So a few months ago I returned to a company I worked for 4 years. (I had moved out of the area but recently moved back) years ago I had worked my way up to supervisor only to be told it was a huge pay cut with more headaches so I went back to being a driver only.
When I talked to the GM about returning I was told the pay scale for a driver was $23-$28 an hour and being that I was working in an unrelated field the last few years I decided it was best to take the offer for $23.
After a month I realize I didn’t lose a step at all and immediately became one of the top 3 at position. So I talk to my supervisor about a raise since I feel like my experience and skill should warrant being paid more than the base pay they give guys straight out of truck driving school; my supervisor says he doesn’t have any control it all goes through the GM who is a very narcissistic former military/border patrol agent. I spend some time considering different arguments and counter arguments before bringing it up to him and when I ask to talk to him privately he just ghosts me. A few weeks go by and they announce across the board raises for all drivers but there is a catch. We have to reduce our hours by at least 3 per week and we have to help them recruit 10 new drivers. After we recruit 5 new drivers they’ll give us $1 an hour and after we recruit another 5 they’ll give us another $1 an hour.
The issue is they’re already paying the new guys the new base pay of $25 an hour while we have to train them and still “earn” our extra $2. The GM says we shouldn’t be upset because we’re going to earn our $2 an hour soon and it shouldn’t matter that the new hires already make $25. This completely misses the point that there are several drivers here with a lot of experience and years at the company who still only make $23.
Now a lot of us are secretly looking for new jobs and planning to leave. I myself have a phone interview tomorrow for a job with $28 an hour with quarterly, annual, and a sign on bonus. And I hope more drivers leave because they deserve to be rewarded for their experience and tenure.