I took voluntary furlough 2 years ago and have been attending school since then. I am almost finished with my associate degree in the medical field. My field's starting pay is $13-$15 an hour and increases when you sit for and pass the credentialing exam. This is starting pay, entry level. I worked at U in res 23 years and to be asked to reduce my pay from $20 an hour to $13.10 would be an insult. If you have never worked in res or at an ATO, working nights, weekends, holidays and having your life ruled by new schedule bids every 3 months at a minimum, you have no idea what the company is asking. That is not even counting the stress of dealing with the public, and the demands of the company. And if you have respect for yourself and your customers, it is hard to work for a company even at $20 an hour when you are not allowed to offer the customer service that should be given. The only reason people working in res have stayed is because of the pay and bennies. Take those away and why stay? $13.10 an hour until 2012? What a joke/insult. Life is too short. There are jobs available for that with weekends and holidays off. One thing for employees to keep in mind if they are thinking about going back to school. The community colleges have been swamped the last few years with older students that have been laid off. Alot of popular curriculums now have waiting lists and all prerequisites have to be completed before you can even enter the program. For the fall semester coming up at my school there were over 400 applicants for 35 nursing school openings. Don't wait any longer to start taking classes, even if it is one a semester. It adds up.
