Re: Food Checkout Week

Jette <bosslady@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> You got a whole 3%?  We got told it had to be under 2.5%.  Cost of
> living has gone up 4% over the last year and we were barely above
> the official "poverty line" before that.

The vast majority of private sector employees in the US don't get
automatic cost of living increases.  To get a raise, they have to
demonstrate to their boss that they have improved the company's
productivity.  And even then, their raise is likely to be less than
the inflation rate.

> Only the top 1% or so of civil servants actually get the big wages
> - the rest of us earn less than a check out assistant in Walmart.

It's very different in the US.  Most Wal-Mart salaries are around
$14k, about half the median income -- and they don't get medical
insurance.  The median federal government civilian employee salary
is around $80k, more than twice the median income.

> Still, we do get 7 weeks of paid annual leave and flexi-time.

Almost nobody in the US gets that much leave.  Two weeks paid vacation
is typical.  Some get three weeks.  Many get no paid vacation at all.

Flexi-time is fairly common around here, mostly because even with
morning and evening rush "hour" each lasting four hours, roads are
gridlocked, and Metro's new unofficial motto is "expect major delays."

When I was heading to a recent PRSFS meeting, Metro delays caused me
to arrive at Silver Spring a few minutes too late to catch the bus.
No problem -- I simply walked up Colesville Road until I caught up to
the bus.  Along the way, I also passed an ambulance with its lights
and sirens going.  This is typical traffic.  If everyone was required
to be at work at the same time, well, they simply wouldn't be.  Most
would either arrive hours early or hours late.
-- 
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html
before emailing me.