The Place Where Ludington Talks
Campaign seeks to push Seattle minimum wage to $15
Another dopey idea by people that really don't appear to have any concept on how businesses are ran in the real world. Go ahead and raise the minimum wage you morons, and then watch a bunch of businesses start to shed workers or knock them down to part time to cut the cost of such a big kick up of the wages. People working in retail or fast food or any other number of businesses don't deserve to make that kind of money unless they are management of some sort or have been with whatever given company for several years. Not exactly fair to hire someone and give them $15 an hour and then the guy the work next too that's been with the company 2 or 3 years is either making less or the owner is nice and raises their wage up to the $15 level.... maybe a few lucky places will have owners who opt to raise the wages of people already with the business up to the same percentage above the current minimum wage that they are at now to the same percentage above $15. Idiots.
SEATTLE (AP) — Washington already has the nation's highest state minimum wage at $9.19 an hour. Now, there's a push in Seattle, at least, to make it $15.
That would mean fast food workers, retail clerks, baristas and other minimum wage workers would get what protesters demanded when they shut down a handful of city restaurants in May and others called for when they demonstrated nationwide in July.
So far, the City Council and mayoral candidates have said they would consider it in the famously liberal city. One said, however, that it may not be soon.
Venture capitalist Nick Hanauer said there's no time to waste. What the nation needs is money in the hands of regular consumers. "A higher minimum wage is a very simple and elegant solution to the death spiral of falling demand that is the signature feature of our economy," he said.
Some businesses advocates say a higher minimum wage will make it harder for companies in Seattle to survive. They cite Wal-Mart, which has all but refused to accept a Washington, D.C., decision to raise the minimum wage to $12.50 an hour in big box stores.
A higher minimum wage eliminates low wage jobs because that's how small businesses cut costs and that ends up hurting the people it was supposed to benefit, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Fast food and retail workers, meanwhile, are calling for a nationwide strike on Aug. 29 to push for $15 an hour.
More than 15 million workers earn the national minimum wage, making about $15,080 a year — $50 below the federal poverty line for a family of two. San Francisco currently has the highest minimum wage for all workers at $10.50 an hour.
Economist Chris Benner of the University of California at Davis does not agree that a higher minimum wage would lead to job losses.
"There may be some job impact in those small businesses themselves," he said. But in the entire economy, when you increase income to low-wage workers, it creates jobs because those workers are likely to spend their additional income and that increases demand for goods and services.
Benner also doubts a higher minimum wage would affect prices enough to scare away consumers. His research has shown that even a large increase in wages, like the proposal in Seattle, has only a 4 to 5 percent effect on prices.
One of those affected by a potential wage increase is Caroline Durocher, 21, who has been working low-wage jobs since high school. She has been working at a Seattle Subway restaurant for about a month, since she was fired by another chain shortly after participating in the minimum wage strike.
"I have co-workers who are single moms. I honestly don't know how they make it," said Durocher, who sleeps on her father's couch.
City Council member Nick Licata doesn't expect the issue to get any official traction soon. One of the council's most liberal members, he said there are other issues the council should tackle to help low-wage workers, including wage theft and affordable housing.
Pushing it forward before it can actually pass would kill he idea, he said.
One Seattle City council candidate has made the topic the centerpiece of her campaign.
Economist Kshama Sawant is basing her campaign on similar efforts in New York City and Washington, D.C. While saying her chances of getting elected are not great, she is pushing the rise in the minimum wage and said she is hearing about it on the campaign trail.
An alternative, yet politically mighty, weekly newspaper, the Stranger, has endorsed her idea.
"We're getting a huge echo for the idea," she said.
http://news.yahoo.com/campaign-seeks-push-seattle-minimum-wage-15-0...
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Willy on
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One thing about foolish progressives is they don't understand economics. If employers are forced to pay the $15 per hour as suggested where do they think the money will come from. The customers of course. The businesses will have no choice but to pass on the added expense in the products and services they provide. Most minimum wage jobs are held by young people learning how to exist in the real World but the liberals want them to believe in the fantasy world of Government intervention and support.
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Permalink Reply by XLFD on
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Minimum wage laws distort the cost-productivity relationships that are essential for the principle of employment (that wages and salaries of employees must correspond to the market value of their services). They also interfere with the “Invisible Hand” principle (that a free-market price system is absolutely essential to coordinate economic activity, possibly making full production and full employment achievable).
Unfortunately, income taxes, government subsidization of favored private companies in the name of economic development, so-called free trade, etc. have all but made the capitalism the USA was once known for go down the toilet.
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Permalink Reply by AQUAMAN on
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The national minimum wage law was introduced in the USA by FDR in 1938. I suppose it was another attempt by government to help the little guy, and hurt the greedy business owners. Anyone with common sense should know that it's intent nowadays is for a fair wage to the person entering the work force that is just starting out in life. Most of these people are more of a burden on the employer than an asset, due to no experience, nor formal training. The employer must train and educate these workers to achieve any measure of worth, and fiscal return, and that comes out of all employers' pockets, not the government. Anyone with common sense knows that to achieve higher pay, means sacrifice, whether it be getting a higher education, or becoming an expert in their chosen field of interest. Neither of these are handed out on a platter, they come with years of time and effort. The socialist notion that the minimum wage must be a "living wage" is absurd. Most minimum wage earners live with parents, or are already getting some government assistance. I think the minimum wage laws need to be repealed in their entirety. Letting the free market forces for each type of job dictate the pay that it's worth, is far more reasonable for an approach to have, than a forced wage that most small business owners won't be able to afford. Willy and X made some very astute points on this matter that pinpoint the truth on this law. Good thread Dave.
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