United States
Employees in a business quit together – because their salary is not enough to live on
After discussions with the managing director about the meager wages did not bring anything, the employees made a consistent decision (symbol picture)
© Corinna71 / Getty Images
The cost of living is rising – unfortunately wages are not always corresponding. In the USA, several employees made a consequent decision.
You know it in this country too: rents are rising everywhere, food is becoming more expensive, electricity and gasoline. But the salary? It’s been the same for years. For many people, everyday life is therefore becoming more and more difficult to cope with, and at the end of the month some of them don’t have a cent left. If you also have a family to look after, it can cause despair.
The employees of a store in Minnesota, America, “Hot Topic Company”, had at some point exhausted their understanding of this practice. After discussions with the managing director about the meager salaries came to nothing, the employees made a consistent decision: they quit. And all together, at the same time. Since no replacement could be found so quickly, the shop had to remain closed for the time being.
The staff left a message
Annoying for customers. But thanks to a note that the employees had put on the shop door, there was an explanation for this. It read: “Almost all employees quit today. This is mainly due to the fact that the ‘Hot Topic Company’ is not able to pay us the subsistence level.
Real wages are required instead of “passion”
We have worked so hard and we cannot keep ourselves or our families afloat. We can no longer tolerate that. You can’t just pay your employees with passion. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
This simple A4 piece of paper generated a surprisingly large response, probably because many employees in the USA fare similarly to the “Hot Topic Company” employees – a lot of work for very little money. Photos of the note quickly made the rounds on social networks and received great approval there. “I’m totally with the employees – absolutely right,” writes someone on Twitter. The national news broadcaster ABC also reported on the mass layoffs and their background.
The employer has not yet commented on the campaign – it will probably also be difficult for him to find plausible arguments for his meager wages.
Sources: Twitter, “Yahoo News”, ABC