Resetting the standard on Minimum Wage
May 25, 2014 21:46:02 #
I'll keep this short and sweet. The minimum wage needs to be no more or less than 15 dollars an hour. That whole "prices will go up and jobs will be lost" excuse is ridiculous. CEOs quintuple their salaries every year and nothing happens. Preventing blue collar workers from starving between paychecks is not gonna kill anyone. Either raise the minimum wage to a decent, reasonable level or get rid of it. That is all...
May 25, 2014 21:59:58 #
QualinD wrote:
Welcome to UHH.I'll keep this short and sweet. The minimum wage needs to be no more or less than 15 dollars an hour. That whole "prices will go up and jobs will be lost" excuse is ridiculous. CEOs quintuple their salaries every year and nothing happens. Preventing blue collar workers from starving between paychecks is not gonna kill anyone. Either raise the minimum wage to a decent, reasonable level or get rid of it. That is all...
Pay workers more, we spend more. When we spend more, more jobs are created.
The "prices will go up and jobs will be lost" excuse is ridiculous, as you say. It is counter-intuitive and illogical.
Mike
May 25, 2014 22:00:10 #
QualinD wrote:
I'll keep this short and sweet. The minimum wage needs to be no more or less than 15 dollars an hour. That whole "prices will go up and jobs will be lost" excuse is ridiculous. CEOs quintuple their salaries every year and nothing happens. Preventing blue collar workers from starving between paychecks is not gonna kill anyone. Either raise the minimum wage to a decent, reasonable level or get rid of it. That is all...
I'll do the same re:keeping it short and sweet. No offense but you're crazier than a bed bug. If you raise the cost of doing business, i.e., wages and a company wishes to maintain or increase profit, they HAVE to raise the cost of goods or services or cut expenses. As for CEO's making more each year, thats partially due to stock options in lieu of actual salary...and, in case you haven't noticed, prices keep going up. Take care.
May 25, 2014 22:02:03 #
Blenheim Orange wrote:
Welcome to UHH.
Pay workers more, we spend more. When we spend more, more jobs are created.
The "prices will go up and jobs will be lost" excuse is ridiculous, as you say. It is counter-intuitive and illogical.
Mike
Pay workers more, we spend more. When we spend more, more jobs are created.
The "prices will go up and jobs will be lost" excuse is ridiculous, as you say. It is counter-intuitive and illogical.
Mike
Mike...you mean to tell us that paying a McDonalds worker $25 per hour will create jobs and stimulate the economy? Really?
May 25, 2014 22:02:38 #
DBCooper wrote:
There is no need to call a new member "crazier than a bed bug."I'll do the same re:keeping it short and sweet. No offense but you're crazier than a bed bug. If you raise the cost of doing business, i.e., wages and a company wishes to maintain or increase profit, they HAVE to raise the cost of goods or services or cut expenses. As for CEO's making more each year, thats partially due to stock options in lieu of actual salary...and, in case you haven't noticed, prices keep going up. Take care.
Workers are not a "cost of business." Who do you imagine buys the things that are produced?
Mike
May 25, 2014 22:03:03 #
QualinD wrote:
I'll keep this short and sweet. The minimum wage needs to be no more or less than 15 dollars an hour. That whole "prices will go up and jobs will be lost" excuse is ridiculous. CEOs quintuple their salaries every year and nothing happens. Preventing blue collar workers from starving between paychecks is not gonna kill anyone. Either raise the minimum wage to a decent, reasonable level or get rid of it. That is all...
Sorry, rude of me. Welcome to the underbelly of the Hedgehog.
May 25, 2014 22:03:20 #
DBCooper wrote:
Yes. No doubt about it. All of that money will be spent. That creates demand for goods and services, and increased demand for goods and services means more jobs created.Mike...you mean to tell us that paying a McDonalds worker $25 per hour will create jobs and stimulate the economy? Really?
Your point of view is legitimate. It is management's point of view, in line with their interests. All I would ask is for you to see that the point of view of the workers, inline with our best interests, is also legitimate, whether or not you agree with it.
Mike
May 25, 2014 22:08:10 #
Blenheim Orange wrote:
There is no need to call a new member "crazier than a bed bug."
Workers are not a "cost of business." Who do you imagine buys the things that are produced?
Mike
Workers are not a "cost of business." Who do you imagine buys the things that are produced?
Mike
If an apology is due then consider it done. Was not meant to be mean spirited. I'm at a loss as to what worker's salaries would be considered if not a cost of doing business. On anyones ledger sheet it would be considered a liability, hardly an asset. As for buying what's produced, do you think every employee at, say GM, can afford a Corvette? If GM raised the salaries of EVERY employee so that they could afford the cost, would the price of a Corvette remain the same?
May 25, 2014 22:14:48 #
Hello Sir, I'll keep it short too. Quite frankly small businesses would tank (bottom out, go under...die)! CEO's have little to do with minimum wage here in the US. The cost of vegetables across the country would rise tremendously.
Most profitable CEO's will move any of their company's jobs requiring slightly more than minimum wage skills out of the country where labor is cheap.
For now, higher education, high tech and government jobs are pretty much where it's at. Union jobs in certain cities will be another sector that will command higher wages. I do not mean to offend anyone, but this is pretty much how it is in CA today.
Chris
Most profitable CEO's will move any of their company's jobs requiring slightly more than minimum wage skills out of the country where labor is cheap.
