So I applied for a job today.

[Hoppy]

I am near broke. Partly due to some bad decisions on my part and the rest is because I am paying part of my mother's expenses at assisted living for dementia care at $72k per year....save your money now, partners.

Anyway, I live in an upscale neighborhood. 1/8 mile from my house is a King's supermarket. It is very upscale..to the point that I used to see John DeLorean shopping in this store. So I figured I would apply there for a full time job and get, maybe $12. per hour. That would be enough to cover the slack each month.

N.J. minimum wage is $8.25 per hour. Interviewer says the pay is $9.00 per hour. BUT, nobody gets to work more than 29 hours per week. On top of this, there are union dues. So where is the union during all of this?

This store charges customers more than some of the other supermarkets in the area. W.T.F.?

[greytdemocrat]

1. Tough times...

Is there any kind of career path???

[WhiteTara]

2. Good Luck Hoppy

It is a very rough world.

[Hoppy]

3. No career path.+

I am 71 years old.

[gvstn]

4. With a union

The $9 per hour should be a starting wage. Then regular raises until you reach "top rate" after about two years and then minimal cost of living raises of a few cents an hour once a year after that. At least that is how it was several years ago. It really depends on the contract the union negotiated but supermarket pay has been on the decline the last couple of decades.

Union dues are about $5 a week so the first .25/hr raise covers that and every other raise is yours to keep.

[Hoppy]

5. I was polite to the interviewier, it isn't her fault, but they can keep their job.

But why didn't the union call a general strike when everyone's hours were cut?

[gvstn]

6. They probably have a minimum number of full time workers.

Basically department heads are all full time. Then for everyone else they hire all part time. The thing is a full time worker is a lot more expensive. A part timer might get $300 a month towards pension/healthcare benefits where a full timer might get $700. It is cheaper for the store to pay two part timers then to pay one full timer. It was very common even 20 years ago for stores to hire as few full timers as possible. Keeping all part timers below 35 hours. New contracts may have lowered that to 29. Workers can still get overtime but can't work more than 40 hours for a certain number of weeks before they have to be moved to full time. I'm sure it is someone's primary job to make sure no employee works enough that they have to be moved to full time and juggles the schedule accordingly.

The meat union is really the only strong one. The retail clerks doesn't have a lot of bargaining power, they only survive because they are backed up by the meat unions.

[Hoppy]

7. I suspect that full time employees, if any, are supervisors and maybe few who were hired before ACA

I think the plan should be for the workers to request a vote for change in union from the present union, I believe it U.ofU.L. (Union of Useless Leaders).

Bring in the union representing the McDonalds workers.