corporations lie a lot, here's my $1

Short answer: I don’t have an exact number.

Long answer:
I live in NYC with relatively good availability, 10 AM-close 5 days a week, so 57.5 available hours and I usually am scheduled anywhere between 17-25 hours. Lately since it’s the winter I’ve been scheduled in the lower range. With taxes taken out of my paycheck I usually get somewhere ~$300 per week, so about $1200 a month.

My rent, a three bedroom apartment where my full bed takes up about half of my room, is $995 a month. I do not live in an expensive area and my apartment was recently renovated so I got it at a deal. Add approximately $80 for bills each month. We’re at $1075 out of my $1200 just with rent and bills alone.

My parents pay for my metrocard ($127), medical things, and groceries because I would not be able to afford anything otherwise. The little money I have left afterwards I use for apartment products (toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc) and anything personal.

While yes, I could move out of NYC, I have been living here for 7 years so it’s where all of my connections are at this point. I just finished my master’s degree last May and have gotten not even a single interview since despite constantly applying for jobs. I currently am paid more than some of my fellow baristas because I have been there longer, I’m a trainer, and I’ve gotten various bonuses. And yet I still can’t afford to live on this salary.

So I don’t have an exact number, but a wage that I could live on would be nice.

Bonus answer: We’ve had customers physically assault, threaten, and stalk the partners at our store. We frequently find used needles in our bathroom and have had to clean up vomit because no one comes when we call. Police don’t come when we call when about emergencies. It took over an hour for an ambulance to come one time. Again, we’re in NEW YORK CITY, not the middle of nowhere, that should not be acceptable. Yesterday our store had no heat and I had to clean up after a pipe burst and there was half an inch of water, and very few of us were wearing proper footwear to protect against such deep puddles. So no, I don’t think I’m paid enough.

This tho… every single day setting up and then tossing out ~30 food items for the pastry case. Assuming a store is open every day of the year, that’s more than 2,400 lbs of food in the trash. That’s one store out of tens of thousands. It’s ridiculous.
I know not all stores have the same food items and some don’t even have a pastry case, but even the amount tossed by one store is disgusting.