Has anyone thought of this in regards to minimum wage?

You were convinced enough to post that the government should control an employers HR department.

I have a central principle that I base all of my political opinions upon. I have no care for party affiliation. Those that support an increase in a minimum national wage do so from a political or emotional basis. I have no problem if a local government feels it necessary to control the local businesses, but the current minimum wage is sufficient in a large portion of the country.

Just to be clear, I don't think there should be a national minimum wage, period, much less an increase in the current one.

 

The majority of Americans don't want unions or the typical confrontational relationship between they and their employees. The combination of Union wages (our elite 12% part of the labor force), high taxes and increasing costs of manufacture is what drove so much of our manufacturing jobs out of country. We are now moving toward a service economy, which does not have to be bad for us but based on our historical view of economics it likely will not be great.

 

Requiring companies to have a set number of hours for x percent of employees is economic nuttiness. Here is an idea that all the liberals should consider......................QUIT STICKING YOUR NOSES UP EVERYONE ELSE'S BUTTS! It is no concern of your how a business allocated their hours. If they want entirely part time workers or mostly full time workers it is their business and they have the right to decide how to run it instead of everyone on the left sticking their fingers everywhere all the time.

 

No, not anymore.

Maybe there are a few rural areas with super cheapo living costs, but national prices in ALL areas for ALL food, gasoline, cars, mass transit (in the few areas that have much), basic medicines and much of our other living costs no matter where you are have risen FAR more than the minimum wage.

Adding several dollars to the current national minimum wage IMMEDIATELY still does not bring it up to the value of the decades when USA growth was the greatest, and then MANY areas will need to add many dollars to that minimum to give ANY kind of even basic living wage to the employees in higher cost areas (including almost ALL larger cities)

I cannot see a problem with resetting the minimum wage to where the USA economy grew very well.

I think back to my young adulthood when a janitor job paid a little over minimum wage, but included all holidays, two weeks vacation, sick time, FULL health insurance for me AND my wife with a (gasp!) $50 annual deducible! Plus some life insurance too ad other odds and ends of bennies.

Now, janitor jobs are 100% illegals through "contractors", who don't even pay minimum wage or overtime or anything else, or have workman's comp!

These stupid games must be ELIMINATED entirely, and ANY company that doesn't want to play by decent rules can simply be shut down and owners and managers arrested (including stockholders). We don't need that kind of scum! The good companies then can pick up the business because we eliminated the predator companies whose "fudiciary duty" is to rip off workers in any way possible and pocket the money.

 

American attitudes towards unions are beginning to change; the millennium generation will be the one's to bring back unions, since they will eventually get tired of being exploited by business owners. I truly hope to live to see that day.

BTW, unionized workers in the private sector comprise 6.75% of the total workforce. I think public sector is approximately 21%.

 

That is exactly what will happen. If these places have to pay more they will cut employees and push the ones that are left to do more. But first these places will use the minimum wage hike as an excuse to raise prices so they will come out smelling like a rose.

 

They have already cut employees to the bone and beyond, and "pushing the ones left to do more" was a done deal in 2008!

And since they have been raising prices (or cutting the size of products - have you even noticed a half-gallon of ice cream is now a quart and a half, a 25% reduction with probably a 50% price hike in the last 5 years?)

Since companies are doing BOTH of your threats WHOLESALE and getting record sales, record profits and record cash on hand, its way past time to ratchet up the minimum wage significantly!

 

Not all companies have. I know some places I have been that pay minimum wage looked over staffed. But if what you say can be considered to be true then raising the minimum wage makes other options viable. Automation will come into play. These workers don't stand much of a chance.

 

"...abused workers here in the USA, just as Walmart is doing!"

Taxcutter asks:
All those people lining up for Wal-Mart jobs want to be abused? Wal-Mart's been around. Nobody is surprised by them.

 

Setting minimum standards is the government's job, and is not CONTROLLING anyone. You're free to pay whatever you like, as long as it's above the minimum

Talk about basing your posts on emotions, getting rid of the minimum wage law would be catastrophic. That's not even a debate.

 

This whole deal is a catch-22. Get government completely out of business (a truly free market) and you have child labor, sweat shops, even greater wealth disparity, and that whole scenario - we've been there and done that. Get govt involved, the more aggressively it is involved and circumventing market forces through legislative effort, the more we have otherwise unnecessary unemployment and/or higher prices thanks to, among other things, the principle laid out in the OP.

Maybe an intelligently derived compromise between the two extremes is the best we can do? But in that, the problem lies in those two words, "intelligently derived". Given the Republican and Democratic Parties and their ideologically cultish adherents, I'd say we're pretty much strapped to the pendulum swing of their successes and failures. So, debate and compromise between these two political beasts may actually be a good thing, dampening the swing of the pendulum so to speak. But that requires debate and compromise...

