
Garbage workers are paid well - jamessun
http://money.cnn.com/2016/02/24/news/economy/trash-workers-high-pay/index.html
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duren
Given the typically early hours, possibly awful conditions, and nature of
their jobs, I'd say they're also paid fairly.

Additionally, my assumption is the garbage collection industry is similar to
ISPs – meaning options are limited based on location and prices are therefore
not as competitive.

Edit: I'd add lack of upward mobility to the first sentence.

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cup
It's a bloody hard job. Bad hours. Dangerous. Low social value.

This article comes across as if they are getting paid too much for being
'lowly' garbage men. So what if they don't have a degree, It's hard work that
is vital for a functioning society and they should be compensated accordingly.
Good on them for etching out a living without having to get a degree doing so.

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cmrdporcupine
A turning point in my perception of the culture around software engineers
(from mostly positive to negative) occurred during the last garbage strike
when I witnessed the majority my overwhelmingly well-paid and relatively
(compared to people who sling garbage cans full of rotten food and dog poop
into trucks in the hot sun...) not-hard working coworkers rant freely about
how overpaid garbage workers were. The sense of entitlement was obnoxious.
That strike and the public's reaction to it turned the mayoral election
results from left to right, and we had to suffer through Rob Ford for the next
four years.

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acconrad
I mean...yeah. They do the work no one else wants to do, hence the supply is
low and demand is high, so the employers have to pay more. Makes sense.

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cowardlydragon
unions?

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nrb
market forces

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epicureanideal
Not that I'm saying unions are the answer, but in a broad definition, unions
are part of market forces. As is cooperation between companies. It just
happens to be that the US prefers to introduce regulation with the stated
intent of moving the economy closer to "perfect competition". Although clearly
some regulation moves us toward monopoly, and all regulation has unintended
effects, and obviously stated intent is different than actual intent. Phew. So
many disclaimers in this comment...

