I'd join a union. There is very little training, and huge expectations right now.
In the POG and signing world, we've had our shifts move up from 4 am starts to 8 am starts, gradually, within the past couple years, I think to take some slack off of the non-existent sales floor team, but it's difficult to do our jobs effectively when there are guests running around. I can't hang Toms overheads in ready to wear in the middle of the day on Sunday, and changing out CSEs sucks constantly.
I'm months into this job, and I've still not been given SAP privileges. I've talked to anyone who will listen about it, and everyone acts like they care, but nothing gets done.
My signing hours are in no way sacred. I get pulled to do every little thing, from POGs to getting carts. I'm waiting for someone to mention how my signing pallet has been sitting on the line for a week, untouched, but it's out of my control, so they can say all they want.
In an ideal world, my dollar raise for this position would have been enough. I can see if we weren't stretched so thin that my job wouldn't be an exceedingly difficult one. If I had all the hours promised to me actually be my hours, then I could get a lot of stuff done.
I think at some point, hiring workers at a base, minimum pay makes sense. I'm fine with someone who only ever cashiers making a small wage, because their use is limited. The most valuable people, in my mind, are the people who know multiple workcenters in and out, and can do anything you ask of them, or are willing to learn anything you ask of them immediately. Why do those people make $8 an hour? Not to discount a good cashier's value. Good cashiers are hard to come by, but again, every single really great cashier I've ever known has had experience all around the store and can do anything in a pinch.
Basically, the gist of my post is that I hate being a jack of all trades for base pay, but I don't see anything wrong with a newbie who knows one workcenter making base pay. Also, woohoo unions, I'd join one in a heartbeat if one actually got off the ground and my job wouldn't immediately be in danger by even thinking about it.