I am looking at the help wanted ads and I see that Plaspack is hiring in the Quality Control/Engineering Department. Of course they want a 4 year degree in Chemical and Mechanical engineering along with 2 years of work experience. Pay is $12 to $14.00 an hour.
I spent a few minutes researching what the average wage might be for people meeting those credentials. The average salary nationally is $81,000 a year. In Wisconsin $59,000 per year.. Based on a 40 hour work week that would be more like $38.94 per hour nationally.. .$28.36 per hour in Wisconsin. Considering a person with no college and 2 years of experience at McDonalds can make more money than that.. That is a huge slap in the face..
I understand it is an employers market right now, we’re in a recession, and people need jobs. Antigo is always lower nationally with average salaries..Still at least for Antigo there should be no reason the pay should be in the 40 to 50 K range.
Do you honestly think someone with $80,000 of student loan debt, a degree with and related experience in Mechanical and Chemical engineering is going to work for $13.00 an hour? What’s the incentive to get a college degree these days? Starbucks starts all employees at $15.00 an hour..
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And just think that’s one of the better paying jobs. How sad is that. I have a friend that works at Fallen neon that said he hasn’t gotton a raise in several years. This town has fell on very very sad times work wise.
Very sad, indeed…hard to make a decent living and continue to live in a town where they are no decent jobs to support families.
I really dont think that the starting wage for Plaspack is all that bad. I am reading the other 2 replies and it just blows my mind. Cost of living here is alot cheaper here then everywhere else in the US for the compariable incomes. You can make a nice living and raise a family here. You just cant have all the extras.. you want the extras then yea you need to make more. But just your basic living its affordable here. You really think they would hire a QC for over $20 an hour when they can get someone off the streets with just as much brains to do it for cheaper. Not gonna happen. But in all honesty.. the job force is out there but there is tough times all over. Got to just decide whether you want the perks or just get by the bare necessities.I’ve seen alot of people complaining they cant makes ends meet while they are living in a house too much for them to afford and a bunch of nice cars in the driveway and take vacations all while telling me how broke they are. And not to exclude all their credit cards in their wallets and eating out each week. and smoking their $7 a pack cigs. And I know for a fact that Starbucks does not start everyone out at $15 an hour. So that information is not true. I do pay all my bills each month and I pay my tighes at church and I have a little extra for gas to take my kids out to the lake fishing that doesnt cost us a dime to do so. Just the basics and my kids are not tramatized by this way of living either.
That’s great if you’re able to pay your bills each month, put food on your table, and not rob Peter to pay Paul…but that’s not true for everyone. Langlade County’s poverty level is high and rising, please don’t put blinders on and think that everyone is doing okay just because you are.
Thanks everyone for the great input and helping us correct the error on our job posting. Simplemind, you are correct that 12-14/hr is not reasonable for a engineering position. We are in the process of correcting the ad in question. Plaspack USA, like many other small businesses strive to provide a competitive wage and benefit package for its employees.
Actually cost of living is expensive in Antigo. Housing might be cheaper, but grocery and cost of necessities are extreme.
Engineering is a skilled trade. No different than a plumber, a welder, or a mechanic. If a local business advertised a full time plumber with 2 years of experience and only paid them $12.00 an hour. How many experienced plumbers would apply? Since the Plumber can open up his own private business and be paid $65.00 an hour.
$20.00 an hour is about the average wage for someone with a Bachelors Degree in Antigo.
Someone coming out of college has at least $60,000 grand in student loan debt. That’s a payment of $690 a month. Plus maybe $450 a month to rent a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment. That’s not living high on the hog.. That would be a small apartment. Maybe $150.00 in utilities.. a $75.00 for a phone, $45.00 for cell phone, cable tv/internet $100.00.. (most employers depend on you having cell phones, and internet) And roughly $500 for groceries/gas . Car payment lets say $300.00 a month. Car insurance $95… Medical Insurance deducted off paycheck is $250 a month.. Flex account to cover medical co-payments deducted off paycheck $75.00 a month. Federal Income and state taxes deducted off paycheck.. Lets say 17%..
That person will need $21.25 an hour just to break even.. That’s not even counting credit cards..
