Nearly 1,100 people turned out to apply for the 50 full-time jobs available at a Joliet distribution center. The jobs with Central Grocers drew long lines of applicants interested in the positions, which are union jobs and pay benefits.
The (Joliet) Herald-News reports that Central Grocers has been growing amid the weak economy. That’s partly because it’s taken over business from Certified Grocers, which used to supply independent grocers in the Chicago area.
Chief Executive James Denges says he expects he’ll need to hire 100 people to fill the 50 jobs, because half of those hired won’t stay. Denges says it’s tough work, often in a refrigerated part of the building.
Workers start at $10 an hour, but pay increases to $22 an hour after 16 months.
A sad state of economy.
I bet if this facility was non-union a lot fewer people would show up. America has lost the will to work unless it involves pay and benefits out of line with the work being done.
http://www.illinoishardatwork.com
I’m actually glad to read this. So often we hear about people just living off unemployment and not looking for work. This isn’t the most glamorous job in the world but it will put food on the table. Good luck to the applicants.
@John – “America has lost the will to work unless it involves pay and benefits out of line with the work being done.”
So, in your world, $10 an hour and basic insurance is out of line to freeze your rear end off hauling heavy loads around in a refrigerated warehouse all day? What would you offer? Five dollars? Six?
Oh, and love your hard-core right-wing website link. The subtitle of the site is “Exposing the public workers of Illinois”. We all know where YOU are coming from, don’t we?
Get ready John because those non-union jobs are the way of the future. Work your butt off for minimum wage if you will be that lucky to find a job like that. Also you will pay your own health care and you will have to save for your retirement. I’m so sick to hear people grip about the unions. If it wasn’t for the unions you wouldn’t be getting the money you are getting now. You’d be working 50-80 hours a week with the same pay. I’ve said it before too, do you go to the movies or attend a sporting event? These people are UNIONIZED WORKERS making unbelievable amounts of money. Do you think they are worth that? Jay Cutler made $22 million dollars this past season. Get real. Enough about the unions how about keeping American jobs right here in America.
Jobs are leaving America in record pace because we are not competitive anymore – plain and simple. If people were not demanding to be paid $45 an hour to install a car seat into a new General Motors car, production would not be shifting to low cost producing regions. This notion that everyone can be middle class just does not work in practice. You cannot have a society that consumes far more than they produce – it is not sustainable. Those workers in China who are taking the manufacturing jobs from the US are not demanding a high wage, health care, and retirement benefits. If we want to compete in the global economy we need to produce what the world demands at a price the world will consume it at – something we are not very good at doing anymore.
http://www.illinoishardatwork.com
You are right they are leaving at record pace but why then on earth do these fat cat executives receive multi-million dollar salaries and bonuses? It’s called GREED. Why pay someone $45 an hour when some poorer country will make there people do it $5 an hour, if that. Your also right about everyone can’t be middle class because the middle class is falling into the lower class and the rich just keep getting richer.
Jay Cutler makes $22 million a year because he puts people in the seats, the same people who pay big $ for tickets, buy $9 beers and so on. A huge number of people consume the product he is making – a football game. The world does not demand what America manufactures to the same extent it used to – we are losing our edge as the country that the world looks to for innovation and progress. Instead of focusing on investing into the next thing that America could be great at (i.e. alternative energy) we have taken those dollars and used them for entitlement programs. A few billion here for wind energy and a few billion there for solar research is not going to cut it – America needs to invest hundreds of billions into these areas to make America the leader in innovation in that field. We cannot do this if we are paying extravagant pension benefits to workers who are contributing an amount lower than private sector peers.
http://www.illinoishardatwork.com