The Inflation & Cost of Living Complaints Thread

[Elias Pettersson]

10 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

But a McDs or other chain  isn't a small shop, they are part of a big franchise machine. If your heart attack on a bun is 50 cents more so be it. It has to be a balance.

 

 

 

Nah small quality places will do well. Eg there's far more artisan pizza places than ever before.

 

McDs is a multi billion dollar business. They can afford to cut some profits in order to pay higher wages.  Or they can increase their burgers by 50 cents.  That isn’t a large increase but they sell millions of burgers, so 50 cents on millions of burgers still helps.

 

The local artisan pizza place cannot afford to pay an employee $50,000 per year, which is the living wage to even be able to pay your rent in Vancouver.  That pizza will eventually be $50-60.  Or the pizza place will lay off staff or close down completely. 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Elias Pettersson

[Bob Long]

Just now, Elias Pettersson said:

 

McDavid is a multi billion dollar business. They can afford to cut some profits in order to pay higher wages.  Or they can increase their burgers by 50 cents.  That isn’t a large increase but they sell millions of burgers, so 50 cents on millions of burgers still helps.

 

McDavids? Yea he probably owns a few.

 

Just now, Elias Pettersson said:

The local artisan pizza place cannot afford to pay an employee $50,000 per year, which is the living wage to even be able to pay your rent in Vancouver.  That pizza will eventually be $50-60.  Or the pizza place will lay off staff or close down completely. 

 

And yet, they exist.

[Elias Pettersson]

4 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

McDavids? Yea he probably owns a few.

 

 

And yet, they exist.

 

Haha, you responded before I fixed my typo.  But I am sure McDavid can buy a few McDs.  They should even do a Mc commercial together.

 

I know several owners of pizza places in Vancouver where the owner is there every day and does a lot of the work, even serving the pizza.  That’s how they still exist.  Or they have one staff on site and it takes 20 minutes to get a pizza.  Also, $35 pizza is not uncommon in Vancouver.  I went to an Italian place last week and the large pizza was $35…

[Bob Long]

Just now, Elias Pettersson said:

 

Haha, you responded before I fixed my typo.  But I am sure McDavid can buy a few McDs.  They should even do a Mc commercial together.

 

I know several owners of pizza places in Vancouver where the owner is there every day and does a lot of the work, even serving the pizza.  That’s how they still exist.  Or they have one staff on site and it takes 20 minutes to get a pizza.  Also, $35 pizza is not uncommon in Vancouver.  I went to an Italian place last week and the large pizza was $35…

 

I live near one that makes a great pie. Happy to pay more for that than the oily trash from pizza hut.

 

I just think we've lost some balance. It's a shared thing between all of us, it all has to be fair to work properly.

[The Lock]

When it comes to raising minimum wage, I think both sides are correct at the end of the day. On one hand, it does make businesses have to figure things out more, including raising prices. On the other hand, it does allow for workers to be able to spend more.

 

There's definately a balance there and we have to be careful with it.

[Elias Pettersson]

14 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

I live near one that makes a great pie. Happy to pay more for that than the oily trash from pizza hut.

 

I just think we've lost some balance. It's a shared thing between all of us, it all has to be fair to work properly.

 

I agree. I think it all boils down to this…

 

Would you rather make $30,000 a year and pay $20 for the pizza and pay $500,000 for your house, or would you rather make $60,000 per year and pay $40 for the pizza and $1 million for your house?

 

That is where we are at right now.  Raising wages is inflationary regardless how you slice it because at the end of the day either companies raise prices or people spend more with their increased wage.  Both of these things are inflationary in nature.

 

Our immigration policies are going to help our GDP and grow our economy.  However, because of government incompetence over the last 20+ years in regards to housing, our housing crisis is going to get exponentially worse.  

Edited December 28, 2023 by Elias Pettersson

[Boudrias]

28 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 

McDs is a multi billion dollar business. They can afford to cut some profits in order to pay higher wages.  Or they can increase their burgers by 50 cents.  That isn’t a large increase but they sell millions of burgers, so 50 cents on millions of burgers still helps.

 

The local artisan pizza place cannot afford to pay an employee $50,000 per year, which is the living wage to even be able to pay your rent in Vancouver.  That pizza will eventually be $50-60.  Or the pizza place will lay off staff or close down completely. 

Amazon had to pay their people in Seattle more and more to attract them and keep them in what is an expensive city. When Amazon started their buildout of their distribution network many workers from Seattle were transferred to less expensive cities. Amazon wanted to cut their wages to reflect the cheaper costs. That didn't go well. It has made me wonder what the wage dif is between Seattle and Vancouver? Must be 3 - 4 thousand Amazon workers in the L. Mainland. My son ran a IT department for Suncor and was faced with wage competition from Amazon who had an office across the street. Suncor competed by not letting any work on weekends. Designated family time. Amazon expects   

lots of free OT. 

