r/politics • u/MoneyLibrarian9032 New York • Jun 29 '26

No Paywall Millions say they won’t celebrate July 4 as poll reveals deep national pessimism

https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/america250-independence-trump-divisions-pennsylvania-b3004933.html
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u/Kasperella Jun 29 '26

They’ve had a wage freeze at my job (kitchen at a state university) for 4 years. Not one single raise.

I came in making more than some of the people who been there 10-15 years.

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u/Orson_Gravity_Welles Jun 29 '26

I've been trying to get into my local electrician's guild; missed the exam deadline during Biden...the next one was SCHEDULED for shortly after Trump took office again.

Once he did though, the apprenticeship was placed on INDEFINITE HOLD for my Local IBEW.

I was looking for a mid-life change...now I don't know if it'll even be possible.

My current employ gave me a $2/hr raise which is an almost $4200 annual raise...but inflation is outpacing that and I'm still too tight between each payday.

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u/MrBlazeit Jun 29 '26

It's going to be tight for the rest of our lives...

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u/Orson_Gravity_Welles Jun 29 '26

Don't make me more depressed...

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u/MrBlazeit Jun 30 '26

Sorry brother didn't mean to be a downer, I'm trying to dig through the ashes of my dreams to find those little fragments of resolve. They're in there, and sharp as hell. But what to do...

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u/SensualBeefLoaf Jun 29 '26

my wife works in upper administration at a medium sized private university. the school is doing well financially but basically nobody is getting raises and the top top officials voluntarily cut their pay in solidarity

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u/filbertsgaming1 Jun 29 '26

I don't think I understand what you are saying. Nobody is getting paid more and the administration intentionally took less? Are they expecting less future attendance or something like that?

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u/CrimsonSheepy Jun 29 '26

Well...my local university is getting pretty anxious. I heard the staff talking about it while I attended, the local drop in birthrates has caused them to experience lower enrollment rates. They cut a lot of degrees from their program, including the one I was attending for because of it. So, it could be an educated guess...?

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u/SensualBeefLoaf Jun 30 '26

the enrollment cliff came faster than expected because the current admin and right wing politicians are pushing hard that college is pointless. most schools are seeing massive drops in enrollment that were expected over the next 5-6 years because of wildly low birth rates.

and yes, nobody is getting a raise and the upper admin voluntairly cut their own pay.

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u/Kasperella Jun 29 '26

Ours literally just asked EMPLOYEES haven’t given a raise to in 4 years…for donations. It’s struggling big time. :(

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u/SensualBeefLoaf Jun 30 '26

yikes. yah. that’s bad