Minimum wage increase revisited...

Make sure you fully understand the issue before supporting it.
I spent the morning with a gentleman who is the franchisee of 117 restaurants across the Midwest and he says a hike in the minimum wage has been of great concern...expansion was put on hold & technology (to replace humans) has been explored. Bottom line, he says his payroll expense won't be increased because he can offset the increase in wages by cutting jobs, cutting hours and eliminating incentive pay & bonuses. Raising prices would be Plan B. He employs over 4000 people and says he can eliminate up to 20% of his workforce if he has to.
So be careful what you wish for!

 

I'd like to know where they came up with $10.10. Why not an even $10.00? Or $10.25? Hell, they should raise it to $50.00 an hour and be done with it for a while. Whatever amount they raise it, prepare to pay more for everything. The old folks on fixed incomes (whose incomes won't increase) will be hurt the most. Why do liberals want to hurt the old folks?

 

I understand the concerns of small business owners. But, I'd be willing to pay 15 cents more per burger if that meant the employees making it earned enough to pay a bill every month. What would you conservatives whether do, pay slightly more for a product, adding up to almost nothing over time, so an employer can raise his employees wages to something resembling a wage, or pay more taxes so the government can supplement the incomes of those working but not earning enough to pay rent and eat? You can't not have one or the other in a realistic world.

 

You are already paying government assistance for half of these workers that are so poorly paid, they qualify for government help. Essentially, we are subsidizing these businesses with our taxes. If they can't afford to pay a living wage, maybe they shouldn't be in business in the first place.

 

Well, maybe some. But many businesses barely break even, much less profit. Thats why I wouldn't have an issue paying more. I'd rather pay a bit more for a service than pay a lot more in taxes.

 

I don't believe you're quite getting it, Guy. Not only will you and I pay "15 cents more per burger", but so will the guy whose wage was just increased. And so will the folks who are on fixed incomes who won't see an increase at all. 15 cents more on a burger, 40 cents on a steak, 50 cents on a gallon of gas... where does it end? You say that you want a person to be able to pay a bill every month. Don't you realize that every price on every commodity will increase? The gas bill. The electric bill. The water bill. All these companies will have to increase their prices to stay competitive in the labor market. Every single employee (earning more than minimum) of every company will experience a price increase in everything they buy. Unless their wage is also increased, their buying power diminishes. "Minimum wage" is really nothing more than a feel-good sound bite. It's just a vicious cycle, actually. Increase wages and then prices go up. Then when prices go up, increase the wage. Then start all over again.

It's simple economics to see that if an employer is required to pay more to its employees, the price of its product must increase commensurately. You're not naive enough to believe that the company will accept less profit... are you? The only way the company can keep its profit the same (or hopefully increase) will be to raise prices or cut labor costs. Doesn't it make more sense for the market to set labor prices rather than some politician who pulled a number from God-only-knows-where?

 

You may be right, OKC, but then what is the solution? Continue paying higher and higher taxes so the government can subsidize these employees earnings? That seems counter-productive as well. I don't know about where you live, but where I am there is the growing mentality of, why work? Why spend 8 hours a day and not make enough to not only pay rent, but to even live, when the government will pay for it all? Sure, I'm liberal on a lot of things, but not on this. If you can't afford to pay the power bill after working 40 hours a week, something is seriously wrong. And that is exactly the case where I live. I'm fortunate to be able to pay my bills, and have two homes, but I'm the exception and not the rule. I know small business can't do this easily, but there has to be a better solution than just accepting the status quo.

 

You might be interested in France's results;

A $13 minimum wage doesn’t help workers at McDonalds in Europe.

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France’s minimum wage is currently arbitrarily set at €9.43 an hour, which is about $13 an hour. Surprisingly that’s not even the highest rate, in neighboring Luxembourg it’s set at €11.40 an hour, nearly $16 an hour. So instead of McDonalds hiring 7,000 new cashiers for their locations across Europe, they’ll be installing 7,000 touchscreen cashiers instead. Hopefully they won’t succeed in raising the minimum wage here, because we all know what that means.​

- See more at: http://alibertarianfuture.com/news/minimum-wage-mcdonalds-europe/#sthash.4NBqXyIw.dpuf

 

I love partisanlines. You point out something relevant to the topic in this country and it is completely ignored because France is doing something. And you wonder why I think you're a bunch of ideologically motivated dumb asses. This is exactly why.

 

So the Micky D business model is predicated on either, a) exploiting and underpaying its workers and letting society deal with the fallout or, b) firing its workers and finding machines that it hopes will effectively replace them and letting society deal with the fallout.

 

Anybody consider making smaller profits? I haven't noticed droves of businesses going under lately. Business models can and do fail for various reasons. Service sector jobs have changed in the past few decades. The average age is now something like 40 years old. 20 years ago a cup of coffee didn't cost $4. Prices have gone up. Profits have risen at the same time. The only thing that hasn't gone up is wages. So exactly who is creating all this wealth at the top and who's backs are they making it on? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Labor is paying the price for the current profitability of the top few percent. But sure, why not, lets talk about France.

 

You're right, Joe. Minimum wage is basically stuck in the 70's. Now, lets say inflation took a giant leap and gas was $8.00 a gallon (much like in France) and milk was $12 a gallon and a crappy one bedroom apartment was $1200 a month in a sketchy neighborhood (as it is in CA), but they kept Social Security at today's rate. I bet old RLM might then agree something needs to be done when he has to move into a shelter and eat watery soup seven days a week. Sound unrealistic? Thats exactly what many, if not most employees earning minimum wage are faced with right now.

 

Since that is against federal laws, I hope they did not.

 

Smaller profit is against federal law? Thats a new one. Mind posting a link where this can be found?

 

The way Republicans operate, it probably is against the law to pay a living wage. It certainly sounds like their morals.

 

I will let you look it up. It is their fiduciary duty to make a profit and prepare for coming events. But in the mean time just think what would happen to the CEO who did not make/exceed his expected earning. They do not last very long.

 

It may be their job but there is no federal law.

 

Too lazy to look it up? Try this - and by a bleeding heart liberal!;'

 

That is not defining federal law. You brought it up claiming it as law so post a link to a federal law it pertains to. I know there is no such law...as a businesd owner....so why waste time looking for something that does not exist.

 

No. That's not what capitalism is about. Leave it to you to say something so absurd.