It’s a shame that this community doesn’t have the small-town “togetherness” that most low-population towns across the country have. When times are tough, they pull together and help their fellow man. I realize that (as one who isn’t “high on the hog”) that not everyone can help with money, but what happened to barter. Remember when you could give your neighbor food and he would help with labor and things of that nature? We as a race have become ego-centric and self-centered (if I may be redundant fora moment). This is evident to anyone who tries to drive in this town and almost gets sideswiped by someone who fails to check a blind spot because they are in a hurry to buy a burrito or rushing through an intersection because wherever they are going HAS to be more important than where you are headed. Not that this town is unique in this problem, other places have it, just not to this degree.
Antigo is mostly an SSI and Welfare town. Most people on Welfare and SSI are making the Equivalent of $13 to $15.00 an hour. Those people are not suffering as much “hard times” as a working person. They have a free $13,000 a year family health insurance plan. They get heating assistance, housing assistance, energy assistance, free phone, free cell phone, free day care, some even get free Health Club memberships, free block grants to fix up their home, food stamps, WIC, Commodities distribution, and free school lunch.. About time we cut some people off this stuff for the sake of the 50 people left who are still paying taxes.
In addition.. People on Welfare and SSI have the ability to go to Urgent Care, abuse emergency rooms, and have the privilage to see a physician at any time. If I have a cough, sore throat, or ear ache.. I have to wake up at least by 7:30.. Call the doctor’s office to make an appointment.. If I am lucky, I can get in same day.. These slugs can sleep till 1 or 2 PM.. Then whenever they feel like it, march into the Emergency Room or Urgent Care. Find out the cough, sore throat, or ear ache was from excessive smoking.. They are given some OTC cold medicine and sent on their way..
I have a $750 co-pay for Urgent Care, and Emergency Room visits. They make more money than me.. Those slugs should have to pay $1,000.
I am “Amazed & Blessed” that i dont live in antigo
In the 1900′s people formed unions to stop corporations from forcing people to work 12 and 14 hour days–being fired from your job because someone in authority didnt like you or you beliefs–to pull themselves up and out of the misery and poverty for themselves and their families. Why? so that their descendants and those who came after could whine and cry about how bad unions are? Its not people destroying our environment its giant corporations that care about nothing except $$$$$$$! Corporations like BP (that owns all petroleum resources in the world!) BP has a horrific legacy in every country they are involved in! People do what they have to in order survive!
How about this “simplemind”? Open your eyes and realize a lot of those that are on the public dole aren’t there because of because of being lazy! How about someones grand mother or niece or aunt or brother have to seek help because they had a crud job and didnt get any benefit from the years they were loyal to a company that threw them to the curb after all was said and done? Or they had some medical problem and became paralyzed or incapacitated in some way or was hit by a drunk driver and now require constant care or many other reasons? Its called caring about others, which you seem to have forgotten!
I have opened my eyes.. 90% of the SSI claims are pure fraud. Case in point.. Have you went to the fair? Do you ever read the list of winners at the tractor pull, demolition derby, and bowling scores in the paper?
The same people who tell the government they can’t lift anything heavy, have Carpal Tunnel, bad arthritis, bad backs, or learning disabled are out modifying engines, lifting large weights on tractors, pulling out radiators, and welding doors shut. They tell the government they can’t handle money, can’t count money.. Yet they run around town market themselves to get sponsors
I also once in a while read bowling scores in the paper. The same people who tell the government they can’t lift a set of car keys, are out throwing 13 pound bowling balls down the alley.
I should go back into the Antigo Daily Journal archives from the past 7 to 10 years.. Turn these people in. These people are going to ruin it for the 10% who need it. Majority of them are slugs.
Simplemind, if you have evidence of SSI fraud, you should go to the Social Security office and show them your evidence. If you have research data showing 90% of SSI claims are fraudulent, please give us the reference to the research so we can be convinced and join your cause. If you have a list of names of winners of tractor pulls, demolition derbies, and bowling competition who are SSI recipients and who by their competition are in violation of the terms of their qualification for benefits, take the list and your supporting documentation to the Antigo Daily Journal and ask Fred Berner to do an in-depth investigative report series on the topic and possibly garner a Pulitzer prize for small-town reporting.