Edited December 28, 2023 by Boudrias

[Bob Long]

2 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 

I agree. I think it all boils down to this…

 

Would you rather make $30,000 a year and pay $20 for the pizza and pay $500,000 for your house, or would you rather make $60,000 per year and pay $40 for the pizza and $1 million for your house?

 

That is where we are at right now.  Raising wages is inflationary regardless how you slice it because at the end of the day either companies raise prices or people spend more with their increased wage.  Both of these things are inflationary in nature.

 

Our immigration policies are going to help our GDP and grow our economy.  However, because of government incompetence over the last 20+ years in regards to housing, our housing crisis is going to get exponentially worse.  

 

but you can't put raising the salary floor by a few dollars as the main driver of inflation. Most people make a lot more than minimum wage, and will continue do so. Its somewhere around 9 -10% of workers in Canada. I'd much rather these families have a better chance for their kids, eg., than squeezing them for every cent.

 

So for me, I don't mind paying a little more as I see it helping all of us at the end of the day. 

 

Solving housing is a much bigger problem than minimum wage hikes. Affordable co-op rentals has to see a massive increase, particularly for people in this wage category. 

[Taxi]

55 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

but you can't put raising the salary floor by a few dollars as the main driver of inflation. Most people make a lot more than minimum wage, and will continue do so. Its somewhere around 9 -10% of workers in Canada. I'd much rather these families have a better chance for their kids, eg., than squeezing them for every cent.

 

So for me, I don't mind paying a little more as I see it helping all of us at the end of the day. 

 

Solving housing is a much bigger problem than minimum wage hikes. Affordable co-op rentals has to see a massive increase, particularly for people in this wage category. 

Canada just needs more housing period. Building coops will only go so far if the shortages increase. The focus needs to be on wide scale building. Unless Canada is building enough housing to accommodate every new Canadian, the shortage gets worse and prices go up.

[Bob Long]

8 minutes ago, Taxi said:

Canada just needs more housing period. Building coops will only go so far if the shortages increase. The focus needs to be on wide scale building. Unless Canada is building enough housing to accommodate every new Canadian, the shortage gets worse and prices go up.

 

agreed, it needs a multi-pronged approach that puts us in a net surplus of homes, otherwise we can't control pricing.

 

Just wait until I sell my current place tho, OK? 

[WeneedLumme]

1 hour ago, Taxi said:

It's now over 1.7 million per year.

 

https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/canada-s-population-grew-by-430-000-in-q3-1.6693405

 

430,000 in the last 3 months. No plan to actually house people though. The current steps, assuming they will work, will take years to come into effect.

That 430,000 in the past few months included a large number of students coming here in September to study. It is NOT 1.7 million per year.

[The Arrogant Worms]

1 hour ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 

Wages at McRat is all relative to where you live.  If you live in a city in the USA where the cost of a home is $400,000 versus $2 million in Vancouver, then it doesn’t matter if those workers in the USA get paid less.  I know lots of people who moved to Vancouver from other countries to work here and they were given massive raises to do so.  If you go to New York, your salary is dependent on where you live.  If you live in Manhattan you will make more for the same job than you will living in Queens.

Their teachers also make shit wages.  There is no excuse for that.

[Bob Long]

2 minutes ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

Their teachers also make shit wages.  There is no excuse for that.

 

70k+ in BC with great holidays and regular hours, thats not too bad. 

[Elias Pettersson]

1 hour ago, Bob Long said:

 

but you can't put raising the salary floor by a few dollars as the main driver of inflation. Most people make a lot more than minimum wage, and will continue do so. Its somewhere around 9 -10% of workers in Canada. I'd much rather these families have a better chance for their kids, eg., than squeezing them for every cent.

 

So for me, I don't mind paying a little more as I see it helping all of us at the end of the day. 

 

Solving housing is a much bigger problem than minimum wage hikes. Affordable co-op rentals has to see a massive increase, particularly for people in this wage category. 

 

If families are deciding on whether to pay $50 for a pizza or stay home and cook they will stay home and cook.  Doesn’t matter what you or I decide to do.  That in turn hurts small businesses.  Increasing wages will always be inflationary because it leads to higher prices and higher demand for goods and services.  I don’t think you are looking at the situation from an economic viewpoint, you are looking at it on a more emotional level.  Let’s pay everyone a fair living wage, let’s make sure we spend our money and support these small businesses, let’s make everyone happy.  Your Utopian life simply doesn’t exist.

