When I was studying I worked part time at a local supermarket. I took a semester off to reevaluate what I wanted to study and ended up working full time at the supermarket for 6 months.
The work was literally backbreaking, I worked from 6am till 4pm each day, 5 days a week. When I got to work I spent the first two hours packing the shelves, which had to be done by the time the store opened at 8pm. Then, the rest of the day I would drag pallets of stock out into the aisles and using a ladder carry the boxes up onto the 'picking face' (stock was kept on top of the shelves in the aisles).
Every day was deja vu, I had a boss who monitored us on the cameras to make sure we were working non-stop and not talking to colleagues. Our breaks were strickly monitored and if we were even a minute late to clock in the boss would berate us.
There were no company Christmas parties, no rewards if any kind. One year the owner said they were having a bad year and no one would be getting a 20 cent pay rise. An article came out in the paper around that time which actually specifically advised our supermarket had made record profits that year and was one of the most profitable supermarkets in the country. Guess we know why.
When I was working I had health conditions that had never been an issue before. The doctor advised me these were related to stress and extreme exhaustion. Luckily, I was young and was able to get educated and get a different job. Now I get paid 3 times more, I work flexible hours, from home. The company looks after me and often rewards my work and service. We have good christmas parties and team building meetings just so everyone can have a bit of a break from work and social interaction. How I am getting paid more to work less in better conditions is simply baffling.
Fuck people who say minimum wage workers don't deserve more. They work in terrible conditions for terrible pay. Also, fuck people who pay minimum wage and treat their workers like robots aka shit.