Jericho79

10.25 p/hour may or may not be a living wage, but it sure beats earning nothing.

scrubbedexpat091

Why work for 10.25 though when other places are paying more though?

That is the root of the issue, TH's paid 10.25 where comparable jobs were paying 11-13 per hour, so then they cried labor shortage when there wasn't one, there just wasn't labor willing to work for 10.25/hr when they had other options.

dishwashing

He wasn't comparing it to nothing, genius

ExKiwilass

I agree with Jsmth. Ultimately, businesses that can't survive without hiring TFWs on shite wages and exploiting them - looking at YOU, fast food franchisees and others - yes YOU - deserve to go bust.

dishwashing

Clearly, you're not a business owner.

tee1

Since the changes to the TFW program, I too have noticed the wage increase. I've also noticed a significant change in the demography of the workers at places that previously only had TFW's mostly from the Philippines and I've noticed that these places are actively recruiting locally whereas before they never ever advertised locally.

plasticcanuck

On BBC iPlayer Panorama have an episode called Workers on the Breadline which provides some British perspective on low paid workers there, and there's lots of them. It's worth watching.

ExKiwilass

ha. that's what you think.

ExKiwilass

excellent news, and goes to show the TFW programme was, in fact, just driving low skilled locals out of jobs.

dishwashing

Hey even if you are, exKiwi, it depends, I imagine, on the business model. Low cost food aka fast food is going to require a different cost model so I don't think the smugness is necessary imho Companies choosing lower cost models for their expenditures is basic business logic, especially if it is true that the work ethic is better. I dunno if that is true, but fwiw

ExKiwilass

yeah, they used to say that about slavery, too. And kids in the mines. And (insert name of unjust business practice here that helped business owners make lots of money). People can wrap worker exploitation in whatever pretty wrapping they want, but it's still exploitation and it's still a bullshit business model if your business model relies on a scared workforce that lacks rights.

PS i'm not smug, I"m actually just happy that people can now get jobs.

neilcumming

Correct me if Im wrong but I can remember a few years back the canadian government sending people to the Phillipines on recruitment drives .Now they dont want these people ?I can smell a heavy scent of bs mixed with hyprocrisy.No wonder the program is a mess.

MrFloyd

A bad business model resulting in a failing business is capitalism, right? Why does every business have a right to exist?

Why should companies artificially decrease wages by relying on government programs to supply cheap workers while at the same time decry "red-tape" and government interference?