 

That's very true, but what you see here again is the "conservatives" marginalizing themselves by refusing to negotiate.

We have three groups , essentially.

Those who want to raise the min wage to $15 an hour
Those who want to raise the min wage to $9-10 an hour

and those who want to just get rid of the minimum wage law altogether.

Now , how do you negotiate with people who want to do away with a law that is PROVEN good law? Answer, you don't , you ignore them and deal with people who do want to negotiate.

And then those people cry about being ignored.

 

Well, I'm convinced that you can't comprehend even simple concepts. Good luck with all of those "likes".

 

The areas which have higher cost of livinh can increase the min wage there. Nationwide increase will destroy mfg that is fueling the rural south. Companies moved from North to South and increased wages will force them south again.

 

yes they can, but you still MUST have a reasonable federal minimum.

Do you realize that there are 4 states with minimum wage laws lower than the federal min and 5 states with NO state min wage law, meaning of course that in 9 states employees must rely on the federal law for protection.

By the way, TWENTY states also have the SAME min wage as the federal

http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm

Meaning in 29 states total employees are protected by the amount that the min wage is.

 

Most people n favor of minimum wage correction talk about the current minimum to past minimums. Wal-Mart has learned that going to more part-time has worsen their customer service. They are now hiring more full time.

Businesses will use any reason to go to part-time workers but their real reason is not to pay for workers' benefits. Even using contract workers is to avoid the benefits. A great example are all the companies hiring contract warriors to avoid benefits and the GOP giving more work to the contractors to avoid using government service people who get benefits. Plain and simple, Conservatives hate to give any benefits to workers. They only do it when their product suffers against other competitors.

A short time switch to part time workers will hurt companies in the long run. Most companies need a stable workforce. Also, these companies are relying on the public to pay for the benefits that the companies try to avoid. The public is really waking up to this tactic.

 

We almost always agree. I have recently reversed my position on this, and as a result we now disagree.

I am subsidizing these folks with my taxes rather than franchise owners/corporate absorbing the costs. Their prices cannot rise more than an inconsequential amount because corporate, who controls pricing, will not suffer the loss of their largest share of the economic demographic... low income folks. They spend 2bn per year on advertising. I hate advertising. They can reduce the NUMBER of commercials and print adverts by half. People eat at McDs because it is convenient to do so. We do not need 50,000 ads per day... we can live with 25k. Corporate will compensate. Franchisees will still make millions per year. Conhog will disagree but I think we need to drop the tipping model for regular restaurants. Subsidizing their menu prices by requiring their labor force to rely on the kindness of strangers perpetuates low income areas being low income areas in a significant way. Pay your own (*)(*)(*)(*)ing labor costs and stop pretending you provide quality SERVED food cheaply.

Making these changes will pinch millionaires who are exploiting poor people taking my tax dollars to "survive" in American terms... a little.

15 per is a fair wage that will coldly put more of THEIR employees money into the economy. I suck at economics. I think you have a handle on things. I hope my inerudite belief finds purchase.

 

No sir, I would not disagree. My brother owns a restaurant in a big tourist town, I'm a silent investor. We pay our wait staff a wage, we have a sign right at the front station stating that tipping isn't necessary because we pay our wait staff a fair wage (I think he starts at $9 an hour, but I'd have to ask him for sure)

By the way, awesome that you have changed your position, I think that makes about 5 people who have done so on this topic since we've been discussing it n all these threads.

PS - last I talked to him, people were still tipping regardless of the slightly higher menu prices and the sign advertising that tipping wasn't necessary due to our wages.

I think it's just a mindset with Americans to tip at this point.

 

That, good sir, is brilliant. I knew you were a silent partner, and assumed. It would appear the axiom is wrong... I didn't make an ass out of you.

I love that. I would eat there every day. I would tip. I have never encountered it. Truly truly ahead of its time. Thank you so much for correcting me.

 

Curiosity got the best of me and I texted my brother who happened to know this off the top of his head. For the year 2013 so far his average customer spends $17.58 per person ( that includes the bar) and they tip on average $5.83 per customer.

That money is split per shift among all hourly employees in the restaurant, meaning even the kitchen help, which means obviously most people are tipping, they just aren't worrying about trying to hit a certain percentage or whatever, they are just leaving what they feel like leaving.

Are we getting rich? No, but we're dong more than alright, and our employees are not on welfare.

Sort of like I said about my automotive repair business. I pay decent wages so that my wife can drive a Lexus while my employee's wives drive Toyotas. I couldn't live with myself if she drove a Bentley while I had employees on welfare.

 

No, I mean Mexico.

 

So, currently, 29 states support a min wage <= the current federal rate. What's wrong with that?

 

Nothing at all, it's merely an indication that the federal min IS required.

 

You wouldn't have competent mechanics if you paid impoverished wages.