We haven't been a free country for years. In yet another idiotic move, California has decided that the benefit of volunteerism and job skill training and sheer fun has to be paid. I wonder if the Department of Industrial Relations has started fining newsrooms, colleges and Hollywood for unpaid internships considering they are for-profit enterprises as well. http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/loca...ns-Bay-Area-Winery-115000-Fine-275325761.html This is insanity. Yet before we state that he should have known, a lot of the people affected were there for the sole purpose of learning the wine trade and the invaluable skills they could learn from someone in the business: Indeed. Shouldn't there be exceptions? What ever happened to bartering your work for job and skills training? I learned the plumbing trade by sacrificing two weekends a month for about two years in exchange for the knowledge. Although I haven't become a plumber, it is comforting to know I have the skill set to do so, if I need to do it in the future. It also has come in handy during our own bathroom and kitchen remodels. http://www.mercurynews.com/my-town/ci_26541167/castro-valley-winery-fined-115-000-using-volunteers
California is a lost cause. The only thing we can do now, is limit the damage to the rest of the country.
Well, if I were a winery, I'd start offering "Winemaking Classes." I'd charge the volunteers a nominal fee to do it, and they would no longer be volunteers, but students. Ooops: that is what most of them were doing. That's even more absurd than before. I guess we need to start paying student teachers.
How dare somebody impede on California's ability to tax. FINE THEM ALL! (evil laugh from the deep chambers of Sacramento) Idiots. All of them.
More and more senseless regulations like this. [video=youtube;YQscE3Xed64]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YQscE3Xed64[/video]
I was thinking the same thing. I'm also wondering if the wine industry in California could set up a coalition to handle insurance and scholarships for their "students".
Which are in place to help the top dogs of the industry. Started with the Whiskey Rebellions and hasn't gotten much better since. That's $1100.00 that should be maximizing the profits of a major wine maker, not these peons.
I am not defending California government. Unfortunately, we have allowed our government to turn into one of the largest and most dangerous monopolies ever created. Government at this time has one mission.... revenue. Thats it. And unfortunately, they have the power of the judicial system to force you to buy. I can't fathom why people who constantly advocate for more government are so blind to the situation they are support. Worse, they don't even see the irony in their opposition to corporate capital America. One group can force you to pay them, one can only offer to sell you something. Yet they align with the more restrictive of the two while proclaiming their desire for individual liberty. I digress. Government sucks.
it's kinda like when we were in school, there is no harm in chewing gum in class, but it only takes a few idiots sticking their gum everywhere but the trash to ruin it for everyone
They barely make a profit, and the volunteers want to be there in the wine-room because it's a fun job, they meet a lot of people, and they don't need money. So, everyone profits. It's not always monetary profit. Except, of course, the government, which sees all profit as being about money and what it can squeeze out of those who are productive.
This is how Liberals attack small businesses in California. Bull crap like this is why we sold off our company to a large corporation to avoid the Democratic Party's attack on us.
bull-crap like not paying employees to work? if you want to use volunteers, start a non-profit, not a for-profit business .
Why should he have to make it a non-profit? I happen to know these people well, and I've been to that winery many times. I considered volunteering for the tasting room because I thought it would be a great way to meet people and drink good wine all day. There were other benefits as well, such as steep discounts on wine, etc. Given that my business is just fine and I earn a healthy living, I wasn't looking to make money. However, the nanny-state says it's not allowed to make that arrangement. Violence in answer to peaceful transactions is wrong.