If you don’t have any evidence to support your wild claims, which I think is actually the case, you should man up and admit that your rants are based solely on personal prejudice, ignorance of both the applicable laws and actual circumstances, and righteous indignation derived from unsubstantiated rumor.
In other words, put your evidence on the table to disprove my contention that you’re full of Tea Party crap.
I also believe Fred Berner has a few on his payroll too.
granted people on SSI can make some income.. I have seen some who are running around delivering papers. I suppose in most cases “A paperboy” fits the guidelines.
If I want to care for others.. That should be voluntary.. Not manditory. As in Government taking my earnings and forcing me to give to charity.
You’ve got a point there, almost, except that the “government” that’s doing the forcing is a representative government, and the forcing is being done by laws created by your elected representatives. You should give them a call, and get them to straighten out that wicked do-gooder activity. While you’re at it, how about telling those bad boys (and girls) to stop giving tax exemptions to churches and their associated property and businesses, so I’m not forced to pay extra taxes to cover the government contributions to religions I don’t support? Something like $6 billion in property goes tax-free in Wisconsin, and I have to tax on every stick, stone, and square foot I own.
Sounds fair to me.. Churches have been getting by for too long.. Goes for other non profit entities continually sell products, or services..
Don’t forget the Doctors who come here from Foreign countries.. Who are Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or whatever.. They have no place of worship around here. So they can set up a temple in their home. Since the million dollar home is a place of worship.. They are property tax free..
but also keep in mind Property taxes are technically unconstitutional.
We can live like the 1800′s and do away with them.
Oh my, Simplemind. (1) Do you have even ONE example of a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or whatever doctor who has claimed tax-exempt status for his/her home because it has an in-home temple because no other places of worship are available locally? Even ONE? Or are you just gassing, again?
Oh, wait…. (2) “Property taxes are technically unconstitutional….” So, don’t pay them, and fight the case up through the Supreme Court for a decision on the constitutionality of property taxes. Know what? You’d lose. Know why? Because that’s just a wing-nut myth, just like the notion that income tax is illegal and you don’t have pay it unless you do so voluntarily, in which case you are simply a slave to the government.
How about giving the rest us break, and go to law school for a while to see if you can learn a clue or two?
yes as a matter of fact I DO know of two doctors in Rhinelander who are.
Tuesday November 22nd 2005.. Supreme Court of Texas ruled Property Taxes Unconstitutional.
Either way… There will be a sweeping change in November. And you won’t like it.
There are rules for getting tax-exempt status for religious property. If they follow the rules, their exemption is legitimate. I have no quibble with that. My objection is to the notion of allowing tax exemptions for religions of ANY type under ANY rules.
The Texas case is irrelevant to anyone outside of Texas. When you read the particulars, you’ll find that that the Texas constitution, not the US Constitution, prohibits statewide property tax. There’s a difference. The ruling you refer to was that a school-funding procedure that collected varying fees within various districts actually amounted to a state-wide property tax, which was unconstitutional UNDER TEXAS LAW. The Texas legislature was ordered to come with something that would fund Texas schools without being tied to property values within a Texas school district. You know how things go, with Texas schools…..
You have to deal with actual facts, and not just urban myths. As Sen. Franken said, you are entitled to your opinion, but you are not entitled to make up your own facts.
By the way.. I just turned in 17 people in this weekend for SSI fraud.
Well, that pretty much cleans up the SSI problem, then, doesn’t it? How about taking on health care fraud now? You could start with So-Called Alternative Medicine (SCAM) practitioners. Antigo has lots of them!
That problem is suppose to be solved with George Bush the 3rd’s Health Care bill.Yes.. Obama is another Bush.. Not one Bush policy or Doctrine has yet to be reversed. You people who voted for him were fools.
Simplemind, your alias seems be exceptionally well-chosen. We fools who voted for Barack Obama and Joe Biden were determined to save the country from the alternative — John McCain and Sarah Palin. You ought to be profoundly, deeply, and eternally grateful for our courageous and timely action. Obama’s only been in office for 2 and half years. It’s going to take much longer than that to undo the deep-rooted damage done to us and our country by Bush and his cronies during their eight years of wrong-headed bungling. That’s why we’re going to re-elect Obama and Biden, then elect another Democrat to the Presidency to continue the clean-up project.
