i think i became a slave for 2 hours

[RanD00M]

If it's under minimum wage i say report it to the government.

 

[Cyberjester]

I had a job like this. I was bagging logs for fires. And these were pretty hefty sized bags and I was getting paid 10p per bag or £15 for 100 bags. I worked non stop for 5 hours for £15, and that was only because my dad came and help when he came to pick me up.

Needless to say, I did not go back, but my friend works at the same place doing a different job and his pay is less than minimum and he doesn't have safety equipment for the machinery he is using. But we can't report them. They are a family friend after all.

But, yeah... that's my experience. You can and should report the people (if what they are doing is legally wrong).

Haha, political correctness will leave you feeling guilty if something goes wrong. Just report them.

On topic, agriculture work really doesn't pay that much. Just the way it is.

Guess some of you haven't heard of cash-in-hand jobs. It's a way of paying money up-front and without tax, usually because the overall wage is so low it'd be unfair to tax it... and a way for people who don't have a working visa in that particular country to earn some money.

Anyhoo, $6 for 2 hours isn't that big a deal, especially at that time in the morning, especially for strawberry picking. It actually sounds quite nice. Moreso because you had a friend with you. Man, I'd do something like that for free, it sounds therapeutic, what are you complaining for?

This.

Strawberry plants smell ok, you had a person to chat to, you were outdoors for a few hours and were up nice and early.

AND you got paid for it. Quit whinging and tell me the address. =P

 

[Xojins]

yeah, fruit pickers get paid fuck all because they're usually illegal immigrants and can't complain about not getting minimum wage, it's not real work.

True stuff. Farmers will often take advantage of illegal immigrants this way, because it affords virtually free labor. I do believe that happens more towards the US/Mexico border though.

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

So those saying 'they have to do it this way' are full of crap and likely never set foot on a farm let alone realised how many thousands of dollars even the small ones make every day. There is no excuse for ripping your workers off like that. Even if your going to pay commission.

Yeah, that must be why there's less and less farms, because every single one of them make such good money.I'll return the "full of crap" comment right back at you sir.

There isn't less and less farms out there, if there was we would see massive amounts of starvation in the N. America alone. No... what we are seeing is large corporate bodies purchasing and coagulating individual farms into large 'factory farms.' If there was no money in farming, then explain to me why a company (designed to make money) would be purchasing as many little farms as they can to make big super farms?

Corporate greed and backstabbing, including using third world farms to supply the US market, doesn't render my argument moot. Even smaller farms, such as the one I worked on, can afford to pay their workers a decent amount and even a by hour rate. They choose not to, also to use every little hiccup in the economy as justification, cause it means more money in the owners pocket at the end of the day.

 

[Mekado]

So those saying 'they have to do it this way' are full of crap and likely never set foot on a farm let alone realised how many thousands of dollars even the small ones make every day. There is no excuse for ripping your workers off like that. Even if your going to pay commission.

Yeah, that must be why there's less and less farms, because every single one of them make such good money.I'll return the "full of crap" comment right back at you sir.

There isn't less and less farms out there, if there was we would see massive amounts of starvation in the N. America alone. No... what we are seeing is large corporate bodies purchasing and coagulating individual farms into large 'factory farms.' If there was no money in farming, then explain to me why a company (designed to make money) would be purchasing as many little farms as they can to make big super farms?

I didn't say there was no money at all in farming, but it's no gold mine like you make it to be, and not every farm (or even every type of farms) makes any profit, most of them makes just enough to get by.I'm obviously talking about the small "family" farms, not the huge corporate farms.

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

I didn't say there was no money at all in farming, but it's no gold mine like you make it to be, and not every farm (or even every type of farms) makes any profit, most of them makes just enough to get by.I'm obviously talking about the small "family" farms, not the huge corporate farms.

You know... we need more information about this farm in question to be able to continue. You might be right, it might be struggling because it is being unfairly undercut buy a larger monopoly of farms in the area. We don't know how much money they are making in relation to how much they are paying the worker...

 

[Mekado]

I didn't say there was no money at all in farming, but it's no gold mine like you make it to be, and not every farm (or even every type of farms) makes any profit, most of them makes just enough to get by.I'm obviously talking about the small "family" farms, not the huge corporate farms.

You know... we need more information about this farm in question to be able to continue. You might be right, it might be struggling because it is being unfairly undercut buy a larger monopoly of farms in the area. We don't know how much money they are making in relation to how much they are paying the worker...

Yeah, you're right, if he was indeed working for a corporate farm, then yes they are thieving aholes, but if it's a small farm that barely makes any profit, they probably couldn't pay more if they wanted to.

