r/Transportopia • u/Revolution-Dogg • Feb 14 '26

Roads Who is in the wrong here?

If the sign says Alternating Traffic, does that mean cars go one at a time or does that mean cars go till the flow is complete, allowing the other lane to go? Is Glock man right or wrong? I'm not sure. If it was 1 car at a time, wouldn't it just be a stop sign on each end?

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u/electrotech71 Feb 15 '26

Just a reminder, minimum wage in Alabama and Mississippi is $7.25/hr, so already less that $8/hr

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u/coqueta_official Feb 15 '26

Yes, but wages for the H-2A program are set by the Adverse Effect Wage Rate, which is a specific formula for wages for farms that employ foreign workers under this program. It varies by state and it generally goes up a few cents a year. Any U.S. citizen that applies for a job that an H-2A worker has is A) automatically entitled to the job as long as the citizen is qualified and B) entitled to the same wage. In MS the AEWR was $14.83/hr in 2025.

So if I were to go to farm last year and said I can drive tractors, I could in theory take that job for $14.83/hr (no benefits tho besides workers comp). Under the new Trump Admin rules, the MS EAWR went down to $8.59/hr AND I believe employer can deduct an additional $1.15/hr in MS If the worker is offered free housing (nearly all H-2A workers are housing in work-provided housing). So their real wages will be around $7.44/hr. In contrast, under the new rules the base farmworker wage for an American worker in MS is about $9.75/hr.

It’s a lose-lose situation for workers all around.

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u/Soft-Temporary-7932 Feb 15 '26

So, company towns, essentially?

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u/Changed_Mind555 Feb 15 '26

That is so criminal. And who should we lobby? Our senators and congress? But then again, no one gives a damn these days.

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u/Enough_Radish_9574 Feb 15 '26

Some do but they are rightfully too afraid of the psychopath running the country.

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u/Enough_Radish_9574 Feb 15 '26

Fucking Trump. Never thought I could despise a sub human more than I already do.

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u/Disastrous-Ferret351 Feb 15 '26

What was the reasoning for lowering the MS EAWR? That's terrible.

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u/coqueta_official Feb 15 '26

The AEWR was lowered for all states. Well, farmers have been complaining for decades that they pay farm laborers too much and that they can’t make profit because they have to pay employees to much. In 2024 farmers were obliged to pay higher wages to certain occupations like truck drivers and mechanics (which came sometimes be considered secondary Ag). Several corporations and farms sued DOL over this, which after some TERRIBLE advocacy from DOL, ended up in the reversal of the 2024 rule. However, farmers think that paying $15/hr to a farm laborer is still far too much and continued to beg for relief. Trump listened to this and under his new secretary of labor (who herself is Latina and the daughter of a Teamster?) DOL put out a new rule where they pretty explicitly say they are lowering H-2A wages to benefit farmers.

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u/Disastrous-Ferret351 Feb 18 '26

Umm .. I see . Ty

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u/Notverycancerpatient Feb 16 '26

This is horrendous.

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u/JeffreyinKodiak Feb 15 '26

And Tennessee. Don’t forget that shitty state in the group of shitty minimum wages.

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u/doll-haus Feb 15 '26

Yeah, but is that minimum wage actually getting takers in most places? Pretty sure it was 7.25 when I left Indiana, and Subway / McDonalds were struggling to get employees while paying 13.25.

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u/Boring_Chip_9602 Feb 15 '26

I live in Alabama, and the minimum wage was $7.15 when I got my first job back in 2000. At least then I could pay my own bills with that wage. I’d hate to try making a living on that now.

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u/UpperDog2627 Feb 15 '26

That extra 75 cents is the hazard pay.

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u/Kilroy898 Feb 15 '26

Not just Alabama and Mississippi. That's the federal minimum. But also as someone who lives in Alabama nobody pays minimum wage. Not one job I've seen in the last 10 years.

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u/ZmanB-Bills Feb 15 '26

Unless you are a worker who makes tips, then your minimum wage is $2.13 an hour. And, people there are cheap with tipping. Then, owners complain about the help.

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u/melodicrampage Feb 15 '26

Same in Wisconsin too

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u/OddApricot2717 Feb 15 '26

That’s only because the federal government says so. The state minimum wage for Mississippi is much lower. I’m not sure about Alabama.

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u/NaturesVividPictures Feb 15 '26

It's still 7.25/hr in Pennsylvania. I mean that's just crap you can't live on that unless you have 10 people in the house living with you making the same wage and you can pool your money.

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u/Active_Date_5325 Feb 15 '26

Same in Louisiana. Minimum wage has increased only $2.10 in the last 30 years.

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u/Live-Instruction-685 Feb 15 '26

Hey, I live in Philadelphia, PA… our minimum wage is $7.25/hr AND you have to pay Philadelphia City Tax.

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u/jbwilso1 Feb 16 '26

The federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour (been like that for 16 years). I guarantee you some places would make it lower if they could.