No one with any self-respect...
Having a job, even a humble one, is significantly better than standing in a soup line. Try it out.
You may be surprised at what people are willing to do to keep a roof over their head, feed their children, etc.
As for the pay, butchers, cooks, bakers, accountants, as well as the various full time, and managerial types make a decent living.
A related issue is the question of how the drive to increase profits impacts both wages and quality in a highly competitive market. The bakers in my store joke that they work in a fakery not a bakery. They say so because most of what they sell is merely heated up. They hardly bake anything from scratch. And the quality has suffered.
I am a member of the meat cutter's union and for now the trade has not been destroyed.
Yet.
There have been changes, however. It is no longer the case that you will find whole half steer hanging in the meat box. This has an impact on the taste of your meet, though not a dramatic one. Some retailers have moved all their meat cutting to a central location to take advantage of economies of scale. One example I know of, subsequently went out of business, after making that change. Whether this was a consequence of that change, even in part, is arguable. Regardless, I know where I would buy my meat. It will be at the shop that does their cutting in house - because of the quality of their product - not due to solidarity.