 

Co-op rentals aren’t profitable so they need to be developed by the government not by private developers.  People need homes they can afford to buy.  You can’t just expect everyone to be renters all of their lives, they will never get ahead.

 

The governments have had 20+ years to fix the housing mess and have done nothing.  Now the federal government has approved 1 million in new immigrants per year for the foreseeable future while not even bothering to ask the cities to build the infrastructure and the housing necessary to support all of these people.  

[Bob Long]

2 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

 

If families are deciding on whether to pay $50 for a pizza or stay home and cook they will stay home and cook.  Doesn’t matter what you or I decide to do.  That in turn hurts small businesses.  Increasing wages will always be inflationary because it leads to higher prices and higher demand for goods and services.  I don’t think you are looking at the situation from an economic viewpoint, you are looking at it on a more emotional level.  Let’s pay everyone a fair living wage, let’s make sure we spend our money and support these small businesses, let’s make everyone happy.  Your Utopian life simply doesn’t exist.

 

no, its economic. Do the math on % of wages as part of the business. You'll see its not as big as you're making it out to be. 

 

2 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

Co-op rentals aren’t profitable so they need to be developed by the government not by private developers.  People need homes they can afford to buy.  You can’t just expect everyone to be renters all of their lives, they will never get ahead.

 

? nearly all my wife's family in Italy are renters and doing quite well. 

 

2 minutes ago, Elias Pettersson said:

The governments have had 20+ years to fix the housing mess and have done nothing.  Now the federal government has approved 1 million in new immigrants per year for the foreseeable future while not even bothering to ask the cities to build the infrastructure and the housing necessary to support all of these people.  

 

I don't care about past failures. Whats the work to do now to fix this. 

 

[bishopshodan]

27 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

no, its economic. Do the math on % of wages as part of the business. You'll see its not as big as you're making it out to be. 

 

Up until 2019  (when I left the company) the liquor group I ran operated at less than 11% labour cost.

We had plenty of room.

[Bob Long]

4 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

 

Up until 2019  (when I left the company) the liquor group I ran operated at less than 11% labour cost.

We had plenty of room.

 

I grew up in a retail family business, I know the ratios too.

 

I'm not arguing to pay burger flippers 100k, but we can do better than what we see now. Some of those burger flippers are also future skilled new immigrants.

 

And it just benefits the entire economy, as lower income people put all their money back into the economy anyway.

 

[The Arrogant Worms]

1 hour ago, Bob Long said:

 

70k+ in BC with great holidays and regular hours, thats not too bad. 

If you can get a full time job.  Teachers also work a lot of hours when they get home marking and getting lessons ready.

[Bob Long]

1 minute ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

If you can get a full time job.  Teachers also work a lot of hours when they get home marking and getting lessons ready.

 

I guess. My uncle was a high school teacher. I used to help him do some marking, it wasn't difficult.

[The Lock]

1 hour ago, Bob Long said:

70k+ in BC with great holidays and regular hours, thats not too bad. 

 

Try renting or owning a place on that in BC as a single person.

 

I may not be a teacher, but I'm a single person and have had that income before. It's not fun. It's why I was about to move to Alberta before I was laid off.

 

(Which things are of course less fun :()

Edited December 29, 2023 by The Lock

[The Arrogant Worms]

1 minute ago, Bob Long said:

 

I guess. My uncle was a high school teacher. I used to help him do some marking, it wasn't difficult.

My best friend was a high school teacher.  He just retired because him Mom and Dad both passed away or he would still be working.

 

I offered to help him mark essays and said I would give evryone an A

 

He politely refused lol

[bishopshodan]

5 minutes ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

If you can get a full time job.  Teachers also work a lot of hours when they get home marking and getting lessons ready.

I agree teachers should be paid more but also remember that they get summers off. 

[Satchmo]

1 minute ago, bishopshodan said:

I agree teachers should be paid more but also remember that they get summers off. 

Plus one for more pay.

 

Nobody has mentioned a teachers pension.   That's another thing that makes it a pretty good job.

 

And, as my wife tells me, the union is so strong it's almost impossible to get fired.

[Bob Long]

4 minutes ago, The Arrogant Worms said:

My best friend was a high school teacher.  He just retired because him Mom and Dad both passed away or he would still be working.

 

I offered to help him mark essays and said I would give evryone an A

 

He politely refused lol

 

My uncle was an alcoholic. He paid me $10 to mark exams. I was a kid myself so it didn't really hit how bad that was, I was just happy I had money for smokes.

[The Arrogant Worms]

2 minutes ago, bishopshodan said:

I agree teachers should be paid more but also remember that they get summers off. 

And their wage gets spread out over the summer.  Years ago they had no income during the summer but now they are able to average it for 12 months.

 

Most start back getting ready for the school year the 2nd or 3rd week of August