40 to 50 years ago companies lived by the "1 = 3" theory which says that one "Great" employee is just as productive if not more productive as three workers who are only "Good."
"1 = 3" theory, is the use of good salaries to lure and retain elite meat cutting talent and it should be the focus of our Grocery stores, Chain or Independent. Wage, happiness, respect, promotion opportunity influence at the same time, Is how a company will retain elite meat cutters. People need to make a living wage with health benefits, It puts more money back into the economy and creates a healthier country. It's really simple. A more pleasant workplace will lead to lower employee turnover and a more productive workforce.The companies and there are few, that live by this rule has a turnover rate of 5% or less for employees who have been there more than a year.
The labor theory of value, value, is theoretically refer to the amount of labor necessary to the production of a marketable commodity, The labor theory of value, a commodity was worth whatever labor it would command in others (value in trade) or whatever labor it would "save" the self (value in use), or both. But this "value" is subject to supply and demand at a particular time.
So the "1 = 3" theory would makethe cost of labor cheaper. one Great worker making20.00 a hourthat could do the work ofthree Good workers at12.00 a hoursaves16.00 dollars of wage
you are so on the money with this. Having been on both sides of this-employee as well as employer-
the logic is not hard to follow. Today there is only one concern for the "big guys"- BOTTOM LINE.
They don't care how they get there as long as they get there.This is the reason the employment door keeps revolving.The cost alone of training a person and trying to retain them is cost enough .
Pretty soon all of the "big boys" will go the central cutting way and meatcutters will be another fond memory relegated to the history books.
I agree. It SHOULD be the focus but sadly it is not. Another thing they might like to try to decrease employee turnover is to eliminate abusive tyrant managers. We live in an age where people realize that they are allowed to have some self respect and will not tolerate working for abusive people regardless of how badly they need a job. There are a lot of nuts out there who have no business being in charge. The days of effectively running a company with a whip are over. Unfortunately the owners haven't caught on to that yet in many places.
Looks like we here are all in agreement Leon. I have definitely worked with some super stars who could out produce most of their peers in the crew! Sadly however few employers seem to buy into this concept, from what I have seen in this forum. Except for the fellow from Costco making $35/hour (don't recall his name) I have not seen any posts here of cutters making a wage comparable to their skill set. As long as cutters are willing to work for less than $25-$30/hour it is not going to change. Retail is a tough business and the easiest way for a business to cut costs is to cut labor. Some great advice I was given as a young man is to learn multiple skills, have at least three ways to earn a living so that you have a choice in what you do, where you work, and how much you earn. If more cutters would do this, and leave the trade (as I did), this situation could be turned around. When that electrician, plumber, or HVAC tech comes into your store, ask him how much he earns. Then ask yourself why your employer is willing to pay him so much more than they pay you. The answer is because they have to, the market dictates it, just as it sets your wage.
I work for $18/hr on a two-man crew with a vacancy that will not get filled. Two cutter slots, one wrapper slot, and no meat manager slot. It should be more giving the geography. But, I am not going to complain. I don't really have a place to live (I couch hop) since rent is $1300 for a 400 sq.ft. I don't like the weather and the city and life there is marginally liveable. I like the stability of the job. There is more diginity to this job than the last couple. I miss cutting beef and pork from a hook, alongside boxed primals. I do not plan on going anywhere until the boss retires in ten years, give or take. I get no overtime so that's a minus and I am not allowed to shop at the store, another minus. The plus outweighs the minus. I am an American automaton. A cog in the wheel of post-Modern atheistic Commun-ocracy.
It's a reality check to know I'll never settle, marry, nor have children because I work in the meat business. It's just how it is. My father is almost 80. He says not "The America I knew is gone". He says "America is gone." They say we have absorbed the Error of Russia, but that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.
-- Edited by JimmyMac on Sunday 26th of October 2014 05:11:45 PM
Hi all great post this is a first for me, I agree 100% with the wage formula. the environment I am from meat cutters don't stay long in South Africa, it is a requirement to qualify in this field, this would be stage 4 of your 5 year apprentice, My time started as a chef, bone packer, slaughterman, retail cutter, carcass breaker, smallgoods maker or meat processor, and some of my class mates in the apprenticeship are earning 60,85 dollars per hour all around the world, so Jimmy you can if you want branch out to what you like in the industry. I currently develop ad design smoked hams and new fresh meat concepts, I certainly don't work as hard as you but, that's the field chosen. you can follow your dreams and the money if you choose wishPlease don't hesitate to ask for new development pics I will gladly post them I hope they will inspire you to create your own
That is NOT how it is! America is a great country and still the land of opportunity, but you have to go after those opportunities. Even when I was in the trade, I TWICE quit my job to take a position at a different company, losing seniority and taking risks that my co-workers would not take. Eventually some of them followed me, but ended up with less seniority and under newer and weaker contracts because they would not take those risks that I did. I encourage you to not be complacent and so willing to settle, but instead look for new and better opportunities. They are out there.
Jim
JimmyMac wrote:
I work for $18/hr on a two-man crew with a vacancy that will not get filled. Two cutter slots, one wrapper slot, and no meat manager slot. It should be more giving the geography. But, I am not going to complain. I don't really have a place to live (I couch hop) since rent is $1300 for a 400 sq.ft. I don't like the weather and the city and life there is marginally liveable. I like the stability of the job. There is more diginity to this job than the last couple. I miss cutting beef and pork from a hook, alongside boxed primals. I do not plan on going anywhere until the boss retires in ten years, give or take. I get no overtime so that's a minus and I am not allowed to shop at the store, another minus. The plus outweighs the minus. I am an American automaton. A cog in the wheel of post-Modern atheistic Commun-ocracy.
It's a reality check to know I'll never settle, marry, nor have children because I work in the meat business. It's just how it is. My father is almost 80. He says not "The America I knew is gone". He says "America is gone." They say we have absorbed the Error of Russia, but that's a whole 'nother ball of wax.
-- Edited by JimmyMac on Sunday 26th of October 2014 05:11:45 PM
Right on target. I once had a manager who attempted to fire me for calling out because my wife went into labor with our first child. Only the union saved my job, which is why to this day I am not so anti-union. Until it becomes possible to legislate *******s out of the workplace, unions may be necessary.
As to turn over, or "churn", companies typically want some of that, not too much nor too little, as it helps control labor costs/
fdarn wrote:
I agree. It SHOULD be the focus but sadly it is not. Another thing they might like to try to decrease employee turnover is to eliminate abusive tyrant managers. We live in an age where people realize that they are allowed to have some self respect and will not tolerate working for abusive people regardless of how badly they need a job. There are a lot of nuts out there who have no business being in charge. The days of effectively running a company with a whip are over. Unfortunately the owners haven't caught on to that yet in many places.
Good post Leon, I feel one of our great problems is the fact like it or not is the stores are hiring managers who have little to no meat experience, this is from warehouse level down. So many of our directors have never trained in meat. They don't understand the problems from that occur in our industry. So many think we can take a person stocking dry groceries and make him or her a cutter in two weeks time. I was fortunate enough to have been brought up in the industry by someone that understood meat and what a good meat person was about, and knew that person would make him money, then shared it with his managers.
