First of all i have to say this, if the money isnt good then find another job else where. Not many jobs will pay you a wage of $13.86 an hour (based on 40hrs per week) unskilled. Some one is going to say we dont work 40 hrs per week. No not all the time, but once you get past the initial training you will realize some times you work less then 40 hrs a week. Think of this, as a student who usually pays you the decent wage of what a private makes to go to school and learn a trade. very few companies do, I do mean very few. after your second year you will make $16.95 an hour then in your third year $20.00 an hour. These pay raises are automatic. After the time has elasped. One of our problems is we think we deserve much more then we have. The military pays you based on what is a fair and reasonable wage, we are one of the highest paid militarys in the world, you shoudl be thankfull for that. I for one would like to see the goverment implement projects such as how the Canex use to be and housing use to be where things were at just above cost, when gas was 10cents cheaper then the local civie station, housing was lot cheaper. This i think would solve soem of our problems with reguards to quality of life for the memebers. I do feel for a Pte who has a family and has limited income, at the same time you shoudl have done the research to see if it was viable for you to have joined the military. The amount of money you make and military housing prices can all be found on the internet if you look hard enough. It is all about career descisons, what i want, what do i expect my employer to give me, what am i willing to give to my employer. Then you need to look at the situation and the money aspects, and long term goals of such. If the military does not pay a competitive wage and provide with competitive benifits then why join in the first place. You should have known how much the pay was and if you could live off of it or not. So please do not say you dont make enough money to support your family, and if things are that bad then go see a financial expert who can help you manage your money alittle better. the CF has them free of charge i beleive. I do understand that the starting wage is not as great as we think we all deserve but it is a nice and fair wage non the less. In closing I just want to say that their are always exceptions to the rule about some people, do to mishaps are in bad situations financally, but these are far and few between and an exception not the normal. For these people i hope your leadership steers you in the right direction as to how to gain a foot hold. For the rest of us well i dont think i need to say any more.
One person mentioned before that if we make the public think we are paid enough then we will stop getting pay raises. I disagree. I do think that the public needs to know more of what we do and how we do it so they can make better informed descions as to our job and wages. The problem lies with Memebers who think they should be making more money and that we are piad poorly for what we do. The fact is if we pay you $80000 a year you still would not be happy, so you need to jump into reality and figure out if you liek the jop or just liek the money. if it is the latter then you can make better money else where. and please do go their. I think if our wages are kept where they are now and the goverment stopped the inscessant gouging of our memebers for things such as health care and housing, returned back to where the Canex and housing and other base support services actually had the intention of giving the memebers of the military sevice with out the need for profit gains then those benifits coudl out weigh the need for such large pay increases all the time. The military shoudl also have things such as low interest loans for memebers to buy houses and such. well i shall end things their for now and wait for the rebuttles, i really do think though that any rebuttles will be with memebrs who really do think they are owed more then they are. have a good day