 

[johnman]

I have a saturday job in a computer repair shop, I get paid £30 for a 9 hour day and I am 17. I would get more stacking shelves in a supermarket, but I love my work as its so laid back and convient for me I dont care.

 

[Sewblon]

Did you have any kind of written agreement with these people? Because if you didn't have one I am not sure that you could prove that they broke any laws.

 

[firedfns13]

I had a job like this. I was bagging logs for fires. And these were pretty hefty sized bags and I was getting paid 10p per bag or £15 for 100 bags. I worked non stop for 5 hours for £15, and that was only because my dad came and help when he came to pick me up.

Needless to say, I did not go back, but my friend works at the same place doing a different job and his pay is less than minimum and he doesn't have safety equipment for the machinery he is using. But we can't report them. They are a family friend after all.

But, yeah... that's my experience. You can and should report the people (if what they are doing is legally wrong).

So.....you're supporting thievery, and supporting an employer that intentionally keeps your friend working in dangerous working conditions? But you don't want to report them, because they're a family friend.....

While not wishing to be confrontational.....

Stop being a sheep and get better friends. I don't know if you're in the US, but even if you're not, most other countries have work safety laws. They're there to keep you employed safely, with all your digits attached. There is no reason either you or your friend should be risking your safety, just so your family friend employer can save a few bucks by not having proper safety equipment installed.

Second!

My friend worked at a pizzaria where he got paid like $4 an hour, and was supposed to make up the remaining $4 in tips to make minimum wage. Except that he didn't, and when you don't, your employer is supposed to pay you what you need to get minimum.
Also, his boss hit on this girl we know ALL the time, more than a 40 year old guy should. He's pretty much a pedophile. Unfortunately for him, nobody liked his restaurant and he had to close down.

 

[firedfns13]

yeah, fruit pickers get paid fuck all because they're usually illegal immigrants and can't complain about not getting minimum wage, it's not real work.

True stuff. Farmers will often take advantage of illegal immigrants this way, because it affords virtually free labor. I do believe that happens more towards the US/Mexico border though.

It happens all over the US. I think its safer for illegals to go deeper into the US towards Chicago/great plains because we don't have Border Patrol Officers/checkpoints or Immigration officials. I've never seen one.

 

[Lyri]

*snip*

You're going to complain about a 2hr shift?
Pay issues fall into how long you work, under a certain amount of hours you don't have to get a fixed pay.
At least here in England anyway.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Minimum wage is socialist btw, so if you're against the health care bill, don't complain

Why exactly would we be against the health care bill?

I'm not exactly sure why Americans are so worked up about that thing - it's not like it's anything really bad.

Allow me to introduce you to Canada, the country with the most crap health care there is.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

While this is certainly a very low wage and, in all likelyhood is a violation of federal law, your payment is based entirely on your productivity. To reach the federally mandated minimum wage you would simply need to produce roughly double your output and suddenly you're being properly compensated. Of course, this loophole has long been closed in the more accountable professions. Waitresses in most resturants for example are paid largely in tips with a small hourly wage added on (usually just a few bucks). If during the course of a pay period they fail to make minimum wage, the employer is required to compensate.

The reason why farmers and the like can do this is manyfold. First, day labor is a largely unreglated business, mostly because it isn't possible to regulate. Moreover, if one really gets technical, any service can be provided at a negotiable rate and while in most industries this won't ever dip below minimum wage in professions that require absolutely zero skill you'll find it becomes common. Most day labor comes with a "job wage". In most cases, you agree to perform a certain duty until complete for an agreed upon price. In most cases, the price per hour is well under minimum wage. You might wonder why people don't complain about shabby treatment but the answer is simple: if they had a better option for making money they'd take it.

When you start to consider the costs associated with growing a KG worth of berries, you'll quickly come to realize why you won't get paid by the hour and why the per KG price is so low. Right now, out of season, my local grocer is selling strawberries for 4.99/lb (USD). When you consider the costs (the short list being, planting, watering, fetalizing, loss on the field, in transit, in store, packing, shipping and selling) you come to realize there isn't a very large margin being made by anybody.

 

[Snowalker]

I thought you wanted this job because you were bored of the holidays, not for money?

Yeah, my thoughts as well. I mean I understand your point, but if you were all that concerned about money, seems like you would have asked before hand. Also, I don't see this as being all that hard, I've picked vegetables, and unless strarrberries are like ochra, its not that hard. Plus you mention joking that could be considering goofing off at a work place, which is frowned upon. I'm not saying what you did was wrong, you just seem like you didn't take in all what you did versus what they did.