically have a profit margin of 5-6 cents on the dollar - all the rest is eaten up with food costs, labor costs, building costs, taxes and so on. Of that roughly 94 cents on the dollar going to expenses roughly 29 percent is typically payroll. This is from the annual National Restaurant Association report prepared for them by Deloitte and Touche.
An entity like a Wal-Mart (large retailer) by comparison has a profit margin of about 3-4 cents on the dollar (per its latest filings). Interestingly, Costco has a profit margin of about 2 cents per dollar (again per its latest filings).
So the question arises of how Costco affords its higher pay levels for its workforce of about 103,000. As it turns out there are two drivers according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer. One is they do 42 billion dollars a year in sales and the other is they have a very streamlined operation so that they can maintain their current level of labor costs (70 percent of all costs for them).
Then we come to Wal-Mart who does about 6 times Costco's revenue and has over a million employees but pays them poorly, trains them poorly and tries to avoid benefits. And the end result is that the stores are poorly run and customers go elsewhere. Here is one example:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-28/walmart-faces-the-cost-of-cost-cutting-empty-shelves
Seems to me Costco has the right idea in the retail arena and that Wendy's does not belong in the comparison because the industry dynamics are not the same.
An entity like a Wal-Mart (large retailer) by comparison has a profit margin of about 3-4 cents on the dollar (per its latest filings). Interestingly, Costco has a profit margin of about 2 cents per dollar (again per its latest filings).
So the question arises of how Costco affords its higher pay levels for its workforce of about 103,000. As it turns out there are two drivers according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer. One is they do 42 billion dollars a year in sales and the other is they have a very streamlined operation so that they can maintain their current level of labor costs (70 percent of all costs for them).
Then we come to Wal-Mart who does about 6 times Costco's revenue and has over a million employees but pays them poorly, trains them poorly and tries to avoid benefits. And the end result is that the stores are poorly run and customers go elsewhere. Here is one example:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-28/walmart-faces-the-cost-of-cost-cutting-empty-shelves
Seems to me Costco has the right idea in the retail arena and that Wendy's does not belong in the comparison because the industry dynamics are not the same.
You a bit tired tonight? You keep putting words in my mouth. I already have a cigarette in there, thanks! I did not compare anyone. I said that Joe server and Joe shelf stacker share tips...I assumed you were saying they were both in the same company. If they aren't, tips are not in the picture for Joe shelf stacker. If he works in a large food establishment and is the back-kitchen garbage guy, he is going to get some of that tip money.
They dont start at $22.80/hr, that is for sure!
Because it is lower than all similar businesses in that service strata. The competition is McDonalds, Jack in the Box, Burger King, etc. What if that Wendy's is the only fast food joint in town? Wendy's does not have to pay minimum wage with the income they have. Illegal alien maids make more than that!
That cannot be done without breaking the back of the AFL-CIO first. Attempt to limit them and they can bring certain things in the country to a complete halt. Transportation systems, food deliveries, offices in private and government offices, etc.
The employer is not paying for that broken leg, the insurance coverage is. The employer obligation for employees is usually 40 hrs a week, and the wear and tear on a body is caused mostly by working. It is a basic benefit IMO and the employers are in the best position to pay it.
Minimum healthcare IS a public thing in the US now. I dont know how it is done elsewhere.
There is no such thing as an untaxable tip received by an employee according to the IRS. http://www.irs.gov/Government-Entities/ITG-FAQ-#1-Answer-Are-all-tips-received-by-an-employee-taxable-income?
Any other sort of gratuity given for service not under the employ of somebody have to be considered a "donation" unless you are self employed. I have personal experience with this one.
Gatefan1976
Well Known GateFan
Not at all bro, I am talking about the Costco, Wal-Mart employee who will never see a tip. Also, as most "stock replenishment" jobs take place at night, joe shelf stacker really will never see a tip either.
Now, this is a question, but if the entire notion of tips is to encourage superior behaviour, what value is there in a system that shares the tips?
They don't start that high here either dude!!
Can you provide base wages for the above organizations for a starting employee?
That was the problem with the article Bluce linked to begin with.
Same here, so where do you go??
You have to protect the worker, and the worker has to realise that they are a cog in the system and not be a douche about it. As Bluce said, don't expect 40 bucks an hour for filling a bag, but employers need to not pay 5 bucks an hour for the people who make the company function either.
It's the balance that we really need.
Then you are paying for workplace insurance, and YES you are right, the employer should pay for it, look up "workcover" here in aus.
But that payment is for the workspace, NOT a "employee" and any claim to say it is "for a specific employee" is disingenuous at best. By the same token, the employer should not have to pay the insurance premium for the worker who busts his leg doing a 360 flop on a surfboard either!!
Minimum healthcare IS a public thing in the US now. I dont know how it is done elsewhere.[/quote]
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There is no such thing as an untaxable tip received by an employee according to the IRS. http://www.irs.gov/Government-Entities/ITG-FAQ-#1-Answer-Are-all-tips-received-by-an-employee-taxable-income?
Any other sort of gratuity given for service not under the employ of somebody have to be considered a "donation" unless you are self employed. I have personal experience with this one.
We have no concept of "tipping" for service, we "donate" to a *person* if the service is good, in cash and basically untraceable to the ATO/IRS.