I agree McCain/Palin was a joke. It didn’t matter to me who won.. I couldn’t see voting for a lesser evil.. I voted 3rd Party. I guess a 3rd party vote was probably a vote for Obama anyway.
You can’t keep making excuses that it was all Bush’s fault. The Dems at one point had a Supermajority in the Senate to move mountains but failed. I think Obama is a failure. Maybe its more of a Congressional Failure than Presidential.
However, I can’t view a Republican winning the Presidency in 2012 either. I can’t stand Romney.. I certainly won’t vote for Palin or Pawlenty either. There is no front runner worth my vote.
I honestly think Obama’s strongest opposition will come from his own Cabinet in 2012. To prevent that from happening, Obama could throw Biden under a bus and make Hillary the VP.
Obama a failure? Where do you get your news, Simplemind? Only eighteen months in office, and he’s gotten health care reform passed, Wall Street and consumer banking reform passed, two Supreme Court appointments confirmed, and the list goes on, all in the face of obdurate Republican “if Obama’s for it, we’re against it, no matter how beneficial it might be” resistance. Sure, he’s a politician, but that’s not a legitimate criticism for someone who is, after all, in politics!
Obama has a 53% Disapproval rating from USA Today, 56% from Rasmussen.. The lowest approval rating in modern history of any President in his first 18 months.. Even beating Carter..
Closing of Gitmo… FAILED
Ending two wars.. FAILED
Stimulus that was suppose to have kept unemployment below 8.9% FAILED
Patroit Act was never repealed it was STRENGTHENED. FAILED
Promised Haliburton will not longer no bid contracts.. FAILED
By the way 55 to 58% of the nation want health care killed. It will be reversed after November. Not really reversed, but we can kill the funding off for most of the programs without Presidental approval. So yes there will be enough Republicans in the Senate and House to kill it.
Generic ballot has:
Republicans 49
Democrats 43
I am not going to quote Fox News poll which has an 11% margin.
61% of the country still believe we are headed in the wrong direction.
No Republicans aren’t the answer to our problems. Both parties aren’t what they used to be.
I meant to say.. Voting Republicans are not the answer to our problems either.. I’d rather see a 50/50 split Senate and House so we can all work together bi-partisan to get something accomplished.. In this Congress That might mean getting nothing accomplished.
There are no checks and balances when one party has too much power. It seems when one party has too much power, they abuse it..
I am not really for all this spending and big government… but then again I disagree about the Republican mentality of bombing every country that disagrees with us, or government becoming paranoid they have to spy on their own people. So I am stuck in between..
I blasted the Republicans on the Unemployment extention. They can vote another 26 billion to build infrastructure in Afghanistan which meant (schools, cell phone towers, and Highways).. More money to offshore accounts and Haliburton. But refuse to take care of their own people? People who have paid into the unemployment system for decades..
Simplemind,
“Closing of Gitmo… FAILED” – Who opened Gitmo in the first place?
“Ending two wars.. FAILED” – Who started those two wars?
“Stimulus that was suppose to have kept unemployment below 8.9% FAILED” – Who created the economy collapse with irrational tax cuts and deregulations?
“Patroit Act was never repealed it was STRENGTHENED. FAILED” – Who created the Patriot Act?
“Promised Haliburton will not longer no bid contracts.. FAILED” – Who set up Halliburton as a prime no-bid contractor?
“By the way 55 to 58% of the nation want health care killed. ” – See my previous note on voters actually supporting health care reform once they really learn what’s in it.
Yeah, I know — I’m blaming Bush again, or still. There’s a good reason for that, you know. 8 years of Bush policies are going to take more than 18 months to correct. I’m expecting voters to remember… or be reminded of… who’
s the problem, and who’s the fix, come November.
There is an October surprise coming that will deeply hurt Dems. I just found out my health care costs are going to more than double for next year. Not too mention I can only put $2,500 in flex for next year, and can no longer buy OTC medicines with my flex account. So that’s about an $800 tax increase for me on top of the health care increase.. Thank You Obama..