For now, higher education, high tech and government jobs are pretty much where it's at. Union jobs in certain cities will be another sector that will command higher wages. I do not mean to offend anyone, but this is pretty much how it is in CA today.
Chris
QualinD wrote:
I'll keep this short and sweet. The minimum wage needs to be no more or less than 15 dollars an hour. That whole "prices will go up and jobs will be lost" excuse is ridiculous. CEOs quintuple their salaries every year and nothing happens. Preventing blue collar workers from starving between paychecks is not gonna kill anyone. Either raise the minimum wage to a decent, reasonable level or get rid of it. That is all...
May 25, 2014 22:17:21 #
Blenheim Orange wrote:
Yes. No doubt about it. All of that money will be spent. That creates demand for goods and services, and increased demand for goods and services means more jobs created.
Your point of view is legitimate. It is management's point of view, in line with their interests. All I would ask is for you to see that the point of view of the workers, inline with our best interests, is also legitimate, whether or not you agree with it.
Mike
Your point of view is legitimate. It is management's point of view, in line with their interests. All I would ask is for you to see that the point of view of the workers, inline with our best interests, is also legitimate, whether or not you agree with it.
Mike
I can easily see that if Joe Convenience Store Clerk were to make $25 per hour, he'd be out there buying big screens, Canon cameras and Harley bikes. That, in turn would naturally 'stimulate' those companies. But what of the domino effect? If Joe makes $25 per hour simply checking out merchandise, what of the RN, cop, teacher, fireman, etc. Not sure what you do for a living but would it not bother you just a bit to know the GED earner at your neighborhood 7/11 is making that kind of bucks? BTW, I am NOT denigrating anyone working at a C Store or fast food joint. All work done to the best of one's ability is honorable but there has to be perceived value or it's meaningless. Last, if all things stay the same doesn't the C Store owner have to do something in order to 'pay' for Joe?
May 25, 2014 22:20:14 #
QualinD wrote:
I'll keep this short and sweet. The minimum wage needs to be no more or less than 15 dollars an hour. That whole "prices will go up and jobs will be lost" excuse is ridiculous. CEOs quintuple their salaries every year and nothing happens. Preventing blue collar workers from starving between paychecks is not gonna kill anyone. Either raise the minimum wage to a decent, reasonable level or get rid of it. That is all...
Since you started this, I will try to put things into perspective. When I started working in 1964, the minium wage was $1.25 - the cost of a letter postage stamp was $.05. Now, lets extrapolate. The cost today of a postage stamp is .49 so let's round it to .50 to make the math easier. That is 10X what it was in 1964 so lets take the 1.25 and give it the 10X factor = $12.50 - so $12.50 is what the minimum wage should be today in order to have the same standard of living as 1964 !..........
May 25, 2014 22:34:38 #
imagemeister wrote:
Since you started this, I will try to put things into perspective. When I started working in 1964, the minium wage was $1.25 - the cost of a letter postage stamp was $.05. Now, lets extrapolate. The cost today of a postage stamp is .49 so let's round it to .50 to make the math easier. That is 10X what it was in 1964 so lets take the 1.25 and give it the 10X factor = $12.50 - so $12.50 is what the minimum wage should be today in order to have the same standard of living as 1964 !..........
Hi. Since you joined this, let me see if I can ADD to your perspective, not change it. You're right in the simple example you gave. There are lots more areas you could have used. Ex: a gallon of gas. But...what of all the new fields of employment since 1964? Computers, space technology, medicine, robotics, even that lovely DSLR and lens you're holding? Does the tech that hooks up, troubleshoots and repairs your Lexus deserve the same as the young guy that fills it full of gas? Hasn't new and/or improved technology made the minimum wage a starting point and not a career choice? I have no idea what you do or did for a living but I bet it was for more than minimum wage...and you're dang glad of it. Take care.
May 25, 2014 22:40:23 #
I just thought of a question. If minimum wage was $1.25 an hour in 1964 and is now north of $7.00 an hour, did the increases come before or after the cost of living jumped?
May 25, 2014 23:04:06 #
DBCooper wrote:
Wages are considered a share of the wealth created by the productivity. Of course management sees anything begrudged to the workers as a "liability" and structures the accounting in such a way that it looks as though the workers are getting the lion's share of the take. But that is not true. All bosses, to be successful, must sell the product of the workers' effort at a much higher rate than it costs the bosses. The <i>profit</i> represents the value produced, the gross does not. And, of course, the bosses see <b>all</b> of the profit as rightfully theirs. It is in their interest to do so.I'm at a loss as to what worker's salaries would be considered if not a cost of doing business.
But, again, each side in this debate is "right" depending upon whether they side with management, or labor; "right" in the sense that each is promoting their own best interests. If you are a worker, you want higher wages - in the majority of cases desperately <i>need</i> higher wages. If you are a boss, or are sympathetic to the boss, you want higher profits - in most case, without limit - you want to pay workers the absolute minimum you can get away with.
Mike
May 25, 2014 23:06:10 #
DBCooper wrote:
Management is always trying to raise prices and decrease wages. Always. They both have the same cause, they do not cause one another as management always claims in order to deceive people. Those with the power exercise that power. I just thought of a question. If minimum wage was $1.25 an hour in 1964 and is now north of $7.00 an hour, did the increases come before or after the cost of living jumped?
Mike
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