I totally agree with Thad Eckard's Nov. 28 Opinion piece, “Think Before You Spend.” I agree that paying a living wage to employees is only fair. The minimum-wage rate for retail workers in the field I'm in is no more than $7.50 per hour. That is below poverty-level wage, and you are thinking about which bill is more important to pay next and which one can wait. Is this America?
I have had many job opportunities since I moved here nearly three years ago from Charlotte. I am partly to blame for not sticking with the jobs I had been given. But when you have more than 20 years’ cashier experience and you go into an interview and they want to offer you only $7.50 an hour to start — as though you have never done cashiering before — it is not very much motivation to even want to stick with the job. It doesn't even cover two bills you may need to pay.
The mountains are a beautiful area here, but I have decided to move back to Charlotte this month in hopes of better job options, and hopefully finding a job that is worth sticking around for.
— Irene Corey
Black Mountain
Subscribe to XpressMail. Free Sneak Peek. Every Week.
Want to know what's coming out in Xpress this week before the paper even hits the stands?
We've got your free sneak peek, along with deals available in XpressMail, our weekly email newsletter. (It's the best we can do without time travel.)
-
Comments
-
Related Articles
-
Comments
Make a comment
Thanks, Irene. Charlotte is probably a better place to find work, but there are a few places around here that offer good jobs. There are also different organizations you can get involved with to help make this area more job-friendly and less business-friendly.
By Thad
12/11/2012