Question: Does your store pay the 2nd Man/ assistant meat manager more than a regular cutter? For the last several years I worked in a very busy store where I was just one of about 5 cutters. I recently transferred to a store where I am the only cutter (besides the manager). I now run the shop 5 weeks a year, two days a week, share in the ordering process and manager responsibilities. Yet I'm making the same amount of money--even when the manager is on vacation. Years ago, I was at least paid bottom manager pay when he was gone. Then I heard it was an extra 50 cents an hour. Now they've done away with it altogether.
Question: Does your store pay the 2nd Man/ assistant meat manager more than a regular cutter? For the last several years I worked in a very busy store where I was just one of about 5 cutters. I recently transferred to a store where I am the only cutter (besides the manager). I now run the shop 5 weeks a year, two days a week, share in the ordering process and manager responsibilities. Yet I'm making the same amount of money--even when the manager is on vacation. Years ago, I was at least paid bottom manager pay when he was gone. Then I heard it was an extra 50 cents an hour. Now they've done away with it altogether.
I think its BS. What does your company do?
I'm just a regular cutter. My company used to pay a little more for the assistant rate. Now they don't do that anymore for any newly promoted people. The old ones get to keep the extra money. However, in my union, on the managers day off, someone must get the manager rate. That would be you meat monkey. Company policy doesn't matter. Even a regular cutter gets manager rate if he/she's in charge in the managers absence.
Our company has a dollar gap between each position. One dollar for Second man and another dollar for manager. It used to be that when the assistant covered for the manager's vacation, he got the pay difference. Now it's a forty dollar stipend.
For the bigger stores(55k weekly) there is a 50 bump up from the top rate cutter. Dept heads get 86 cents more than that. Relief pay for whomever is running the dept while manager is on vacation paid for whole week, not just the day)
Pathmark used to pay the 2nd Man the same as a new manager (if they were making less than a new manager). Although they were doing away with this by the end, and then someone stepped up and made manager rate when the manager went on vacation.
When I worked for Pathmark, the meat manager or Chief Journeyman made $28/week more than a Journeyman, and the second man made $4/week more than a Journeyman. Also someone in the crew got the 25 cents/hour box pay which was rotated across the crew since we no longer had a dedicated box man once hanging meat was gone. When I was on vacation my 2nd man was required to get my pay rate. This was in the 80's and early to mid-90's. That said it was easy for a Journeyman to make more than me by picking up over-time shifts in other stores.
Vanilla Thunder wrote:
Pathmark used to pay the 2nd Man the same as a new manager (if they were making less than a new manager). Although they were doing away with this by the end, and then someone stepped up and made manager rate when the manager went on vacation.
Acme pays Meat Managers $25 with the secong only making .10-15cents more an hour over the other cutters.
.10-15 cents more is a joke unless they are also "bonus babies", but what are the "other cutters" making per hour anyway? The .10-15 figure doesn't tell us much
I feel I should clarify my previous post. When I said that I made $28/week more as a meat mgr. that was for 40 hours but more correctly it was 70 cents/hour more. Since I worked holidays and Sundays for double time it was $1.40/hour more on those days. Same for the second man he got 10 cents/hour more than Journeymen for 40 hours but 20 cents/hour more on holidays and Sundays.
Also at some point they started offering 5 sick days/year and also bonuses for meat managers because few people wanted the job. HOWEVER, once we actually started USING our sick days the company got pissed off and took that away after a couple years.
As to the bonuses, that started off great for me. They were based on improving certain key metrics. Since the company would send me to problem stores to turn them around, I'd get a great bonus the first quarter I was there. I remember the first one I got was around $1300 clear. Not bad for 1986. It was also great that I could cash my check in the store. I bought myself a really nice rifle then went home and told my wife I got a great bonus, here's $500 for you!
Unfortunately just as with the sick days the company got ticked off when people maxed out their bonuses so before long they start raising the values of the metrics to where it was impossible to max out your bonus. They would tell us, "we hope you max out your bonus because the company will make even more!"
Well it wasn't long before all of us no longer cared about the bonus and its requirements because they were no longer achievable.
Jin
jimhenry2000 wrote:
When I worked for Pathmark, the meat manager or Chief Journeyman made $28/week more than a Journeyman, and the second man made $4/week more than a Journeyman. Also someone in the crew got the 25 cents/hour box pay which was rotated across the crew since we no longer had a dedicated box man once hanging meat was gone. When I was on vacation my 2nd man was required to get my pay rate. This was in the 80's and early to mid-90's. That said it was easy for a Journeyman to make more than me by picking up over-time shifts in other stores.
Vanilla Thunder wrote:
Pathmark used to pay the 2nd Man the same as a new manager (if they were making less than a new manager). Although they were doing away with this by the end, and then someone stepped up and made manager rate when the manager went on vacation.
About 3 years ago I already had 6 years part time experience in seafood and then meat. Got hired on full time when the assistant stepped down. Got transferred and made assistant there. Made $9.60/hr at the time and they didn't even want to give me a raise with the promotion. In the last 3 years I've only been bumped up to $10.66/hr. In the last 3 years we've had at least 4 managers. They offered me the job but wouldn't say what it paid. They don't want anyone to know what anyone else makes. There was once an argument between a veteran and a new hire that started out making more than she did. Sundays only pay $0.50/hr more.
Well that's a disgrace. I suggest you only stay with this company while you are learning marketable skills then go to a company that pays better. As I have stated a few times before, I quit my job in 1995 or so because I was only making about $21/hour and most of my friends (in different trades or fields) were earning much more than I.
bubbybullock wrote:
About 3 years ago I already had 6 years part time experience in seafood and then meat. Got hired on full time when the assistant stepped down. Got transferred and made assistant there. Made $9.60/hr at the time and they didn't even want to give me a raise with the promotion. In the last 3 years I've only been bumped up to $10.66/hr. In the last 3 years we've had at least 4 managers. They offered me the job but wouldn't say what it paid. They don't want anyone to know what anyone else makes. There was once an argument between a veteran and a new hire that started out making more than she did. Sundays only pay $0.50/hr more.
Acme pays Meat Managers $25 with the secong only making .10-15cents more an hour over the other cutters.
.10-15 cents more is a joke unless they are also "bonus babies", but what are the "other cutters" making per hour anyway? The .10-15 figure doesn't tell us much
journeymen rate at acme is pennies short of $23/hr.
